Our Story

All About Puppies

Laser focused on saving puppies in the first 4 weeks of life.

Chapter 1: Loss

After losing two beloved Shelties 45 days apart, and six months of
grieving, Debbie and Ken wanted a Sheltie puppy. They decided to
purchase an AKC Shetland Sheepdog puppy from breeder Susan
Endsley. Two of the five puppies in the litter they were looking at, were
small for gestational age and passed. One of those puppies was
getting stronger, but it crawled under the hot water bottler used to
deliver warmth and suffocated. Susan Endsley does not give up on
her puppies. In 30 years of dog breeding, she would invest her heart
and soul into small for gestational age puppies, sometimes for three
weeks of intensive care--Susan estimated she saved one out of every
10 puppies. Loss is hard. Loss is an opportunity to lean, to solve the
problem. Debbie and Ken got one of the three remaining puppies,
Chaos, in their home to fill their hearts with gratitude. Ken, with
expertise in thermal management, made an incubator and gave it to
Susan instead of a thank you note.

Chapter 2: Surprising Success

Ken thought the incubator would take the save rate from 1 in 10, to 1
in 2. Susan thought that would be a significant improvement. From a
10% save rate in 30 years to a 50% success going forward seemed
like a stretch goal. Susan’s expertise combined with the first incubator
Ken ever built resulted in a 94% success rate with the most difficult to
save puppies.

Ken wanted to know what further testing needed to happen before we
could put puppies in the incubator. The incubator, tested for weeks,
controller programming refined, was set to not deviate from 88°, for the test. Prevailing research stated that the average puppy regulates
temperature 11°F above their ambient temperature. (Through our
experience we now know Small for Gestational Age (SGA) puppies
need a higher starting temperature of 90°F--check out our blog articles
to learn more). All puppies were more vigorous and our first SGA
puppy was saved.

The very first incubator utilized the same technology: heater, sensor
and controller, that was later used in the first production units. Susan
said, “I have puppies about to be born. This is better than anything I
have. You want to test it? Get a hotel room, and you will probably see
puppies in your machine tonight or tomorrow. Susan gave Ken some
of the first lessons about how to tell if a puppy was comfortable. All
puppies thrived, including the SGA puppy. In the very first use, this
incubator, foundational for Puppywarmer, saved one of the most
difficult puppies to save.

Chapter 3: A Company Called Puppywarmer is Born

Susan Endsley self titled her efforts with Ken as “nagging”; sending
photos of puppies when they were at risk, rejoining their litter mates,
and going home with their familes. Every photo may any day better.
The only way to see more photos of saved puppies was to start a
company. Susan Endsley prevailed--Puppywarmer was born. Ken did
not build the first incubator to start a company. Susan Endsley said
“There is nothing like this incubator on the market. You owe it to the
world to start a company.” These are Susan’s words. To be fair, the
world was not asking for Puppywarmer--Susan Endsley is very
persuasive. Dog breeders look out for each other. Susan Endsley
looked out for you.

Ken built eight incubators and sold six of them at the very first show.
Dorothy Clem, a Schipperke breeder, bought the first incubator.
Debbie Sunden, initially skeptical saw many breeders hug Ken when
they picked up their incubator. Debbie said “We have to do this!” Since
then, Ken has been the innovator and Debbie has implemented
technology to make the company run, managed bookkeeping and
accounting, and even HR. Most customers know of Ken. Debbie is just
as responsible for helping Puppywarmer succeed.

It was Dorothy Clem that said “If you fix the oxygen issue, you really
have something.” Ken asked, “What’s he oxygen issue, don’t you just
use oxygen tanks?” Dorothy explained that oxygen was getting harder
to buy and the tank could run out at night or on the weekend. You
could lose a puppy when you run out. Ken worked with a partner to
tailor a new, small and quiet oxygen concentrator tuned to the needs
of puppies delivering “puppy friendly flow rates.

Chapter 4: Breeders, Rescue and Veterinarians show the
versatility of the Puppywarmer System

SGA puppies, gasping puppies, aspirated puppies, premature
puppies, cleft palate puppies--all have benefitted and improved overall
survival rate with Puppywarmer. All, newborn puppies, specifically in
the first few feedings, process colostrum better when their
temperature is above 95°F. Gasping puppies, when oxygen is
immediately applied will almost always “pink up” in 45-90 seconds--
preventing their puppy’s “gut from closing to colostrum early.” Once it
was learned that many breeders were putting all puppies in the
Puppywarmer--the then smallest size was discontinued, and we
added the 18x24 size. More puppies getting the best start in life meant
we had to develop a new, larger sized Puppywarmer.

We have some rescue groups that have not turned our incubators off
in seven years--something we never anticipated in the first year of the
company. Our partnership with Rescue Groups has led to discoveries
that helps every Puppywarmer customer.
See Chapter 6 for the veterinarians contributions to our products.

Chapter 5: Breeders Talk

The original customers saved puppies just like Susan Endsley. We
would get calls “I have the same breed as (breeders name) I need the
same set-up.” Ken thought Puppywarmer might sell 25 units a year,
our customers had other plans. It seems our customer are as grateful
for us as we are for them. When you see someone ask a question on
a Breeder Canine Neonatology Facebook Page or other help group--
Puppywarmer customers activate. We are inspired by how they act as
Puppywarmer brand ambassadors. We didn’t ask them to do this.
They did not have a meeting and decide. Our customers are
Puppywarmer’s superpower. We owe them our best.

Chapter 6: Veterinarians

Debbie Sunden’s father is Dr. Edward Foster--a reproductive
veterinarian most of his career. When Ed saw the incubators in the
early days of the company, he said “I wish I had this when I was in
practice.” Ed introduced Ken to Dr. Randall (Randy) Carpenter, then
owner of Family Friends Veterinary Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI.
Family Friends is a reproductive practice, and agreed to try a
Puppywarmer Incubator and Oxygen Concentrator during a C-Section.
After three C-sections Randy wrote, “In 30 years of being a
veterinarian, I have never seen puppies feed like this coming out of a

C-section. Invoice us immediately. We never want to see this
incubator and oxygen concentrator leave our building.”
(In 2024 Puppywarmer was thrilled to donate a ProSeries incubator,
concentrator and cart to Michigan State University in honor of Dr.
Edward Foster’s distinguished career and commitment his community
and service through Rotary Club international--thank you Ed!)
Dr. Carpenter later asked Ken if he would speak at a Breeder’s
Excellence conference at Michigan State University--Ken’s alma
mater. There about six other speakers, all veterinarians--and Ken
Sunden. Puppywarmer was just six months old. It was there where
Ken met Dr. Marthina (Marty) Greer. Ken spoke just before Marty.
Marty invited Ken to visit Veterinary Village, in Lomira, Wisconsin.
Marty Greer is a force of nature, author of Canine Reproduction and
Neonatology, now a dear friend and mentor. When Marty speaks, she
endorses Puppywarmer and has seven Puppywarmer systems in her
practice.

After the conference two Golden Retriever breeders customers, Erin
Lynn (verify name) and Shannon Brie, approached Ken. “We came
here to see you speak.” Ken said “How is this possible?” They said,
“When we pull our puppies out of the incubator, they are warm on all
sides. Normally there is a warm side and a cool side. We wanted to
know how you do it.”
We help each other learn. We are a team, we are a community
focused on healthy puppies. Back then we used to say “Warm puppies
become cool dogs.”

Chapter 7: The Pandemic

Puppywarmer grew to the point where it was no longer workable in the
Sunden family basement. The hobby business was no longer a hobby
business. Our customers drove the growth. Ken had to limit
production of Puppywarmer incubators or leave his job of 17 years.
Breeders stories and photos brought joy. The Ohio State University
was the first teaching veterinary hospital to use Puppywarmer
systems. Veterinarians added Puppywarmer to their practices.
Service Dog Organizations were using Puppywarmer. Our partnership
with rescue groups improved save rates of the most at risk puppies.
Ken and Debbie chose Puppywarmer. Ken and Debbie pursued
purpose.

On March 2, 2020, Ken Sunden gave his notice to his employer of 17
years. Ken and Debbie signed a lease for a 5,000 square foot space.
It looked enormous at the time. On March 12, 2020--COVID 19
wason the rise. Michigan was locking down. What seemed to be the
worst time to sign a lease, move from a hobby to a “real” company,
and quit a job--actually turned out to be the best time. People staying
home wanted puppies. Every saved puppy would find a home. We
had oxygen concentrators. We knew our product performance was
strong. We had no idea the how the demand for our products would
change overnight.

Ken developed jigs and fixturing to improve production. He was first a
lone person in a 5000 square foot facility, playing 1980’s music loud. It
was the perfect COVID job. Soon after, we made our first hire--and the
loud music was more of an after hours thing. Still, to rock out during
the height of COVID and grow a company that built incubators that
save at risk puppies is a great example of making the best out of a
bad situation.

Chapter 8: Our Black Friday Sale in 2021

Black Friday, it seems just about everybody does it. We offered free
shipping. Black Friday sales are designed to sell slow moving
inventory. We were working long hours to stay ahead. The Monday
after Thanksgiving, every incubator we had in stock was sold. FedEx
had to send a second truck to pick up the rest of the orders. We called
customers to see who needed the incubator right away and who could
wait a week. Ken worked 60-hour work weeks and we were thankful
we hired an employee to clean and package finished goods, and a
customer service employee who also labeled and shipped products.
We are able to complete all orders over the next 10 days. This Black
Friday sale made us a better comapany. We now have airport carts
ready to go, loaded with either 18”x18” incubators or 18”x24”
incubators. We can often go from a web order to the dock, ready for
pickup, within 20 minutes every work day of the year.

Chapter 9: Learning and Improving

Throughout the course of our history, we have listened to our
customers. This led to innovation and improvements including:

• Phasing out our previous smallest unit and adding the 18”x24” as breeders starting putting all puppies in the litter to better process colostrum
• Real-time oxygen concentration monitoring
• Upgrading the controller with a “double lock” so customers would have to be extraordinarily resourceful to change the programming.
• Solid state relay switch when we learned some rescue partners never turn their incubator off
• Washable Fleece inserts and washable pee pads for use after the first critical day, making breeder and rescue lives just a little easier
• Rechargeable Hand-held mesh nebulizer that can be placed inside the so an aspirated puppies can recover in a warm, oxygen rich, salt water air environment
• Packaging innovations because shipping glass is not an easy thing but non-porous glass is easy to keep clean, provides excellent visibility and creates the right thermal gradient so all puppies and find their right spot.
• Threaded syringe feeding nipples for secure feeding of critical and orphan puppies
• We will continue to listen…there is more to come…Thank you!

Chapter 10: Your Puppies tell our Story

You and your puppies are our purpose. As you save puppies our
stories grow. Do you have a Puppywarmer success story to tell? Are
you ready to write your chapter?
We often say “Puppywarmer makes the instruments, you make the
music. The puppies you save are the result of your commitment,
investment, and knowledge. We love to hear your music.”
We will do all we can to ensure your music will play on.