Happy Dog History
Our history
The roots of the Bavarian family-owned company Interquell go back to 1765. Back in the 18th century it all began with a flour mill on the Singold in Wehringen. Then, in the 1950s, a groundbreaking
innovation: with the help of a new type of technology and suitable machines, cereal flakes could be produced, which, together with dried meat, resulted in the first complete dry food for dogs. Our recipes, ingredients and additives have been refined over the years based on the latest scientific findings.
But that is not all: the coveted Happy Dog & Happy Cat products have made their way from Wehringen out into the wide world. Happy Dog & Happy Cat is now in demand by dog owners, not only in Germany, but also in Europe, most of Eastern Europe and in individual countries in Asia, Africa and South America. Of course, we continue to produce our dry food in our traditional family business in Wehringen, Bavaria.
Happy Dog History
Our milestones
1765 – The “old mill”
With the purchase of the old mill in Wehringen, the Müller family laid the historical foundation stone for the Interquell company today. At that time, Nikolaus Müller started operating his flour mill on the Singold.
1965 – Müller’s dog food
First dog food production started with ‘Müller’s dog food’. This consisted of flakes and wet food.
1973 – Export
Happy Dog exported abroad for the first time: to Austria and Denmark.
1987 – Georg Müller
Georg Müller (Dipl. oec.) joined the family business in its 7th generation. After the death of the company founder in 1988, he took over the business.
2000 – Premium brand
Happy Dog entered the super premium segment for dog food with Supreme Salmon and Rabbit. The first ‘sensitive’ varieties were Ireland, Toscana and New Zealand.
2004-2006 – Expansion of operations
A new office building, two more extruder lines and a silo tower were built. This created a production capacity of 200 tonnes per day.
2015 – Trade favourite
Happy Dog became the leading specialist retail brand in Germany in the dry dog food sector.
2018 – 100% climate-neutral
Goood is Interquell's first premium dog food that is completely climate-neutral - from the field to the bowl.
2019 – Award
Happy Cat Junior was named 2019 Product of the Year by FutterTester.de.
2020 – Product of the year
No less than three products received the award for 2020 Product of the Year from FutterTester.de: Happy Cat Bio in the category Wet Cat Food Happy Dog Soft Snack for Dog Snacks and Goood Freilandlamm for dry dog food
2021 – Seal of Quality
Our new vegetarian variety Sensible India excelled in the food test, being awarded 9.3 out of 10 stars.
2022 – Puppy food test
The new Happy Dog Young varieties were rated very good- by FutterTester
2022 – Product of the year
The newly launched Happy Cat Culinary Crunchy Snacks are awarded Product of the Year 2022 by FutterTester
2023 – Mini-Relaunch
All products for small dog breeds have a new look and are now even tastier.
Top Pet Brand 2023
The popular pet magazine hundkatzemaus has awarded us the Top Pet Brand 2023 for our cat snacks.
2023 – Products of the Year
In the categories “Wet dog food”, “Snack for dogs” and “Dry cat food”, we received the Product of the Year 2023 award from the independent portal FutterTester.de.
Top pet brand in Germany 2024
Our grain-free Happy Cat wet food and our delicious snacks have been named Germany's Top Pet Brand 2024.
1951 – Potato flakes
Edmund Müller produced the first potato flakes. Due to their easy digestibility and good shelf-life, they offered a significant improvement for farmers in feeding.
1970 – Happy Dog
Edmund Müller developed one of the first easily digestible complete food for dogs, consisting of dried meat, maize flakes and vegetables. Müller’s dog food brand became Happy Dog.
1975 – Croquettes for the first time
The first extruder for the production of dog and cat food in croquette form started up and complemented the previous production of food flakes.
1992 – First all-in-one croquette feed
With Happy Dog NaturCroq, Interquell launched the first complete food for dogs in croquette form onto the market.
2001 – Happy Cat
Interquell developed dry food for cats for the first time: Happy Cat was born.
2009 Innovation
Happy Dog Supreme Africa is the first dog food in the world to contain ostrich as a protein source. For every pack sold since then 2% of the purchase price is donated to SOS Children’s Villages in Africa. To date, a total of 1.8 million euros!
2018 – 8th generation
Annika and Andreas Müller join the family business in its 8th generation
2019 – Export extension
This popular premium pet food is now shipped to 75 countries and is available on 4 continents.
2020 – Capacity expansion
With the commissioning of an additional extruder, fresh raw materials can now also be processed. Production capacity increases to 320 tonnes of pet food per day.
2021 – Product relaunch
Happy Cat products now have improved recipes and have been given a new look.
2021 – Products of the Year
The best food from all tests in 2021 and crowned as the Product of the Year 2021 by Futtertester.de: Happy Cat Culinary in the dry cat food category Happy Dog fit & vital Medium Adult in the dry dog food category
2022 – Award
The pet novelty of the year 2021/2022 in the dog category was Sensible India
Best Rated Pet Food 2022
Independent testers rate 41 dry food brands: 1st place for Happy Cat
Happy Dog History
2023 – Solar field construction
In order to be able to generate part of our electricity requirements ourselves from renewable sources, we built a solar field next to the company premises in 2023.
Best Rated Pet Food 2023
For the 3rd time in a row, Happy Cat dry food takes first place with 4.7 out of 5 stars.
2024 – Export expansion
Our premium dog and cat food is now exported to 84 countries.
Happy Dog Dry Food– Made in Germany
Happy Dog History
