Goodbye, Apollo: The Dog Who Changed Everything

PerioVive Team
4 days ago
3 min read

Some patients change the course of medicine. Apollo was one of them.

In 2011, Donna and Gary weren't looking for a dog. They were riding their bikes through Washington Square Park in New York City when they stumbled across Adoptapalooza — a city-sponsored adoption event — and found a small, shy black lab mix sitting in a pen. They rode away. They talked. They turned around.

Apollo came home with them that day, and for the next 15 years, he never let them regret it.

He was a 60-pound mix of black lab, bullmastiff, Shetland sheepdog, and Welsh springer spaniel, and he was rarely seen without a ball in his mouth. He hiked five miles a day. He swam in canals and chased waves on the East Coast. He jumped off six-foot tree branches for a better angle on a catch. He once retrieved a basketball floating down a drainage canal just because it was there. He kept Donna and Gary grounded, kept their marriage even-keeled, and kept everyone around him smiling.

He was also the first dog ever treated with PerioVive for Canine Chronic Ulcerative Stomatitis — and what happened next helped change the trajectory of veterinary dentistry.

The Diagnosis

In 2016, Apollo developed CCUS (Canine Chronic Ulcerative Stomatitis), an autoimmune condition that causes painful, diffuse ulcers throughout the gums and oral tissue. Donna and Gary tried everything: oral medications, water additives, antibiotics, allergy testing. They even consulted a specialist who had worked with wild animals in Africa. The recommendation from multiple veterinarians was clear: full mouth extraction.

They said no.

Apollo needed his front teeth to catch his ball. His whole personality was wrapped up in that simple act. As Donna put it: "Imagine taking a wet finger, putting a marble in it, and squeezing. It would pop right out. That's how he caught with those 13 front teeth."

So they held the line. The remaining teeth were extracted. Apollo received depo-medrol injections every three months, went under anesthesia four times a year, tried every treatment available — and still, the inflammation never fully resolved. As he aged, the anesthesia itself became dangerous.

For nearly a decade, Donna and Gary woke up every morning asking the same question: Is he in pain right now?

Three Days

In late 2024, Dr. Jennifer Redmon at Pet Dental USA introduced Apollo to a new topical product: PerioVive.

Within three days, his gums had gone from bright red and inflamed to a healthy, normal pink.

Gary called Dr. Redmon. She came to look. She couldn't believe it.

Within two weeks, Apollo's CCUS had fully resolved — something that nearly 10 years of treatment had never accomplished. The quarterly anesthesias stopped. The injections stopped. Apollo received daily topical PerioVive applications, eventually tapering to every other day.

He kept his ball the whole time.

What Apollo Started

Apollo's case landed in the inbox of Brian, PerioVive's founder, in November 2024. At the time, the company was still young, the product still finding its footing. Brian later described that moment plainly: "Apollo's case may have saved the company from a dead-on-arrival situation."

That single case opened doors to some of the most prominent researchers in veterinary dentistry. It catalyzed five-plus clinical studies. It generated hundreds of successful outcomes in both feline and canine stomatitis patients. It helped prove that something that had baffled veterinary professionals for years could be addressed safely and effectively — at home, daily, without anesthesia.

And it started because two people refused to let their dog lose his front teeth.

Goodbye, Apollo

Apollo passed away at 15 years old due to pneumonia. For the last 18 months of his life, his mouth was healthy, pain-free, and his own. He was, by every account, happy until the end.

His painted portrait — a gift from an Instagram friend who picked up a brush again just to capture him — now sits in the living room in Prescott Valley, Arizona, between Donna and Gary, where they can always see him.

"He saved his life, basically," Donna said about PerioVive. "Your product completely turned everything around. Three days after we started, his mouth was fine."

We could not be more grateful to Apollo — and to Donna and Gary — for what they gave us. His story is woven into every product we make, every study we run, and every patient we help.

To the dog who always had a ball: we'll never forget you.