As Dex Knows Best dog food begins shipping their first bags, Mountain Life catches up with the dog in charge (and her chauffeur/personal pilot.)
Dex is a good dog. And as a sidekick for adventure, she is unmatched. “Dex has a sixth sense that has saved me a number of times,” explains Rory Bushfield, skier/pilot/adventurer and Dex’s legal guardian. Bushy explains that Dex has saved him from numerous close calls over their 7 years of wilderness adventuring together. “Whenever she starts making a fuss I know that means be careful, slow down, and reassess what’s happening. It’s crazy, but Dex just knows best.”
Rescued as a pup by Bushy’s late wife, freeski legend Sarah Burke, Dex has, according to Bushy, always been looking for a way to give back to the Sarah Burke Foundation, an organization that gives cash scholarships to young athletes in need and support charities dear to Sarah’s heart. To meet these ends, Dex is focusing on what she knows best: dog food.
“Dex needs good, healthy food,” Bushy explains, “and it’s been a search, her whole life, to find something she likes that is healthy and doesn’t give her a weird rash or something.”
Using Dex’s intuition and taste as a guide, Bushy teamed up with close friend Blair Harper to create a line of locally sourced, Made in BC, dog food and supplements. “Dex has been testing ingredients her whole life,” Bushy says. “She couldn’t decide between fish and chicken so she went with both.”
Dex Knows Best kibble is a chicken and fish recipe that’s 100% grain and gluten free with 0% byproducts and is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.
The food is made in BC with fresh meat (sourced from local farmers and the pacific ocean) and ships directly to the customers. There’s even an autoship option so the correct amount of food for your dog’s weight will arrive each month.
“Instead of spending time going to the dog food store you can be out having adventures with your dog,” Bushy says, adding that Dex has also developed a line of chews and oils meant to improve hip and joint mobility as well as heart and immune system health.
“Dex was in rough shape when Sarah found her abandoned under a car,” Bushy says. “She was so young we should have been feeding her from a bottle and she had mange and ear infections. Sarah nursed her and looked after her and Dex has been serious about her health ever since.”
Partial proceeds from every Dex Knows Best sale goes back into the Sarah Burke Foundation and the first bags began shipping (Canada-wide) last week.
“It’s exciting,” Bushy says. “I have never started a company before and neither has Dex but we’ve had a huge team of friends and people supporting us. It’s been really good, we’ve been working for months getting the dog food into the bag and to the distributors, finally it’s getting out into peoples’ homes and where it needs to be– into dogs, giving them energy to get out and have fun.
Dex agrees then ambles off to wait by the helicopter. There are adventures to be had.
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