When first introduced to our Dog Decoys, many people chuckle given their simplicity and uniqueness. This is always followed with “How did you come up with that?”
My father, a Korean War Veteran, worked as a seaman on the Great Lakes and was a house painter by trade. He was also a turkey hunter and thought if his turkey decoy moved, it would attract more big Tom turkeys. So, he invented and patented a spring that would make his decoys move in the wind. He wanted to find other ways to use his spring. He even tried putting pink flamingos on his spring! “I’ve spent so much time and money getting this spring patented, what can I do with it?”
He would come to stay with us while receiving cancer treatments at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. During walks around Lake Como in Saint Paul, where the trails were littered with goose droppings, we noticed when people walking dogs would approach, the geese would quickly jump back into the lake. Hmmm. Those geese sure are afraid of dogs. ‘Let’s put a dog on your spring.’ We did some research and found that dogs, not coyotes, are the most effective and consistent predator of geese because they love to chase geese, just for the fun of it! Where coyotes only chase when they are hungry.
We designed our iconic dog silhouette, put it on his spring, and created our website not knowing what to expect. Orders started coming in from around the world. Our customers told us it was the best goose deterrent they had tried and they were excited that our Dog Decoys also kept the deer away so their gardens and landscaping looked incredible!
This business has been the American dream. It was 12 years ago I started this company at our dining room table and used my garage as our world headquarters. The last 12 years has brought growth, innovation, continually improvement of our product design and some media attention! My Dog Decoys have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, and in many local news segments and newspapers across the country. Even more exciting, our Dog Decoys are now packaged for retail stores to make them available to those struggling with geese.
Our Dog Decoys patrol the country, from Seattle to the Hamptons, from sea to shining sea. Many farmers use them to protect their amber waves of grain (and corn and soybeans), too! They are even used on Ellis Island and at the Statue of Liberty!
From tag to tail, the materials are sourced here and the product is assembled and shipped locally here in Minnesota.
My dad has since lost his battle to cancer, but I am confident that he is happy that I was able to do something with the spring invention he came up with. A few days before he passed, he told me how happy he was that he felt he was able to leave a legacy.