Our Original Squeaker Mats are back by popular demand! Our philosophy of Always Innovating lead us to invent the first “bubble wrap” for dogs way back in 2006 (that’s 28 dog years!). For our next innovative evolution in the product line we developed the Character Squeaker Mats which really took off. So, we discontinued the originals.  It turns out we were a little premature retiring the “classics.”  We’ve listened to your emails and phone calls, and have decided to relauch the originals.  After all, McMoose needed a new ‘blankie’.  Watch this short video for the full story below, and let us know how long your original squeaker mats have been around in the comments. And don’t forget to stock up on the originals, you never know when they’ll head off to retirement again!

We are excited to launch our new Squeaky Squiggler Sea Monster toys.  These cute guys have an outer layer of plush with an inner layer of nylon for durability (that inner nylon layer prevents the soft plush from stretching beyond it’s limits).  Along with the four squeakers and a rattle, the inner nylon layer on the tentacles creates a noise that dogs’ love when they shake ‘em in their mouth. We call this the ‘flappability factor’.  Watch my short video for more details and a better view of these new toys…

Our popular line of Squeaker Mats are cute and make us smile, but we’re Always Innovating here at Kyjen so we’ve decided to throw some funny guys into the mix to make you laugh!  These cute characters have eight squeakers and a rattle inside. Like the entire Squeaker Mats family, these “funnies” are bound to last longer than single-squeaker toys from other companies costing about the same!  Get more details and see them here in this short video:

After some hard work by our creative team, we’ve finally got digital versions our 2010 Dog Toy and Holiday catalog available for browsing on the web. You’ll find plenty of examples of our “Always Innovating” philosophy, as well as some old favorites.   But don’t forget to come back often, or better yet subscribe, as we have some hot new products in the pipeline that won’t make it into these catalogs immediately.

After a week and half, we are getting settled under one roof here in Colorado. (See our previous blog post about the move). We’ve also updated our About Us and Contact pages to reflect our current digs.

- Kyle Hansen

At Kyjen we’re on a mission to create the best pet products in the world!
To do that, we’ve based our operations near the Colorado foothills where we can hike, play, and entertain our pooches to their hearts’ content… all the while doing the in-depth research and development required to maintain a thriving business that appeals to pets and their owners worldwide! Every day is “Bring Your Pet To Work Day” at Kyjen!

Our Team…
Our Founders, Kyle and Jennifer Hansen (the “Ky” and the “Jen”), established Kyjen in 1992. As a privately–held company, Kyjen prides itself in independence, transparency, accessibility, and the ability to remain nimble in the marketplace. We are known as top innovators in the pet industry – a reputation we happily support.

Our Sales Managers make our business possible, delivering our toys to retailers, pets and owners the world over with the finesse and magnetism that keeps our fans begging for the “next new thing”.

Our Customer Service Reps are a team of all stars, constantly working through issues to emerge as “the good guys”. They build Kyjen loyalty on a daily basis. When you call Kyjen during business hours, you talk to a real live person! Give us a call: 303-792-9600.

Our Creative Team invents ways to make our products appealing 365 days a year. From product packaging to catalogs, and all creative aspects in between, this team surprises us on a regular basis – they make our dreams a reality that translates directly to our human and animal friends.

The backbone of Kyjen is comprised of our outstanding Support Team, including our Inventory Managers, and our Accounting and Finance Team. They make sure we’ve got what you want when you want it at a fair price. We never forget that they’re the foundation of our success.

Waiting to Hear from You…
Your feedback is our most valuable barometer for how we’re doing. We’d love to hear from you – contact us or connect with us to become a part of the Kyjen family. And whatever you do, sign up for our blog’s RSS feed at your earliest convenience! Learn about new products and special deals by following us on Twitter

Going the Extra Mile…
We LOVE what we do. Hands down, we’re the happiest people in the industry! None of us can imagine anything more rewarding than the daily pursuit of animal happiness. We do our best to spread the fun and games to everyone, donating to charities and participating in events as often as possible. Get out and play! is what we truly believe in… and we think it’s contagious.

At long last, we can finally reveal the many positive changes that have been going on behind the scenes at Kyjen for many months, all designed to provide you with a better customer experience from exceptional customer service to new, fun and practical product innovations for your dogs!

Here’s a summary of our big news:

The Move to Colorado: As of February 8, 2010, we will no longer operate out of California and will be based under one roof in Colorado.

During this move, our offices will be closed on February 5th and will reopen on February 8th. Our new Colorado phone number  is (303) 792-9600. Our toll free phone number is unchanged at (800)-477-5735. All current email addresses will be functional, but we won’t be able to respond to email on Friday 5th during transit. We will update the information about our new team members soon.

New Management and Personnel: Unfortunately, only a couple of our valued team members were able to leave California, thus we have expanded our team to include new Colorado personnel.  We are excited to welcome a new Inventory Manager, a new Operations Manager, a new IT and Product Development Team, as well as all new members of our Customer Service Team.

New Factories and Warehouse: We apologize for the recent shipping issues we have experienced as a result of our factory of 13 years closing.  We have been working non-stop to align with new factories, and our in-stock position has greatly improved — we expect to be back to full stock levels very soon.  We are also now fully operational and shipping from a new highly-efficient automated warehouse in Nevada.

New Product Launches: Despite the many changes above, we have been hard at work on an array of exciting new products that we will be launching in the coming weeks and throughout the year.  Our first launch will include some new dog toys and a brand new dog toy catalog in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned to this blog for more details!

Thank you for your continued confidence and support through all of these changes.  We are thrilled to have you as our customer (or as a prospective Kyjen customer)!

– Kyle Hansen & The Entire Kyjen Team

With a mixture of happiness and sadness, Kyjen is announcing all its operations will be under one roof in Colorado.  For the last five years we have been happy and healthy with an office near the beach in California and an office near the mountains in Colorado.  With many big changes in the works, we decided it was best for all involved to be in one location — Colorado.

We’re confident the unified office can take Kyjen to new levels of service along with even better new product innovations.  We are happy some of the California team is able to make the move, and sad that others, for personal reasons, will not. We wish them the best.

Please stay-tuned to our blog for details of our move in the coming months and all the changes we plan to make.

Even in these turbulent economic times, independent pet retailers in the pet industry are thriving. We know because these Indies, as I call them, are a core part of Kyjen’s success and we are seeing the growth.

I visit Indies in person on a regular basis, I’ve seen their successes first hand and I’ve observed some simple and straight forward reasons why I think they survive and thrive.

1. They sell the top-quality Super-Premium pet foods that are simply not available in the pet superstore chains or grocery stores.

2. They don’t just stock Super-Premium foods, they educate the buying public and sell them. When McMoose is having an issue (skin problems, putting on extra weight, etc), I  just head over to one of my local dealers for a quick consultation on what food or supplements they suggest and why.

3. The best Indies present the new and unique products first to the consumer.  They are vigilant about finding and researching what’s new, hot and different. They pass this knowledge on to the consumer.

There are many other things the Indies do to survive and thrive in the shadows of their competitors in their own unique ways.

Tell us about your favorite Indie store in the comments. (Indie stores tell us about yourself!)