I Started Zoomys Wellness Because My Dog Was Suffering.

I want to tell you about Miles.

Miles came to us from a breeder. He was separated from his mother too young something we didn't fully understand the impact of until much later. From almost the beginning, he struggled. Chronic skin rashes. Gut issues that never seemed to resolve. Anxiety that made him hard to settle. He was this beautiful, energetic dog who was clearly uncomfortable in his own body, and we couldn't figure out why.

We tried everything. Vet visits. Medications. Shampoos. Different kibble. Nothing really moved the needle. The issues would calm down for a bit and then come right back.

For years, we just assumed this was Miles. That this was just how he was built. 

We were wrong.

The thing nobody told us about treats

While we were focused on his main meals, we didn't think much about his treats. We were buying the ones from the pet store the colourful ones in the nice packaging that said things like "natural" and "wholesome" on the front.

We didn't read the back.

When we finally did, it was one of those moments where you can't un-see something. Twenty-something ingredients in a chicken treat. Artificial flavours. Preservatives we couldn't pronounce. Binders, fillers, colours.

And we were giving him these every single day.

Around the same time, I was dealing with my own version of the same problem

I was eating a lot of processed food. A lot. And I was dealing with the consequences of bad acne, constant bloating, and energy that crashed mid-afternoon. I felt rubbish, honestly.

It took a while to connect the dots. But eventually I did.

I cleaned up my diet. Cut out the processed stuff, went back to real whole ingredients, started actually reading labels on my own food the same way I had started reading them on Miles's treats.

The difference I felt was significant enough that I thought if this is what real food does for me, what would it do for him?

So we started making his treats ourselves

My mum and I started in our kitchen. Just us, real ingredients, a dehydrator, and a dog who had absolutely no idea he was about to become a guinea pig.

We started simple. Single ingredients. Chicken. Lamb. Fish. Nothing else.

And we watched.

Within a few months, things started shifting. His digestion settled. The rashes started fading. He seemed calmer, not medicated calm, genuinely calm. Like a dog who finally felt okay in his body.

By eight months in, 90% of his skin issues were completely gone.

I want to say that again because I still find it hard to believe sometimes - 90% gone. Not managed. Not controlled with medication. Gone. From changing what he ate.

But then came the boredom problem

Real food is brilliant. But dogs get bored too.

We started experimenting with different combinations - always clean, always single or minimal ingredients, but different flavours, different textures, different proteins. We wanted to keep things interesting for him without compromising on what had made such a difference.

Over time, we developed, tested, failed, adjusted, and retested more recipes than I can count. Somewhere around 70, actually. Some were disasters. Some were delicious but didn't dehydrate well. Some were perfect.

We kept five.

Those five recipes became Zoomys.

Why we decided to share it

Honestly, we didn't start with a business plan. We started because Miles was struggling and we couldn't find what we needed on any shelf. And when we found what worked, it felt wrong to keep it just for ourselves.

Because I know there are other dog parents out there doing exactly what we were doing buying the colourful packets, reading "natural" on the front, not reading the back, watching their dog deal with issues that never seem to fully go away.

I was you. Not that long ago.

Zoomys is just what we make in our kitchen,  the same things we give my 4 dogs every day. Real ingredients. Minimal processing. No shortcuts.

From our kitchen to yours.

— Rose