Mud is rewilding the pet grooming industry

UK – London-based start-up Mud™ is making a clean break from the polished pet aesthetic dominating the market. Born out of frustration with the lack of dog-first, natural care products, the brand is already a 2025 D&AD Award winner thanks to its debut product, The Everyday Wash for Dirty Dogs.

‘There’s this whole world of spotless, well-behaved, highly aesthetic dogs on social media,’ says co-founder Angelina Pischikova. ‘But that’s not what real dogs are like. They roll in dead things, eat trash and lick your face right after. We made a product for them.’

Plant-based, unscented and pH-balanced, the formula is tuned to dogs’ 300m scent receptors – a deliberate rejection of perfumed, humanised grooming products.

Packaging follows suit, with a squishy, fully recyclable nozzle, thermal ink and a reactive logo that expands or contracts based on local weather data.

The campaign imagery reinforces Mud’s mission to rewild the pet industry by rejecting typical polished visuals. Instead of bright, cheerful pet photos, it opts for restrained black and white shots, stripped back and raw. Blurred visuals and messy splatters evoke natural chaos, creating a tactile, imperfect aesthetic that mirrors the brand’s celebration of dogs’ instinctiual, unfiltered lives.

Mud™ signals a new era of instinct-led, animal-first branding for the pet industry. Discover how the pet market is evolving in our Six Pet Market Trends to Watch in 2025 report.