Army veteran Tim Miller graduated from Tipton High School in 1986 and joined the Army a few years later, hoping to find change and adventure. He was stationed in Germany and spent almost eight years in the service, visiting all 48 contiguous states, and places like Nova Scotia, France, Italy and Switzerland. After returning to Kokomo, Miller was hired at Chrysler and just retired after a 30-year career.
But now it’s time for another change for Miller – and another career.
Some people say their best ideas come to them in the middle of the night. For Miller, it was after he fell off his roof and was recovering at home while on leave from work almost a decade ago.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, they say. And that’s how Puddles-B-Gone was born.
“My doctor wanted me to sleep in a chair sitting up,” Miller says. “Every time I got up, I noticed my socks would get wet. We had four large dogs at the time and our house was a swamp from the water bowl – just water everywhere, all over the floors. If you’ve ever had a dog or pet that made a huge mess around the water bowl, you understand.”
Miller thought that was just part of having large dogs. They’re sloppy drinkers and you fight it with towels, mats, rugs, and whatever else around the water bowl to contain the mess.
So, once Miller recovered from his injury, he ordered around 10 different pet water systems online. He tinkered and realized the problem was that his dogs were getting too much water in their mouths when drinking, with all the excess water running onto the floor around the water bowl (and through the house).
“After experimenting, I came up with a design where the water level in the bowl never gets any deeper or more shallow than about the thickness of your finger,” Miller says. “It always stays at that level as your pet drinks, and they get less excessive water in their mouths are they drink, which eliminates excess water on the ground surrounding the bowl.”
Miller made five prototypes for testing, and they worked so well that no one he gave them to wanted to give them back. After a large search, Miller confirmed he had the only low-water-level gravity pet waterer in the world. He and his wife filed for a patent, then decided to put everything that they had into the business.
“I never intended to be a business owner,” he says. “It kind of happened by accident, and wet socks. It’s been an amazing ride and we have a great product – hopefully the last pet waterer you’ll ever have to buy for your pet.”
Miller’s wife, Diana, and his daughter, Kaylyn, round out the Puddles-B-Gone team.
“Kaylyn is growing up with the business and I hope she will be in charge of it someday,” Miller says. “We’re a small company now, but I have aspirations to be on store shelves. We have sold over 1,000 waterers so far and it’s amazing to see the business grow right before my eyes. If you want to eliminate excessive water, and wet socks, we encourage you to try our waterer system.”
The waterer is extremely durable and comes in five colors with an adjustable stand and matching feeder. You can find the Puddles-B-Gone waterer at walmart.com and on puddlesbgone.com. Miller and his team can also be found at various festivals and at dog shows showcasing the product.
