Ampac Manufactures Dog Drinking Pouch Package for Wetbone Company

March 2007

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CINCINNATI, Ohio—Wetbone Company is launching the first-ever water in a flexible drinking pouch package for dogs on the go. The 16-ounce, dog bone-shaped pouch, features two-compartments with a reservoir for the purified, vitamin enriched water at the bottom and a “drinking bowl” at the top. The pouch, a three-layer, polyester/foil/linear low-density polyethylene lamination, is being manufactured by the Ampac Flexibles business unit of Ampac Packaging.

Wetbone’s patent-pending delivery system relies on an additional 4 mil piece of polyethylene (an upside-down gusset), the middle section of which is heat-sealed to opposing inner walls of the flexible pouch (close to the top) to create a hammock-like drinking bowl. Four voids in the heat seal (two on each side) create small 9mm channels which enable the water to transfer from the lower compartment into the top or bowl section when the pouch is squeezed.

To use, the pet owner removes the tear strip at the top of the flexible “bone” and opens the press-to-close zipper. Then one hand is used to squeeze the bottom of the pouch, while the other is cupped around the top section forming a rounded opening. The squeezing action forces a small amount of water through the channels and into the top bowl area. The owner can then offer the pouch to the pooch for drinking.

The channels also allow the water to trickle back down into the bottom receptacle if the dog elects not to lap up all of the liquid in the top bowl. The press-to-close zipper enables the pouch to be resealed and transported again for later use.

The concept is the brainchild of Wetbone cofounders and product developers Sue Tyska and Tony Tropea. Both had extensive experience developing products in a variety of other categories when they came up with idea to address the pet market in an innovative and portable way. Their challenge was to find the right pouch producer that could translate their concept and turn it into something that was able to be commercially manufactured.

“The most challenging part was the flow rate. We didn’t want a ton of water in the bowl when the consumer first opened the pouch. We needed to find a way to properly move the water from the reservoir into the bowl and do it in a way that would give us a pouch that could be commercially manufactured in a cost-effective way,” Tyska explains.