Mud rethinks dog care with instinct, interaction and ethics in mind

Just a week after its launch, Mud has already left a paw print on the pet care industry. The brand's debut product, The Everyday Wash for Dirty Dogs, is more than a niche grooming product: it's a manifesto. Developed over 18 months and recently awarded at D&AD 2025, the brand aims to challenge a culture of canine coddling.

According to co-founders Angelina Pischikova and Karina Zhukovskaya, too often, dogs are treated as ornaments rather than animals. "Dogs don't want to smell like a candle shop," says Angelina. "They have 300 million scent receptors. Most washes are hell for them."

Instead, The Everyday Wash is made with oat, aloe, panthenol and bioenzyme odour-fighting tech. It smells like... nothing – but that's on purpose. Not only is it pH-balanced, 100% dog-safe, plant-based and purposefully unscented, but the bottle even swaps out a standard pump for a fully recyclable, squishy nozzle, keeping both form and function canine-conscious.

For Angelina and Karina, Mud™ isn't just a clean product; it's a clean break. "We exist to honour the wild in every dog," says Karina. "We think it's time to shift cultural convention away from treating pets as lifestyle accessories and toward recognising them as instinct-driven animals with emotional depth and needs of their own."

While the launch range is intentionally minimal, more products are in the works – all guided by a philosophy rooted in respect rather than control. It's this perspective that sets Mud™ apart in a market saturated with pastel palettes, pun-based names and synthetic fragrances. "There is no other brand that does what we do in the category," says Angelina. And she's not just talking about the ethos.

Mud™'s design system is just as provocative as its product. The brand's identity, developed in-house, is reactive by nature, including online; the logo expands or contracts based on local weather data. On the packaging, it vanishes and reappears thanks to thermal ink technology.

"It's a metaphor for the mess, the rinse, and the return to it," says Karina. "The logo reacts to the weather – expanding with rain, contracting in the dry – just like the mud under their paws."

This responsiveness extends to the user experience. The thermal ink on the bottle invites physical interaction, while the weather-reactive digital elements offer a subtle, sensory delight that encourages engagement, play, and even shareability. It's branding as conversation, not a billboard.

Mud is also produced in small batches in the UK. Bottles are 100% recyclable and printed directly with eco-compliant inks, eliminating the need for wasteful labels and adhesives. It's a product that feels good and does good, all without shouting about it.

For the founders, sustainability is inextricably linked to ethics. "Most dog shampoos are just human ones in disguise," says Karina. "We don't put anything in the bottle that doesn't serve your dog. Nothing that messes with their fur, their senses, or the earth beneath their paws."

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What Mud™ is ultimately selling isn't just pet care – it's perspective and a rewilding of the pet industry. They're reasserting that animals are not accessories, and if the early traction is any indication, it's a message that resonates well beyond the dog-owning demographic.

"We already had people say, 'I don't even have a dog, but your brand and the info on the website changed how I think about them,'" says Angelina. "That's an amazing response."

With more products in development, Mud is only just getting started, but its early moves suggest a brand with bite. Clearly, it's not afraid to get dirty, ask difficult questions, and bring a bit of instinct back into a sanitised world.