How it all started…

The seeds of our story go way back. That’s me (Yuan Cheng, Director) and my dog, Goldieball. Technically he was my brother’s dog, but we used to joke that if my brother was Goldie’s owner, then I was Goldie’s little friend. Whether it was fetch, football, naps, or chess, we did everything together, and something about that has always stuck with me. Friends (even furry ones) don’t just play together; they do everything together. For thousands of years humans and dogs have tackled every challenge hand-in-paw, from finding food to herding sheep to more recently surviving shelter-in-place boredom. So why not save Tahoe together?

Over the last 10 years, researchers at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) have identified a surprising link between invasive Mysis and Tahoe’s lake clarity. And it turns out these Mysis are a superfood packed with protein and healthy fats. When TERC funded an MBA project to find the best partner for eliminating these Mysis, dogs were the surprisingly obvious choice for a win-win-win solution. Our dogs get to enjoy a healthy treat, Tahoe’s lake clarity gets restored, and we humans get to save the planet alongside our best friends.

As the MBA program came to a close, Yuan (our founding director) assembled a team of his most creative, nature-loving friends to join the project (that’s us!). With the support of TERC and a highly experienced network of expert researchers at UC Davis, we’ve made it to where we are today. We’ve assembled an eager team of food scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs and are excited to bring you and your dog some shrimply delicious treats to save Lake Tahoe, one bite at a time.