Our story & mission
Rooted in Rescue. Built for Every Pet.
Airplane Ears is a pet wellness brand built around one truth: healing happens when the mind and body work together. Because doghood should be beautiful, and we're here to make sure it is.
It started with two rescue dogs, Kumi and Hershey, brought home from the streets of China. When they arrived, they were hungry, but not just for food. They were hungry for safety.
Their bodies carried everything they'd survived: chronic digestive issues, stiff joints, and a nervous system wired permanently to survive. Watching them inhale their meals in a state of sheer panic didn't just break our hearts. It made us ask harder questions. Could we actually heal them, or just feed them? Because this, the panic, the pain, the survival mode, wasn't the doghood they deserved.
How a Lick Mat Changed Everything
The answer came quietly, through a lick mat.
We discovered that slow feeders and lick mats weren't just feeding tools. They were medicine in disguise. The simple, repetitive acts of licking and foraging forced Kumi and Hershey to slow down. And something shifted. Their digestion settled. Their anxiety softened. The permanent alarm in their nervous systems began, slowly, to quiet.
And then one day, there it was.
Their ears dropped soft and low, swept back gently like little wings mid-flight. Airplane ears. That unmistakable, whole-body exhale that every dog parent lives for: the look that says I am safe. I am happy. I am finally, fully okay.
As a dog mom, I am obsessed with that moment. The softened jaw. The easy breath. The ears that tell you, without a single word, that your dog has stopped surviving and started living. That is what beautiful doghood looks like, and I knew then that every pet deserved to get there.
That's when we understood something we couldn't unlearn: the mind and body must heal together, and the proof is written all over their faces.
What Are Airplane Ears?
Airplane ears is a term used by dog lovers to describe the relaxed, floppy ear position dogs show when they are calm, content, and completely at ease. It's one of the most reliable signs of a happy, low-stress dog, and for rescue pets who've known fear, it can take months to see. When it finally appears, it means everything.
We named this brand after that moment, because it's the moment we're building toward, for every single dog. The moment doghood becomes beautiful.
Premium Pet Wellness Essentials for Anxious, Sensitive, and Rescue Dogs
Airplane Ears was born from rescue, but it's built for every dog parent.
Whether your dog panics at mealtimes, battles a chronically sensitive stomach, or carries anxiety so deep it lives in their bones, this is a space designed for them. And for you.
Our Mission: To build a beautiful foundation for your dog's best life. We design premium pet wellness products that bridge mental enrichment and physical support, helping dogs move out of survival mode and into something they've never had: everyday comfort. Because doghood should be beautiful, and we refuse to settle for anything less.
What We Make: Our line of enrichment feeders, lick mats, and digestive wellness products are designed for dogs who need more than a bowl. Crafted with pet-safe, non-toxic materials and grounded in the science of canine enrichment and gut health, every product is built to calm, nourish, and restore.
Because every dog deserves to wear their airplane ears every single day.
Because doghood should be beautiful.
You are not alone in this. Welcome to Airplane Ears. Let's heal together.
By Emily Xu, Founder of Airplane Ears
