The Big Barker family management team... me (Eric), Hank (the big hyena looking guy), Sophia (the bulldog with no neck), and my wife Rose (who hates her facial expression in this picture).
Hi! Eric Shannon here, and welcome to our little website.
I don’t know how you found us but I’m sure glad you did!
Because of big dog owners like you, our Big Barker family has grown like crazy since we launched our unique line of super-supportive dog beds in 2012.
But the guy who truly inspired all this big-doggie goodness is Hank. He’s our lovable 92lb mix of who-knows-what!
I remember when he was just a pup, but now we’re ready to blow out the candles on his 9th birthday cake!
My wife Rose and I love him like a son. But if I’m being truly honest, there’s times when life has gotten so busy that I’ve taken his undying loyalty a little bit for granted.
But then someting happens that reminds you just how deeply you love and care for
your big boy or girl.
For me it was when Hank’s vet delivered the bad news:
Hank needed a new hip.
He had an early case of hip dysplasia.
He’s far from alone.
Many large dogs live in constant pain due to this and other joint conditions like arthritis, degenerative joint disease, or complications from earlier injuries.
Saddest of all, research has shown dogs have evolved over thousands of years to hide their pain, so not to show weakness to predators.
So day after day... they just suffer in silence!
For Hank, option one was surgery.
I remeber how my stomach turned when the vet graphically described how he would saw off part of Hank’s leg bone, then attach what’s left of the leg to his pelvis using metal pins.
Do everything possible to keep stress off his hips. BE VERY careful with exercise. Keep his weight down. And keep him from sleeping on hard surfaces.
In my panicked state... anything was better then surgery and the risks it carried!
Not to mention, assuming everything went well, how big the vet bills would be for such a complex procedure.
At this point, I went home to hit the Internet, ready to take action and be proactive
to protect Hank.
I knew feeding and exercising Hank properly wouldn’t be a problem.
But I didn’t know how to ensure Hank always slept on a comfortable supportive surface. Which is critical because dogs can sleep 18 hours a day!
And unless you want to totally give up your bed or your couch, that can cause a major problem for a big dog owner who wants to do right by their dog.
So I set out to solve that problem.
In 2006, I started a company called Oh My Dog Supply. We sold millions of dollars worth of products, including thousands and thousands of dog beds. We sold designer products from hundreds of small manufacturers that you couldn't find in the big pet stores.
However, the one thing that was always hard to find was items for big (and REALLY big) dogs. Finding good quality stuff for a Beagle? Easy. For a Mastiff? Not so easy. Especially when it came to dog beds!
After selling thousands of dog beds from all the top brands, and after hearing feedback from so many big dog owners over those six years, I knew what the market was crying out for:
A superior dog bed made to serve the special support-needs of big dogs!
To fulfill my dream, I created a "Christmas List" of what I wanted in this dream of a dog bed...
I remember it well,
I wanted the bed to be build from durable American foam so it would never flatten.
(I know from experience how quickly the costs add up of replacing bed after bed.)
I wanted our bed to be easy to clean... tough enough to take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’... and... BIG enough to comfortably fit the largest dogs in the world.
Plus I was tired of watching jobs shipped overseas. And as a pet-industry insider, I knew most dogs beds in the market were made overseas on Chinese assembly lines manned by unskilled workers.
So I also wanted the bed to be hand-crafted and American-made.
And most of all...
I wanted the bed cradle and support a big dog’s fragile joints better than any other dog bed on the market.
My first port of call was to contact one of America’s most talented foam-engineers.
When he heard Hank’s story and my desire to build a "dream" doggie bed, he agreed to lend his considerable talents to my quest.
First, he pointed our unique 3-stage foam construction, combining comfort with durability.
Then, we went to great lengths to calibrate our beds for optimal support
distribution.
Needless to say, thanks to a lot of very special people, we’ve been able to reach our goal of creating a dreamy bed for our loyal and deserving big dogs.
That’s why we can guarantee your bed won’t flatten for at least 10 years!
From one big dog owner to another, thank you for coming to our website.
We’d love to ship you a brand new bed for your furry family member!
To save you time on your search for the perfectly supportive bed for your big boy or girl, here’s a comparison chart that shows how your new Big Barker bed stacks up against the competition...
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