Russ Easter and Stu Hicks didn’t just fall into making CBD gravy for their best friends.
They were called to it.
After a series of near-death experiences, chronic health scares, and the loss of two beloved Golden Retrievers, Russ and Stu wanted to do something they believed in.
It all started when both of them realized how short life is. And that they wanted their dogs to live for as long as possible.
“As a single guy, my dogs have always been my family and, as my family, I’d do anything I could to make their lives as happy, healthy and wonderful as possible,” said Russ.
Russ Easter
Russ Easter said his calling began after he was pronounced dead after being stabbed through the heart. While walking down a sidewalk after work in Spokane, WA., Russ was assaulted by a kid trying to get into a gang.
“As the lucky and grateful survivor of a violent crime,” Easter said, “I’ve always looked at each day as a gift and cherished every moment. Throughout my life most of those moments have been spent with my 7 dogs.”
When COVID hit, Russ was laid off from his corporate job like millions of others. Sadly, it was during this time that Russ also lost his two Golden Retrievers, Leo & London, in short succession.
“Sitting in my home all alone for the first time in decades, the quiet was deafening. I began to contemplate what I was doing with my life and what the future held for me” he said.
“I’d always had a dream of starting my own business. And if I didn’t pursue it now, then when would I?” Russ said.
During the last few years of his dog’s lives, he had wanted to give them a nutritious CBD supplement, but he didn’t like the products that were flooding the pet CBD market.
They were all made with chemicals and cheap, unhealthy ingredients. They also required the pet owner to figure out the dosing.
So he decided to make it himself.
After seeing results in his elderly Golden Retrievers and in his friend’s and neighbor’s dogs, he thought: “Maybe this could be the business I’d start?”
It was serendipitous that the pet CBD industry was exploding at the time. But there was one thing missing from this booming industry: CBD supplements that were all-natural and healthy.
Enter the idea of Good Dawg Gravy – Central Oregon’s own CBD gravy.
Stu Hicks
But all ideas need support. That’s when Stu came into the picture. Russ and Stu had met at a local tech company years prior. Stu had first-hand experience of CBD changing his life. He had also helped many businesses get off the ground since moving to Bend in 2002.
Stu Hicks knows CBD’s powerful properties because it’s the only product that has helped him manage his muscular dystrophy symptoms.
“I was introduced to CBD after living with Adult Onset Muscular Dystrophy for several years,” said Stu.
“I was so physically depleted. By the age of 45, my physician advised me to be fitted for a cane,” Stu said.
“While it took some time, within the first month of taking an all-natural CBD product daily, I began to see progress out of deterioration and into strength.”
“At the time very few people knew about CBD. When a business acquaintance shared his intent to produce the best products here in Central Oregon, I encouraged him to make something all-natural.”
Armed with the necessary medicinal and industry understanding, CBD Gravy was finally more than just an idea. It was now a Central Oregon-born Beta product ready for trials in DogTown, USA.
What is Good Dawg Gravy?
Russell Easter’s and Stu Hicks’ brainchild was born. But what exactly is it?
It’s an all-natural, healthy and nutritious CBD gravy topper that has been designed for all cycles of a dog’s life.
Russ and Stu wanted their product to be the healthiest CBD supplement on the market.
“It was my goal to create our lines of CBD Gravies without the unhealthy chemicals, additives or flavor masking agents found in other Pet CBD products”, Russ said.
Russ and Stu also work with a former Senior Food Scientist responsible for the creation of two huge dog food brands, IAMS and EUKANUBA.
“He’d recently retired and when I told him of my quest, he jumped at the chance as he’d wanted to do something all-natural and healthy for pets for decades,” Russ said.
Right now, Russ and Stu are offering dog guardians a Risk Free, 21 Day Trial of their all natural, CBD Gravies. They come in the varieties: Original, Senior, Calming and Youth.
“Our goal is to make sure our good dawgs are happy and healthy as possible in every phase of their relatively short time with us,” said Stu.
“Russ’s vision has evolved from capturing the benefits he saw firsthand with aging dogs using CBD, in an all natural, healthy, daily delivery system, to a product line with gravies for all stages of life.”
Author: Ely Twiggs
Ely's love for the outdoors and having first hand experience of the shortness of life was the impetus for her move from Australia into an RV to travel the US. When she got to Bend, she knew this was the place. After creating The Dog in Us, a multi-channel platform about exploring National Parks with Dogs, she wanted to bring dog-approved resources to a local community she loves. Enter The Dog Guide Bend, a resource made for the Bend Dog Community. Ely is the guardian of two rescue dogs, Alaska and Smoky Joe, and they are the center of her universe. Ely and her husband Tom run a mobile RV repair business called Meet You There RV Repair & Inspection.