Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes of Meg K9 Custom Dog Leads, is a busy little hub of creativity, hustle and bustle. The story started in July 2006, when I, Sarah, went to Heckington Show, Lincolnshire. I spotted a little stall, where someone was selling dog leads.

I was already running a dog training school at what was then Meg Heath Boarding Kennels. My mind went in to overdrive and that lightbulb moment in every entrepreneurs mind, “I can do this!”, but my thought process was closely followed by “and I can do this better!”

Early Days

August 2006 was the month of creation for the business. I bought an Industrial Sewing Machine, new off eBay, I found an e-Commerce platform called Shop Factory and found a supplier. Then began the creation of the core products.

• Long Training Leads
• Standard Dog Lead
• Collar
• Car Lead (came in 2009)

Pre-Covid

From 2006-2020, the business was always a side gig, but in March 2020, this little business had to become the bread winner. Meg Heath Kennels had to close, so the income from that died over night sadly. I had no intention of re-starting the kennels like many others did – my time was done with that. After 12 years 24/7 I was tired.

It was hard work, but I was nothing short of determined. Sadly, as a side effect of Covid, the scripts of our society decided it was a great idea to go around taking other peoples beloved pets.

When Buster the Lab Corgi hit our news. I knew I had my work cut out. Buster was snatched in broad daylight from his elderly owner. I believe to this day, poor Buster was never recovered.

heftI set about designing an anti-theft dog lead. On the third iteration, the lead was perfected. To this day, I still sell the Stealth Anti Theft Dog Lead, but thank God, I don’t sell any where near as many as I did at its’ peak.

Dragons’ Den

In 2021, I was approached by the BBC. They asked if I wanted to appear on the show. I told them no, but that I’d have a think about it. I told my friend and said, do you fancy going on telly? The idea was that she would do it for me! I found out that wasn’t allowed, you had to be part of the business.

Anyway, I thought long and hard and decided I’d be stupid to miss this. So I set about planning the process.

In January 2022 it aired, infamously fluffing my accounts, but behind the scenes it was bitter sweet.

I had a wardrobe and hair malfunction and was immensely nervous. When it came down to it, my nerves disappeared and I sailed through – bar the financial side of it!

It was the best thing that happened to my little business, people still say now ‘weren’t you on Dragons’ Den?’ yeah, I reply, ‘but I don’t talk about it that much’. I can’t thank DD for the success of the Stealth Anti Theft Dog Lead, as I didn’t win any backing from the Dragon’s – I wasn’t bothered, I walked away winning a lot more than money.

Top was the star of the show! They made cat noises in the lift to make him prick his ears which was funny. He was 150% good boy and never put a foot wrong.

We stopped for Burger King on the way home and he had his own bite of a burger!

Autumn 2025

Autumn 2025 brings my 19th year complete. Having gone through one re brand, various logos and lots of new products tested and failed, the true winners in this are the good old fashioned practical dog leads, nothing fancy, they just do the job.

My true winners in terms of products are the head collars – anti pull training aids, long recall training leads, the car boot lead, the anti theft lead and the dog walking belt – the latter being the best seller for some months now.

Prototypes or MPV’s (Minimal Viable Product)

Ever had a unique idea for a dog lead or collar, but not known where to start? This is something we’ve been doing since 2006 and may be able to help you bring your dream product idea to life.

Assuming it’s within our skillset and product availability, we might be able to help you. We’ve made dog leads and head collars for people to then go on and market. Most ideas are pretty much covered these days, but if you think you have a unique invention or idea, we can have a chat and share details of our fee and what we can help you with.

Prices start at £175.00 & this includes making your prototype and help with IPO design rights, if you are going down the route of Patents then you may or may not want UK IPO as well, that is for you to decide. Your first consultation for 30 minutes is charged at £20.00 and that’s to decided if we can help. You can book here. Please email ahead of the meeting with any documents relevant, including an NDA for us to sign.

If your design is more complex, we can discuss this at the meeting and decide a way forward. I look forward to hearing from you.