The importance of eating your own dog food

There’s a quirky yet powerful phrase that often gets thrown around: “Eating your own dog food.” While the imagery might not be appetizing, the concept behind it is crucial for building trust, ensuring quality, and fostering innovation.

What does “eating your own dog food” mean?

The phrase originates from the idea that if a company creates a product, it should be willing to use that product itself. In other words, if you’re selling dog food, you should be confident enough in its quality to feed it to your own dog.

The earliest known reference traces back to the 1970s, when actor Lorne Greene appeared in a television advertisement for Alpo dog food, proudly stating that he fed Alpo to his own dogs. This act of personal endorsement resonated with audiences, suggesting that if a product was good enough for the spokesperson’s pets, it was good enough for consumers. Another possible origin comes from Kal Kan Pet Food, whose president reportedly ate a can of his company’s dog food during annual shareholder meetings to demonstrate confidence in the product.

If a software company develops a new project management tool, the team should use that tool to manage their own projects. The idea is simple: if you’re not willing to use your own product, why should anyone else?

Why companies do it

Quality and innovation are at the heart of dogfooding. When teams use their own products, they naturally discover bugs and pain points before customers do. More importantly, they experience the product from a user’s perspective, leading to genuine improvements and innovative features.

Success story: Facebook’s “Reactions” feature emerged from internal testing, where employees felt limited by the simple “like” button, leading to one of the platform’s most significant updates.

The practice also creates a powerful alignment within the company. When employees use the products they build, they develop a genuine sense of ownership and pride. They become authentic advocates who truly understand and believe in what they’re creating.

Real example: Lyft takes this seriously by requiring all employees, including executives, to work as drivers periodically. This hands-on experience has led to numerous improvements in their app and service quality.

Beyond the obvious quality benefits, dogfooding offers practical advantages. It reduces testing costs while providing immediate, honest feedback. The shortened feedback loop means features can be validated quickly and adjusted before release.

Perhaps most importantly, it builds customer trust. When a company uses its own products, it demonstrates genuine confidence and long-term commitment to quality.

Case study: When Binance launched its BSC blockchain, they took the bold step of migrating their own platform first. This move wasn’t just about testing – it showed they trusted their technology enough to bet their core business on it.

Personal experience: When running a major cryptocurrency exchange, I strongly encouraged employees to actively trade on our platform to experience it firsthand. However, it’s important to note that legally we couldn’t make this mandatory. This highlights an important consideration in dogfooding: while using your own product is valuable, there may be legal or regulatory limitations in certain industries that affect how you implement it.

Who should test your product?

The key to effective dogfooding isn’t just about getting everyone to use your product – it’s about strategic selection of internal users.

Product managers and executives bring strategic perspective, while support teams offer unique insights from their daily customer interactions. However, the most valuable feedback often comes from regular employees who match your customer demographics and use cases.

Pro tip: Focus on finding testers who mirror your target market. Their experience will more closely match what your actual customers will encounter.

The reality check: pros and challenges

Dogfooding isn’t all smooth sailing. While it excels at early bug detection and provides authentic user feedback, it comes with its own set of challenges. The process might extend your release timeline and add development costs. There’s also the risk of receiving biased feedback if your internal users don’t accurately represent your target market.

Remember that while dogfooding is powerful, it shouldn’t replace professional QA testing. Think of it as an additional layer of validation that brings unique insights from real-world usage.

The implementation guide

Successful dogfooding starts with clear objectives. Define what success looks like for your program – whether it’s improving user satisfaction, catching bugs earlier, or accelerating feature development. Set realistic timelines and create specific scenarios that mirror real-world usage.

Building the right team is crucial. Leadership involvement is particularly important; when executives actively use the product, it sends a powerful message throughout the organization.

The process needs to be straightforward yet thorough. While you’ll need proper documentation and tracking systems, avoid creating bureaucracy that might discourage participation. The goal is to make feedback sharing as natural as any other daily task.

Regular monitoring helps maintain momentum. Schedule check-ins to discuss findings, but keep them focused and action-oriented. A simple dashboard can help track progress, while clear communication channels ensure critical issues get immediate attention.

Most importantly, create a cycle of continuous improvement. When people see their feedback leading to real changes, they become more invested in the process. Share success stories, celebrate improvements, and keep refining your approach based on what works best for your team.

Make dogfooding part of your company culture rather than treating it as just another testing phase. Celebrate successes, share learnings, and continuously refine the process based on what works for your team.

The bottom line

Eating your own dog food isn’t just a catchy phrase—it’s a mindset. It’s about living the user journey, taking pride in your work, being accountable to your customers, and continuously striving for excellence, while creating a stronger connection with your audience.

So, the next time you’re tempted to skip this step, ask yourself: If I won’t use it, why should anyone else?

In the end, eating your own dog food is a recipe for success — one that ensures your product is as good as you claim it to be. Bon appétit!