Our story

It started with a bottle cap.

Gus, a black Lab, seven days without eating, and a kitchen full of fermenting vegetables. Here's how one dog became Gussy's Gut®.

Meet the GROW SystemHow fermentation works
It started with a bottle cap.
Rob and Gus, his black Labrador

Gus swallowed a bottle cap.

It was the cap from a plastic half-and-half carton, fished out of the trash. Slightly bent, it took seven days to pass. Gus didn't eat for all seven, and stopped drinking for the last three or four. The ultrasounds and X-rays never found it.

When it finally passed and Gus started eating again, I went to work on his gut with the only thing I trusted: whole organic vegetables, fermented in my own kitchen. Within two weeks he was himself again.

Those jars became Gussy's Gut®. The formulas we make today are far more specialized than what I made for Gus, but the spark was that one dog.

Rob & Gus
Rob Ryan, founder

Twenty-five years in the making

The company is young. The thinking behind it is not.

  1. 2000 · A vet and a Lab named Buddy

    Rob hires Dr. Ian Billinghurst, the creator of the B.A.R.F. diet, to teach him how to raw-feed his first black Lab. Buddy lives to a healthy sixteen.

  2. The bottle cap

    Gus swallows a cap and spends seven days unable to eat. The scans find nothing. When it passes, Rob starts fermenting vegetables for him.

  3. Two weeks later

    Gus is back to himself. The jars keep going, and so does the question: why does this work so well?

  4. Rob contacts Dr. B

    After fermenting for Gus many times, Rob wonders if other dogs would benefit and contacts Dr. Billinghurst. Twenty-plus years after Buddy, he and Dr. Billinghurst build Boost™ together: 18 organic superfoods, fermented as one batch by our proprietary wild fermentation.

  5. Today

    Four powders, GutAbles® treats, small batches made in the USA, and 14,500+ Happy Customers. Still farm to bowl. Still one dog at a time.

Dr. Ian Billinghurst

Our Chief Veterinary Advisor & Formulator

Formulated with the number one vet expert in species-appropriate feeding for dogs.

“This is the single most important upgrade to dog food in over 25 years.”

Dr. Ian Billinghurst, Chief Veterinary Advisor & Formulator
  • Veterinary surgeon
  • Creator of the B.A.R.F. diet, the “Father of Raw”
  • Author of four books on natural pet nutrition
  • Founder of the Billinghurst Institute
  • 40+ years of species-appropriate nutrition work

Rob met Dr. B in 2000, when he wanted to raw-feed his first Lab. Twenty-plus years later, they built Boost™ together, and Dr. Billinghurst has formulated every blend since.

Meet Dr. Billinghurst →

How it's made

Wild fermentation, two weeks at a time.

We take whole organic vegetables, roots, fruit, herbs, grasses and sprouts, grind them to a baby-food consistency, and ferment them together for two weeks. Fermentation does the work: it breaks down the plant cell walls so the nutrients are ready to absorb, and it creates probiotics and postbiotics along the way. Then we gently dry it, so one teaspoon carries all of it into the bowl.

Our proprietary wild fermentation process, developed over years by our three master fermenters, is one of our most closely guarded assets. It's slow, and it's why we make it the way we do.

  • Organic whole foods
  • Fermented for two weeks
  • Concentrated from 7½ lbs of ingredients
How fermentation works →

What we stand for

Six things we will not compromise on.

Ancestral nutrition

For millions of years dogs ate the fermented plant contents of their prey. We put that back in the bowl, with Dr. Billinghurst as our guide.

Gut-first

Gut health is at the center of all health. Feed the gut and the rest takes care of itself.

Clean ingredients

Organic and regeneratively sourced, from farms we know. Free of toxins, pesticides and herbicides. Nothing artificial, ever.

Fermentation first

Our products work because a dog's body recognizes real fermented food. No isolated strains, no synthetic premix.

Longevity and vitality

Not just a long life: a long, vibrant one. Health span should equal life span.

Small batch, made in the USA

Small runs mean every batch gets watched, and no preservatives are needed to keep a bag good for two years.

Make it simple for people to raise dogs that live long, healthy lives.

That's the whole mission. The big dream behind it: add one million healthy years to dogs' lives.

"The number one job of Gussy's Gut is to help create a content and comfortable dog without any gastrointestinal upset, who's absorbing more of their nutrients than they ever were before, so that the owner can supply the love and joy and fun, and the dog can enjoy that at a much deeper level than when they are in discomfort."

Rob Ryan, Founder

14,500+ Happy Customers
18 Fermented Superfoods
40+ Years of Dr. Billinghurst’s work in species-appropriate nutrition
2 Weeks of fermentation per batch
Still the chief taste-tester.

Gus today

Still the chief taste-tester.

Gus is the reason every batch exists, and he still gets the first spoon of every new run. Most mornings start the same way: a teaspoon stirred into breakfast, a walk, and a lawn check on the way back.

Everything on this site is something we do for our own dog first. If it isn't good enough for Gus's bowl, it doesn't ship.

See the GROW System →

Trusted by the vets who know

Hear it from the veterinarians

Integrative and raw-feeding vets on why they recommend fermented whole foods for the dogs in their care.

Dr. Ian Billinghurst

Dr. Ian Billinghurst

Father of Raw Feeding

“I start every gut recovery program with fermented foods”

Dr. Steve Marsden

Dr. Steve Marsden

Holistic Vet

“Fermentation is super important if you want to heal a leaky gut”

Dr. PJ Broadfoot

Dr. PJ Broadfoot

Holistic Vet

“Gussy's Gut Provides the nutrients that dogs need”

Dr. Coward

Dr. Coward

Holistic Vet

“Gussy's Gut mimics what animals have been eating for 20,000 years”

Dr. Nick Thompson

Dr. Nick Thompson

Holistic Vet

“Fermented vegetables supercharge the gut”

Dr. Eva

Dr. Eva

Holistic Vet

“I recommend this to all of my clients and they love Gussy's Gut”

Dr. Cathy

Dr. Cathy

Holistic Vet

“Give it 60-90 days to feed the bacteria to fix the gut”

Dr. Matt

Dr. Matt

Holistic Vet

“The only way pets can get these nutrients is through the fermentation process”