{"id":250148,"date":"2016-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/local-inventor-finds-way-to-improve-dog-community\/"},"modified":"2016-05-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T07:00:00","slug":"local-inventor-finds-way-to-improve-dog-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/local-inventor-finds-way-to-improve-dog-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Inventor local encuentra la manera de mejorar la comunidad canina\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Jos\u00e9 Ciolino<\/p>\n

Dog owners might want to think twice before tying their pet to a patio chair outside a restaurant, bar or coffee shop. Once the dog sees a squirrel, the canine likely will be in hot pursuit while dragging that chair.<\/p>\n

Being a dog owner comes with certain responsibilities, and that includes keeping the canine safe from harm. Brian Hoffman, a dog owner from North Park who works as a boat repairman on Shelter Island in San Diego, came up with an idea for a mechanism that would give people an extra hand while out on the town with their pooches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking and I wanted to go into the convenience store. I had to tie my dog up to a phone booth, and it was a precarious situation,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI thought, why wouldn\u2019t a business want a hitch outside for people walking their dogs?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"about-us\"<\/a>
Jannine and Brian Hoffman of North Park and the Doghook invention that allows dog owners to safely hook up leashes. (Courtesy of doghook.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hoffman\u2019s answer was to invent a way for people to secure their dogs while they are out and about. In 2013, he started developing dog hitches, producing six prototypes and handing them out to local North Park businesses. This became the starting point of his new business, Doghook.<\/p>\n

Hoffman\u2019s vision is keeping dogs safe and advocating for dog-friendly communities, and he has found allies in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lawsuits waiting to happen,\u201d said Steve Yeng, owner of OB Noodle House in Ocean Beach. \u201cA dog pulls an umbrella and hits somebody\u2019s head, and there\u2019s a $10,000 lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeng and his family own dogs, and he has made it a point to make OB Noodle House a place where people can bring their pets and feel comfortable.<\/p>\n

The Asian fusion bar and restaurant has six hooks placed on poles in the outdoor dining area, and Yeng said this is one of the very few Asian eateries in San Diego that is dog-friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think already that it has been a great thing for the dog-friendly community and the world is becoming more dog-friendly,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cThere\u2019s really sort of a swell of dog-friendliness going around, and we want to be at the front of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The product is essentially a plate with a bended hook welded on top of it, with holes punched on the plate where screws with washers are used to hold the plate on a sturdy surface.<\/p>\n

The plate can be placed on outside or inside walls of businesses, on fences or any vertical surface, and patrons can secure the leash end onto the hook. The hooks work with every type of leash, Hoffman said, even the larger handles of extractable leashes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find something that was a little more fashionable and a more modern look in the shop,\u201d said Cielo Mathis, owner of Paws and Whiskers Grooming and Retail.<\/p>\n

\"201506261302\"<\/a>
The device is catching on with bars, restaurants, coffee shops and businesses that provide services for canines. (Courtesy of doghook.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hoffman boasts that Doghook is the strongest dog hitch in the world, and it been put to the test. Multiple shock and weight tests have been implemented and the hooks have prevailed, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been about 6,000 hooks made at this point and there\u2019s never been a model that has failed,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cYou\u2019d have to put 800 to 900 pounds [on the hook] to disfigure it and that just doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hooks can be found at about 50 San Diego businesses such as bars, breweries, restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, schools and convenience stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really concentrated a lot on the beer culture, so there\u2019s a lot in the breweries and tasting rooms,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI frequent various brewpubs and breweries in town with some regularity, and with my dogs \u2014 I simply wanted to make it safer and\u00a0easier for myself and others to drink and dine with dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rabbit Hole in Normal Heights \u2014 a microbrewery that has outdoor seating with a wall facing the inside of the establishment \u2014 is lined with Doghooks for customers to eat and drink with their dogs secured.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeer culture at its heart is a very casual, relaxed atmosphere,\u201d said Steven Throop, general manager of The Rabbit Hole. \u201cPeople think about drinking beer on their porches with their neighbor and what\u2019s more neighborly or more homey than having your dog with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

But aside from the beer scene, veterinarians and groomers also use the product.<\/p>\n

Mathis has eight hooks spread throughout her pet-grooming parlor in Chula Vista, including hooks near the grooming stations, in the pet-holding areas and by the washing station. Previously, only crates and expandable gates were used in the parlor to secure the dogs.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until a dog escaped when Mathis realized that safety takes priority and security had to be heightened in her parlor, to prevent dogs from running out the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to contain the dogs very easily and very quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cThey [the customers] love the idea that their dog doesn\u2019t have to go in a crate, and the dogs like it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buttons, Cielo\u2019s Schnauzer, usually hangs out at the front of the shop attached to a Doghook, and comfortably watches her master groom the other dogs.<\/p>\n

Hoffman has also sold his product to large companies that buy hundreds at a time, including Groomer\u2019s Choice, a large catalog company that sells to dog groomers; and Red Cape Limited, a grooming distributor based in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Hoffman has also been working with the Canadian pet grooming product franchise called Pet Edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re selling them all across the board to all kinds of different people, businesses, wholesalers and distributors at this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hoffman has approached the bigger companies Petco and Petsmart but said he was not able to come to an agreement because of the high startup and monthly account system fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough to get through with them,\u201d he said. \u201cDealing with big companies there\u2019s a lot of expenses in the setting up of it, so I sort of backed away from doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily for Hoffman, he currently had no direct competitor. But he also lacks widespread publicity about his product, so the product is still fairly new on the market.<\/p>\n

But things have started to pick up for Hoffman, and he has sold about 250 hooks internationally and nearly 5,000 domestically, and expects to sell many more as the word of mouth spreads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a simple thing and there\u2019s so few ideas that haven\u2019t been thought of yet,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cWith seven billion people you\u2019d think somebody would\u2019ve thought of this before.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more information about Doghook, visit doghook.com<\/a> or the Facebook page at bit.ly\/1WD6u5C.<\/p>\n

\u2014Joseph Ciolino is an intern with SDCNN and a senior majoring in journalism at San Diego State University. He graduates this month.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joseph Ciolino Dog owners might want to think twice before tying their pet to a patio chair outside a restaurant, bar or coffee shop. Once the dog sees a squirrel, the canine likely will be in hot pursuit while dragging that chair. Being a dog owner comes with certain responsibilities, and that includes keeping […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1040,"featured_media":250149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Local inventor finds way to improve dog community\u00a0","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1040"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}