Meet Michelle Cook of Mr. Wigglebottom’s

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Cook.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Michelle. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In 2011, I rescued a very sweet and overlooked dog named Tracker from Collin County Animal Services and on the way home, I discovered he smelled like fish. Because of this, I renamed him Trout and since his butt is quite wiggly, he officially became Trout D. Wigglebottom. I tried several dog shampoos and after many baths I finally got rid of the smell, but his coat was dull and his skin was dry. That’s when the idea came about to make a better dog shampoo that would not only get rid of stinky smells, but would also leave their coat shiny and soft without drying their skin.

After much research, I created a formula that I first tested on myself and (since Trout is ironically not a fan of bath time) I used it on my dog, Shiloh. She loved her bath and her coat was more beautiful than I had ever seen. Then I worked with a friend to design a logo and label so I could sell the shampoo on Etsy and to my rescue friends.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road as it is difficult to build from the ground up, but it is very rewarding. The most challenging part of starting your own brand is getting people to notice your product and make it stand out among all of the other brands out there when you don’t have a million dollar budget. Thankfully, I have many friends in the Dallas/Fort Worth dog rescue community and their word of mouth advertising along with great feedback has helped keep me going.

We remained a very small operation selling mainly to friends and on Etsy until 2015 when we were contacted by a distributor. That was a game changer and I had to redo everything about our branding, labeling, and find a place to store everything we needed to meet the distributor’s requirements. Those changes took several months to complete and were quite an investment, but it gave us an opportunity to get into brick and mortar retail locations. It’s not easy sharing shelf space with the big brands, but we’re not giving up!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Mr. Wigglebottom’s – what should we know?
Mr. Wigglebottom’s specializes in amazing dog shampoo. We are known for providing quality products, great customer service, and we genuinely care about our customers.

The most exciting and proud moment was the day Mariah from Pit Bulls and Parolees contacted us on Etsy to say she loves the shampoo and asked if they could carry it in their shop; The Tahyo in New Orleans. Of course I said, “Absolutely!” Our product was shown in the background of a scene during their Christmas show on Animal Planet in 2016 and my phone lit up with calls and texts from people who recognized our logo and bottle. My fiance and I were so happy, it brought tears to our eyes. I’m very thankful and fortunate to have Mariah as a fan and I am a fan of hers as well.

We were also proud to donate Mr. Wigglebottom’s shampoo to The Humane Society of North Texas to care for and bathe dozens of Aussies taken in from a hoarding case as well as donating supplies and shampoo to Animal Investigation and Response when they assisted animals affected by Hurricane Harvey. It’s a small part to donate, but we’re glad we could help in some way.

Our dog shampoo is different from others because it is certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny, the ingredients are vegan (nothing animal derived), we don’t use sulfates, the shampoo is pH balanced for dogs so it’s gentle on their skin, and it is very easy to rinse out of the dog’s coat. We’re working on obtaining vegan certification and that will also help set us apart from many other brands.

Since the product is concentrated, our customers don’t need to use as much as other shampoos when bathing a dog so they get more baths for their buck. We pride ourselves on customer service, quality, value, and the well being of our canine friends. We also donate a portion of our sales to animal rescue groups and often sponsor dog washes to raise funds for animal shelters.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My fiance, Harry, helped finance the changes we needed to make in order to sell our products in retail locations, he helps me fill and label every bottle we sell, he helps pack our larger orders for shipment and does a daily run to the post office to mail orders. It’s a lot of work filling and labeling by hand, but we enjoy being very connected to how our product is made.

I have also had many supporters along the way and there isn’t enough room to name them all individually, but I want to give a huge “Thank you!” to all of my animal rescue friends in Texas, New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, Louisiana, and any other states I have missed, as well as all of our long time friends and our family for supporting us, telling everyone how much they love our dog shampoo, and sharing photos on social media of their dogs after a bath with Mr. Wigglebottom’s.

I am extremely thankful too for the retailers who carry our products, our repeat customers and new friends we have made while being a vendor at events and sincerely appreciate their business, support, great reviews, and for letting us play and cuddle with their dogs.

Pricing:

• 8 ounce bottle $12.99
• 16 ounce bottle $17.99

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mrwigglebottoms.com
• Email: info@mrwigglebottoms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrwigglebottom
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mr.Wigglebottoms
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TDWigglebottom
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MrWigglebottoms

Image Credit:
Miso and Mei Mei – Mona Nicolas-Stegall, Carolin Murphy, Resa Rose. “Dirty snout” – Kathy Rice Schmitt, Coleen Gray-Turner

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.