The story of KONG begins with a German Shepherd named Fritz, his owner and a
Volkswagon Van...

Fritz, a former police dog, enjoyed chewing rocks. This activity wore Fritz's teeth
down and frustrated his owner, Joe Markham. One afternoon while working on
his Volkswagon Van, Joe noticed Fritz dining on rocks once again. Out of
desperation, he began disassembling the van he was working on and threw
parts near Fritz to see if he could be coaxed away from his destructive dinner.
Radiator hoses didn't work- neither did anything else until he pulled off a
suspension part and gave it to Fritz. Right away, Fritz was estatic. The KONG was
born!

While Fritz invented KONG, it was Markham who realized the potential of this
odd-looking toy. Markham refined the toy's design, developed a super-strong
rubber formula and began production in 1976. Today, Markham continues to sell
this toy as well as other great products all over the world.