There is an estimated 1 billion dogs in the world today. Every day, about one million dogs are born. The US has the largest number of dogs. Dog owners around the world spend enormous amounts annually on dog food, as well on accessories and visits to veterinarians. Strangely enough, dogs’ oral hygiene has not been much in focus, while studies show that poor oral hygiene might shorten a dog’s life with many years. Based on these studies, veterinarians strongly recommend that dogs have their teeth cleaned regularly. Until a few years ago, this was normally done by veterinarians only, involving costly visits to veterinarian clinics, and often dogs had to have anaesthetics in order to have the job done. Some years ago, Ole Barman, son of the inventor of the famous three-headed tooth brush for human beings, developed this idea, and the result was a tooth brush for dogs. The brush is so simple to use, that the owners now can perform adequate cleaning of the dogs’ teeth at home. Could he repeat his father’s formula? And would investors give funds to grow in the pet market?
Written by Tor Aase Johannessen from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. Download case and teaching note at www.thecasecentre.org or request them from Tor.Johannessen@nhh.no.
