Our story
The day Pepper drank from a puddle.
Last spring I took Pepper up the Cotswold Way for what was meant to be a three-mile loop. Two miles in, it turned into seven. The kind of day where the path just keeps going.
By mile five, Pepper was lagging. By mile six, she was lapping at a muddy puddle next to a sheep pen.
I'd forgotten her bowl. Again.
The why
Fifteen years of carrying water badly.
Pepper isn't my first dog. She's my fourth. Which means I've had fifteen years to try every travel water solution on the market, and to be disappointed by all of them at the same moment.
The travel bowls I owned spilled half the water before she could reach it. The squeeze bottles dribbled into my pack the whole hike. The all-in-one bottle I'd ordered online was so heavy and oddly shaped that Pepper wouldn't even put her face in it.
I'm a product designer by trade. So I started sketching that weekend.
Fourteen prototypes
The first one was a tea-light holder.
I'd shoved a silicone funnel into a stainless tea-light holder and tried to make it pour. It leaked everywhere. The kitchen floor was covered. James (my partner) found me sitting cross-legged in the puddle laughing.
The second prototype was 3D-printed at a maker space in Stroud. It worked, sort of, but the bowl wouldn't fold back in cleanly. The third was too heavy. The fourth had a bowl shape Pepper wouldn't drink from. The fifth shape she drank from, but the valve leaked when I tipped it sideways. Numbers six through thirteen had similar one-step-forward, one-step-back issues.
Number fifteen worked. Pepper drank from it on the first walk.
Why $29
We could have charged $49.
Plenty of brands selling similar things charge that much. We didn't, for a few reasons.
First, we partner with a warehouse in the US that ships direct. No middlemen, no boutique markup. Second, our material costs are honest: stainless body, silicone bowl, a single brush. We aren't paying for excess packaging or a $20 retail margin to a third party.
Third, and most honestly, we want this on more dogs than fewer. If you've ever bought a dog product that disappointed you, you know the feeling. We'd rather sell ten Orbs to people who walk their dogs daily than one to someone who'll leave it in a drawer.
The team
We're three people and a dog.
Lily — Product designer, Pepper's chief test subject, founder. Writes most of the emails you'll get from us.
James — Lily's partner. Built the website. Allergic to corporate marketing.
Tom — Old friend from Manchester. Handles fulfilment and customer emails. Has a beagle called Biscuit.
Pepper — Golden retriever, 7. Tested every single prototype. Hired for the role of extremely picky drinker. Currently asleep on Lily's keyboard.
30-day no-questions trial
Try it for 30 days.
If your dog won't drink from it, send it back. We pay return shipping. If it leaks in your pack, send it back. We pay return shipping. If you decide it's just not for you, same deal.
We don't have a customer service script. You'll get an email back from one of us, usually within 24 hours, often from Lily on her phone between Pepper walks.
Email anytime: contact@epockai.com