As we all prepare to celebrate our independence this 4th of July weekend, let’s take a minute to celebrate 4 of our own Davison-designed summer BBQ favorites.  They’re sure to put the perfect touch on your holiday picnic plans!

Fill ‘N Grill
Wow your guests with gourmet burgers!  Just like it sounds, the Fill ‘N Grill makes filling burger patties with flavorful ingredients quick and mess-free – not to mention delicious!  With the help of this grilling favorite, your patties are sure to be the talk of the picnic! Learn more… This was a corporate project that Davison developed and licensed for its own benefit.

Silicone Dessert Bar Pan
Your family and friends will be in for a pleasant surprise when they bite into one of your chewy, dessert treats!  The Silicone Dessert Bar Pan’s 12 candy-bar shaped molds can be filled with brownie batter, Rice Krispie treats or cookie dough.  Each piece comes out perfect!  An added perk for the chef, unlike metal bake-ware, the pan is flexible and remains cool to the touch! Learn more…

Party On The Go
If you’re not hosting this year’s 4th fun, take your treats along with the Party On The Go, a versatile food caddy that can hold eggs, cupcakes, veggies, cookies and much more!  The transparent locking-lid not only showcases your goodies, but also makes for easy, lightweight travel and storage! Learn more…

Bether Tether
Let’s not forget Fido!  Of course, our precious pets want to be a part of the fun, too!  With this unique product that sits below ground level, Fido is able to stay tethered outside during the picnic without spilling his food and water.  Plus, guests will never have to worry about tripping over the doggie dish! Learn more…

Whether you’re celebrating your freedom with family, friends, food or fireworks – we hope you all have a safe, restful 4th of July weekend!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

Like many family members of inventors, Deb’s husband, Maynard, was skeptical. When she submitted her idea to Davison, he did not have very high hopes for its success and did not expect to see a return on their investment, although he supported his wife’s efforts. So, he was quite surprised, and very pleased, that the Cool Cot was licensed and made it to the market.

“I’m a cautious person,” Maynard explained. “But it turned out great.” In fact, the semi-retiree has a few invention ideas of his own. When asked if he might pursue them, he replied: “With her success, why not?”

Since it hit the market, the number of retailers selling the Cool Cot has been increasing steadily — it is currently in at least 16 stores! Deb and Maynard visited Inventionland a few weeks ago to celebrate her success and meet with Mr. Davison, who presented her with her biggest royalty check to date.

“I was thrilled; it was very nice,” said Deb, who works hard each day running a home day care. “I’m holding that check and I’m just thinking, how do I get to spend this money? I’ll probably put it in the bank and sit on it.”

As we stated in Part 1, Deb wanted to help her dog, Sadie, who was suffering from arthritis, when she came up with her idea. During her visit, Deb also got to see her physical product for the first time, which “was pretty neat.” Unfortunately, Sadie has passed, but “Duke will get to enjoy it,” she said. She thought it might even be put to good use as a place for the preschoolers in her home to sit and take a break from their activities.

During their visit, the couple was given a tour of Inventionland, which was “fascinating.” They were also quite impressed with its inspiring founder.

“Inventionland was a blast; I want to take it home with me,” joked Deb. “Mr. Davison is pretty cool. We had a blast with him today.”

Although it took some time to get it to market, Deb said her experience with Davison, from Sales to Design to Licensing, has been good.

“The Davison staff is great; they’re just awesome,” she said. “Everything that has happened to date has been a very positive experience.”

Before leaving, she offered a bit of advice to other people like herself who have an idea for a new product.

“Get it down on paper, and give Davison a call … I know I made the right decision,” she said. “Those who have an idea and someone is trying to talk them out of it, ignore them and go with your gut.”

Congratulations to our client, to Hugs Pet Products, and to the entire team on the success of the Cool Cot!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

Deb’s heart ached for her beloved, canine companion, Sadie, who was aging and suffering with arthritis. Sadie, who had been a faithful friend for many years, was becoming more and more uncomfortable, and Deb tried “everything under the sun” to ease the pain in her limbs. She even tried putting zippered plastic bags of warm water in the dog bed, but the only result was a wet bed.

Deb realized that what she needed for Sadie was a more comfortable bed to help cushion her joints. She couldn’t find one in the stores, so she decided to create one herself. She found Davison on the Internet and sent in her idea. Our design team went right to work and developed the concept, while making some modifications to make it more marketable.

Living in Wyoming, which can get brutally hot in the summer, the inventor saw the benefits of the product having a raised bed and mesh cot, which would help pets stay cool and comfortable.

“There’s not a lot you can do for a dog with a thick coat; they get very hot and sticky,” said Deb, who also has a furry Australian Shepherd / Border Collie named Duke. “When Davison told me about the modifications on the product, I went with it because they were for the better.”

The team also designed the Cool Cot to be lightweight, portable, washable, easy to assemble and compact to store. It can even be staked to the ground for added stability, which gave it an extra advantage in the marketplace.

Being transferred to the Licensing Department “was very exciting,” and getting to that stage felt like an accomplishment, said Deb. It didn’t happen overnight, but she was “thrilled” when her idea was licensed by Hugs Pet Products; at the same time, however, she tried not to get her hopes up too high.

“The day I got the call to speak to the Vice President of Licensing, I was excited at first, then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, don’t get your hopes up,’” she recalled. “When I got off the phone I was really excited; I told my husband right then. I was happy about it and kind of giggled about it. When I got the agreement in the mail, that made it hit home.”

What made it even more real was receiving her first check from the sale of her invention.

“Getting my first royalty check was amazing; it was very exciting. That’s when everything really hit home.”

Check Part 2 of this story about our client, Deb, and her pet-friendly invention!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

We never get tired of seeing it — the Dog Wash is featured in the latest In the Company of Dogs catalog. The summer preview issue shows the Dog Wash as modeled by a very content Labrador retriever, and the caption, “Bath time made easy,” says it all! That is what our client, Gary, was thinking when he came up with his idea, and that is exactly what we delivered when we designed and developed the Dog Wash and presented it to Hugs Pet Products for licensing. Being a regular feature in the catalog is more great news for Hugs, for Davison and for our client. If you go to the product page you’ll see this award-winning product has now sold in 60 stores! And if you haven’t seen it before, while you’re there check out our client’s awesome testimonial!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

It started out as just an idea in the mind of our client, Ed. His dream for a better way to tether his dog has turned into a tangible product, which was licensed by Hugs Pet Products.

“It’s great to see, now that we’re getting direct feedback from the factory.” The Licensing VP also reported that “several large retailers are interested in the product.”

The Better Tether, formerly known as the Low-Pro, offers a more humane and convenient way to tether a dog outdoors — it provides a constant source of food and water that cannot be spilled and it never has to be moved for the lawnmower! The product had a great showing at the Global Pet Expo last month, and it will soon be on its way to market.

“Seeing actual factory tooling making something we created means a ton,” said Jason, Davison’s corporate design manager. “It’s great to see our creations come to life. But, most importantly, it means that someone besides us and our client believes in the product — so much so that they’re willing to go out and spend thousands of dollars ramping-up for production. It’s awesome! We’re all very excited to see the factory product!”

Check back here next week for the full story of our client, Ed, and how he came up with his awesome idea — you won’t want to miss it!

Davison’s VP of Licensing has been to a lot of trade shows, but few, if any can compare to the 2011 Global Pet Expo in Orlando. Nearly all of the products we’ve done for Hugs Pet Products were on display in a booth that was also designed by Davison.

“It was one of the best, if not the best show I’ve been to,” the VP said. “We had a lot of new client products on display and there was phenomenal feedback from buyers.”

Representatives from Pet Smart, Petco, Bed Bath & Beyond, LTD Commodities, as well as distributors and retailers in Canada, South America, Australia and Europe expressed interest in selling numerous products in the Hugs line!
The Better Tether, formerly known as Low Pro, was received very well; several companies want to sell it and Hugs is tooling up for production to fill orders. Many other new and innovative pet products we developed for Hugs were introduced and received enthusiastic feedback. In fact, Bed Bath & Beyond wants to test several of them in select stores!

According to the VP, Bed Bath & Beyond also wants to put some of the product videos we created for the Expo in their stores during the test, and several e-tailers want to post the videos on their sites!

Needless to say, the owners of Hugs Pet Products were “extremely happy” with all the work we did. “The booth looked awesome” due to the 25+ innovative products it contained, said the VP. This was emphasized by comments they heard from buyers, such as: “Wow, you have some really unique products.”

Here is what the President of Hugs Pet Products had to say:

“The Global Pet show was phenomenal for Hugs! The booth looked great … with the backdrop, posters, videos and all the packaging and products displayed. It really helped draw customers in so that we could meet and talk to them. We couldn’t have done it without all the fantastic support from all of you at Davison! Over the 3 days, we got so many valuable leads. It really was an exceptional opportunity for us to showcase our products. And having the prototypes and sample packaging for the items that are still under development was so helpful.”

Check out some more great photos of Hugs Pet Products at the Global Pet Expo!

The Cool Cot House, which we developed for Hugs Pet Products and our inventor client, Sharon, is featured in Real Simple, a monthly women’s interest magazine. The product is in “Daily Finds” as one of 7 warm-weather pet products recommended by the magazine, which states, “As the days heat up, outfit your four-legged friends with cool summer gear.”

Real Simple, which was launched by Time in 2000, features articles and information related to homekeeping, childcare, cooking and emotional wellbeing — it’s all about “making life easier, every day,” which is also the goal of everyday inventors like Sharon! Click on the image or here to check it out!

The ever popular Hydro Bone has a brand new look and, in a word, it’s awesome! The Hydro Bone and Hydro Ball are now packaged in a blister pack that highlights the great features of the freezable water-soaking rubber toys. The corporate team’s goal was to visually communicate the liquid and ice aspects of the product so the consumer would instantly be able to tell what it does, said the corporate design manager. They definitely succeeded.

“It looks great,” he said. “So far it’s getting some pretty good reviews from everyone who’s seen it.”

The design was originally used on the four-pack, which went over big with retailers as well as the Hugs Pet Products, the manufacturer.

“Hugs liked it so much they asked us to put the same packaging style on all the Hugs toys,” said the manager.

The products are being shipped in the new packaging, with the distinctive blue ‘D’ on the back, to everywhere they are sold. The hydrating chew toys are sure to make tails wag wherever they are found.

“The new packaging tells a much better story of the hydro line,” said Davison’s VP of Licensing. “Great work to the design team!”

In addition to the product design, the team created the eye-catching graphics and packaging.

Congratulations to the entire team on a job well done!

Dr. Marty Becker, “America’s Veterinarian,” revealed his top picks for Best New Pet Products for 2011 on Good Morning America. He showed two new pet toys, one of which was the Hydro Bone set that we created for Hugs Pet Products! (the Hydro Bone appears near the end of the 4-minute video).

“I love this… we take these home and freeze these toys,” said Dr. Becker, as he squeezed the water out of the Hydro Ball. “Dogs love it; it quenches their thirst.” Also shown were the Hydro Bone and the new Hydro Disc.

This is the second major accolade for the Hydro Bone, which also won a 2010 Editors’ Choice Award as one of the best new dog products chosen by editors of Dog Fancy, “the world’s most widely read dog magazine.” Each product earned the editors’ seal of approval “by offering innovative solutions to everyday problems or giving new life to an old idea.”

Check out the video of the GMA segment (the Hydro Bone appears at the end). You can also view an awesome video of the product on Dr. Foster’s website below.

Congratulations to all who worked on these awesome products!

Several new innovations that we developed for Hugs Pet Products have hit the market! They are the Chew Core, a plaque-removing chew toy made of durable molded rubber that improves canine dental health. Dogs love playing with and chewing on the brightly colored, apple-shaped toy as the rubber tines gently massage their gums, remove plaque from their teeth and strengthen their jaw muscles.

We created the Potty Paws for a client who wanted an easy and convenient way to dispose of pet waste. The disposable bags are made of anti-microbial polyethylene film and have a zip-seal closure that provides for a no-mess solution. Simply place the bag over your hand to pick up waste, then turn the bag inside out, seal it shut, and throw away!

We created the Air Puff Bed for a client that wanted to make their pet more comfortable. The inflatable bed offers cushiony comfort and relief for dogs and cats, particularly those suffering from arthritis and other afflictions. The lightweight, portable bed features an inflatable air pillow and a soft, fabric cover. Simply adjust the air pressure so it cushions the pet’s limbs.

Each of these new products is already selling in at least six online stores; and each one is sure to gain fans among pet owners, as the Hugs brand, powered by the Davison “D”, continues to become known for products that enhance the quality of life for pets, as well as for those who love them.

Congratulations to everyone who worked on these great new products! Check them out on our pages!

The clients have not realized a net profit on their products.