{"id":17550,"date":"2019-08-13T12:10:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T18:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=59401"},"modified":"2019-08-13T12:10:38","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T18:10:38","slug":"colorado-entrepreneur-invents-a-backcountry-self-rescue-device-for-injured-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/colorado-entrepreneur-invents-a-backcountry-self-rescue-device-for-injured-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado entrepreneur invents a backcountry self-rescue device for injured dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Fido Pro owner Paul Hoskinson appears to be putting the “stranglehold of love” on his dog, Remi, who is growing weary of publicity shots.<\/strong>
Charlie Wertheim \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

What would you do if you were miles out in the backcountry and your dog got injured and was unable to walk out?<\/p>\n

This became more than a hypothetical question for Paul Hoskinson when he cut two tendons on the leg of his dog, Remi, during a ski descent near Independence Pass.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Hoskinson was able to empty out his pack and stuff Remi inside, if barely, to carry her out.<\/p>\n

The story ends happily, as he and Remi both survived the experience, and Remi made a complete recovery.<\/p>\n

But it got Hoskinson to search online for a better way to rescue an injured dog. And he found nothing.<\/p>\n

Hoskinson, not unfamiliar with entrepreneurship, took it upon himself to design and market a solution to the problem he had faced.<\/p>\n

And so, the Fido Pro Airlift was born. Hoskinson designed a \u201csimple\u201d hammock-type device that distributes the dog\u2019s weight and makes carrying the dog comfortable for both dog and human, he said. Remi can attest to this but by all accounts is somewhat tired of being a test subject.<\/p>\n

Hoskinson said his challenge was to get people to carry the Airlift on trips: It needed to be lightweight, minimal volume, built well and affordable.<\/p>\n

The 8-ounce, $70 Airlift in its stuff sack is roughly the size of a Nalgene water bottle, but of course is easier to pack. Out of the stuff sack it could line the bottom of a pack. And it can carry 500 pounds of weight. (That\u2019s one big doggy.)<\/p>\n

The elegant design appears quite simple, but it took a few tries to perfect it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design distributes weight well for the person and the dog and makes the shoulder straps narrow enough so they\u2019re functioning shoulder straps,\u201d Hoskinson said. \u201c\u2026 At first, I couldn\u2019t figure out how to keep the dog from collapsing on himself. Then, one day on a lazy morning it came to me that this is how it should be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoskinson said there is another company manufacturing something similar, but, \u201cThey\u2019re not much of a threat from a business standpoint. Their design is one I threw away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carbondale veterinarian Ben Mackin was involved from a design standpoint, Hoskinson said, though Mackin played down his role. \u201cPaul deserves all the credit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a lot of dogs with ski lacerations from backcountry and even cross country skiing accidents,\u201d Mackin said. \u201cEven the well-trained dogs can get spooked and run in front of a skier. Paul\u2019s idea was great, having a safe, packable way to get an injured dog out and to treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Hoskinson said there have been a couple of Airlift rescue stories to date, he doesn\u2019t yet have permission to talk about them. But he will say, \u201cTwo or thee times a day on Instagram or Facebook someone comes on and says, \u2018We should have had this last week.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fido Pro employs Hoskinson as top dog, two marketing people and four shipping\/customer service representatives. It also contracts out eight cut-and-sew employees at two Denver and Boulder manufacturing locations.<\/p>\n

The Airlift, originally constructed in Carbondale, probably won\u2019t be made much farther from Carbondale than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no intention of leaving Colorado for the lion\u2019s share of production,\u201d Hoskinson said.<\/p>\n

Sales are 97% online, Hoskinson said, though the Airlift is available locally at the Ute Mountaineer and Bristlecone Mountain Sports. \u201cWe\u2019ve been using social media as a conduit for marketing and advertising,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hoskinson, the entrepreneur, currently makes his living from a building material company he started. But, he said, \u201cFido Pro is taking up enough of my time that it will be necessary to do this on a full-time basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, he said, \u201cWe\u2019re looking at producing in Europe. We plan to set up a European operation in 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fido Pro isn\u2019t resting on the laurels of the current Airlift, Hoskinson said. He is working on \u201cnew designs to accommodate larger dogs,\u201d namely a two-person carrying system. \u201cAirlift will have a couple more designs out this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Also in the works are what Hoskinson calls protection products rather than rescue products. At this point, though, those designs are top secret.<\/p>\n

In regards to being bought out by a company such as canine outdoor gear company Ruffwear, Hoskinson said with a wry smile, \u201cEverything\u2019s for sale. \u2026 Do I have an emotional attachment? Of course.\u201d But the point is that he primarily wants the product available: It doesn\u2019t have to be him that provides it.<\/p>\n

Hoskinson said, \u201cFido Pro was born out of compassion for dogs and human beings. [His experience with Remi] was really traumatic for me. I can\u2019t imagine leaving a dog out there wondering if they\u2019re getting attacked by animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do truly feel that anyone who takes their dog hiking or skiing should have this,\u201d Hoskinson said.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fido Pro owner Paul Hoskinson appears to be putting the “stranglehold of love” on his dog, Remi, who is growing weary of publicity shots.Charlie Wertheim \/ Post Independent What would you do if you were miles out in the backcountry and your dog got injured and was unable to walk out? This became more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 17:41:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}