As a veterinarian for the last 22 years,
Dr. Tim Hunt has had plenty of experience dealing with animals that just aren't getting the right diet. Maybe it's too much filler in their mass-produced food, or maybe it's just not the right mix for their metabolism.
That was especially true for one of Hunt's main clients--the sled dog. You see, sled dogs aren't the type of animal that are going to just lounge around on the couch, enjoying the occasional walk with their owner and snoozing most of the day away. Sled dogs, like Alaskan huskies, are overflowing with energy. They want to constantly move. Anyone who has ever watched four-time Iditarod winner Doug Swingley's lead dogs, Peppy and Stormy, knows just how energetic they can be--those two would be wound up and ready to go after the 1,100-mile race while most other dogs were looking forward to getting plenty of sleep.
While not every husky or sled dog has the seemingly incessant stream of internal combustion that Swingley's dogs did, they are still much more energetic than many other breeds. That's exactly why Hunt, who has been racing sled dogs for the past 17 years (including last week's UP 200), decided he couldn't rely on finding a product that was right for his team.
"I started making my own food," says Hunt, who owns Bayshore Veterinary Hospital in Marquette and is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Veterinary Medicine. He went to work mixing quality ingredients in a cement mixer with the goal of creating a kibble--or dry dog food--that promoted stamina, endurance and performance through proper digestion.
Like any athlete, a sled dog needs to eat food that best allows them to operate at the highest level of efficiency. To that end, Hunt went about trying to make a food that replicated a natural, wild diet for his huskies. And huskies aren't much different in metabolism than other high-endurance dogs, such as hunting dogs.
After many attempts and recipes, Hunt found one that worked. It didn't take long for him to realize there would be a market for that kind of product--especially among those he has raced with and against in Alaska, Michigan, Canada and Europe.
He began seeking out a company that would be able to make the dog food at the same standard he had created it at his home in Sundell, in Alger County.
"The biggest problem was finding a company that would continually use the highest-quality ingredients," says Hunt. He discovered there are multiple grades of each ingredient, and companies often bought their ingredients based on the market prices at any given time--so a high-quality ingredient one day may not have the same quality the next while trying to produce a formula at a particular cost.
"The difference was noticeable right away," says Hunt, who saw his dogs would have less energy and wouldn't digest the food well when the quality was lacking. "The difference is like putting unleaded gas in a race car instead of methanol."
And quality ingredients are the centerpiece of all that Hunt has been able to accomplish with his pet foods--just take a look at some of the ingredients: Low-ash chicken meal, rice flour, salmon meal, beet pulp, dried egg product, flaxseed meal, porcine plasma (a very high-quality source of specific amino acids that greatly benefit dogs in muscle building and maintenance), dried organic kelp meal and even rosemary extract. Dogs on Hunt's food eat better than many people.
Once the manufacturing problem was behind him, Hunt was able to begin marketing the dog food. Customers didn't take long to sit up and take note.
One such client is perennial Iditarod contender Paul Gebhardt, who feeds Hunt's Momentum Premium Athletic Dog Food to his entire kennel. Gebhardt is known for his desire to take the utmost care of his dogs, and has been the recipient of multiple awards from organizations for his dedication to that cause.
"Over a decade of racing, I had tried some other brands of commercial dog food, looking for a product that was easily digestible, affordable and allowed my team to perform at a high caliber," says Gebhardt. "I have found this in Momentum. It is important with the food that I provide to my team that the dogs like the flavor, and I have found the kibble is in a size and texture that the dogs prefer."
Hunt didn't stop at just creating a high-octane dog food like his Momentum line, either. He has since produced a line called Pursuit, which is for active dogs that aren't "working" dogs, and Kinesis, which was developed for the everyday dog in any stage of life.
Hunt also went on to create a cat food, called Chase, that was developed with the same stringent focus that has made his other products so high-quality.
"Basically I took a mouse and a bird and I ground them up and found what they were made of," admits Hunt. "That is what a cat would eat in the wild, and that's the same kind of nutrition they get with this cat food."
Dr. Tim's pet food is growing in leaps and bounds in popularity. In the Upper Peninsula, it can be found in Marquette at Bayshore Veterinary Hospital and Mares-Z-Doats Feed and can also at Mel's Lawn Garden & Feed in Escanaba, Stonehouse Window & Door in Ishpeming, Puppy Paws in Wetmore, Thompson Veterinary Clinic in Manistique and Munising, Erickson Feed, Seed & Pet Supply in Houghton, Denman's Hardware in Munising and Countryside Farm & Garden in Baraga.
In lower Michigan, it can be found in Holly, Gaylord, Traverse City, Lambertville, Jackson, Lansing, Pinckney, Smiths Creek, Ann Arbor, Saline, Delton, Grand Rapids, Lowell, Oxford, Flushing, Mason, Leslie and Troy.
To find a specific location for Dr. Tim's pet food, please visit this
website.
Sam Eggleston is the managing editor of UP Second Wave. He was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula and has a slew of pets that reside on his property--including dogs Wrex, Bailey and Bishop and cats Binks, Whiskers and Milo. He's covered sled dog races, including the Iditarod and the UP 200, several times in his career. He can be reached via email.