Battle Creek company is on a mission to save puppies and other low-weight newborn animals

Ken Sunden is preparing ship the first five units of his premium model incubators this week from the Fort Custer Industrial Complex.

The sleek glass incubator is one of three such products made by his company, Warmer3, under the brand name Puppywarmer.

The $1,075 unit is being marketed to veterinarians, breeders, wildlife rescues and animal service organizations. It's part of a line of Puppywarmer products aimed at improving the viability of at-risk newborn puppies, kittens, piglets, hatchlings, bunnies and the like.

The company that started in the basement of Sunden's Richland home now nearly fills his 5,000-square-foot space in Fort Custer with Puppywarmer incubators and oxygen concentrators designed to save newborn animals.

"I thought we could sell some units, donate some units to rescues," Sunden said of his initial plans. "What ended up happening is people had the same experience where they were saving puppies that they did not expect to save.

"This thing just keeps on surprising me."

'Started with loss and empathy'

Sunden was a vice president at Nexthermal, a heater manufacturer in Battle Creek, when his daughter purchased a Shetland Sheepdog from a breeder in Salem, Ohio, in 2016.

While on a work trip in Ohio, Sunden stopped by to visit the breeder, Susan Endsley, and take pictures of the litter to send to his daughter before she could bring the dog home at the eight-week mark.

"Our house was a little bit empty and my wife said, 'We need al little chaos,'" Sunden recalled. So he and his wife, Debbie, bought a Sheltie of their own, named Chaos.

In Chaos' litter, two of the five puppies were small for their gestational age and died within the first three days of life.

"Unfortunately, pre-Puppywarmer, two of them died and didn't make it because of lack of heat and thermoregulation," Endsley said. "They were small for gestational age, you usually do get a runt or two in every litter. Pre-Puppywarmer, it was typical."

Endsley had been using a converted bird incubator or a heating pad to warm newborn puppies, which were both unreliable and required 24/7 supervision. 

Upon learning how Chaos' siblings had died, Sunden sprang to action. He spent the next few months sketching incubators, and eventually came around to building one that digitally controlled the temperature through a ceramic infrared heater and gave it to Endsley.

"This whole thing starts with loss and empathy," Sunden said. "If it has difficulty thermal regulating or is hypoxic, these things can be solved with the right environment, immediately."

Endsley, a breeder for 35 years, said the first litter of Shelties to use what would become the Puppywarmer prototype was from a mother who "typically lost four to five" puppies. All five lived. She began sending text messages to Sunden of photos of other puppies that survived by way of the incubators, which encouraged him to build more.

Since using Puppywarmer, Endsley said roughly 94% of the SGA puppies she's bred have lived. She has also found the Puppywarmer incubator and oxygen concentrators to be effective in helping all neonatal puppies to have better outcomes, not just the ones with low birthweight.

"It not only saves the smaller ones, but it saves the ones that come out gasping," she said. "The first is usually the biggest, it's been in the birth canal for a long time. It perks them right up."

Coolest thing made in Michigan

Sunden left his position at Nexthermal in March and has been operating out of Fort Custer in a space leased from Battle Creek Unlimited since May. He said Warmer3 is already outgrowing the site after signing a distribution agreement that could result in the manufacture and sale of 600 Puppywarmer units per year. He would like to add another 10 to 12 employees in Battle Creek to help meet the demand.

It is not only veterinarians, breeders, wildlife rescues and animal service organizations that have taken notice of Puppywarmer. The product is currently one of 27 in the running for the Michigan Manufacturer's Association "Coolest Thing Made in Michigan" people's choice award.

Sunden said the company is on pace for three times the revenue it recorded in 2019. He also said he has been approached by potential investors.

For now, Sunden is continuing to build his startup on his own, with an eye towards sustainable growth. 

"I kind of did this as a hobby business," he said. "This was just a way that I relaxed, quite frankly. I thought years down the road, I would retire, we would do dog shows, have fun and travel and it would be something to keep me busy. I keep on underestimating this company... I'm having too much fun."

Nick Buckley can be reached at nbuckley@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0652. Follow him on Twitter:@NickJBuckley