Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

By George! CBD delivers

By: Shelley Widhalm | The Surveyor | June 03, 2021 | Business

By George! CBD makes the same tinctures and salves for people and their pets, but the doses vary to fit their different sizes.

The Berthoud-based business provides THC-free CBD for humans and dogs, cats, and large and small animals in its true form and not diluted—CBD is short for the cannabidiol found in hemp plants.

“We want to create an approachable product and an approachable atmosphere, so people can be introduced to the wellness benefits of CBD,” said Jessica Weber, owner and general manager of By George! CBD, LLC, and an accounting professor at the University of Northern Colorado.

Weber and her business partner, George Muller, founded By George! CBD in March 2018 to offer a trustworthy source of CBD products for their friends and family members. They started out in Morrison and moved the business to Berthoud in December 2019, where Weber handles all the business operations. Early this year, she added free delivery services for customers living in Berthoud—the product is sold nationwide and is otherwise shipped.

Weber originally wanted to find a way to treat her 15-year-old cocker spaniel, Sweet Pea, who had arthritis and died in February 2019. She has another cocker spaniel, Donkey, who is 2 and is a co-CFO (co-Chief Furry Officers) alongside Muller’s dog, OG, a 9-year-old Husky.

Weber had read stories about CBD products containing little or no CBD or CBD extracted from foreign hemp or hemp grown in toxic soil, while also carrying high prices. She wanted to make something affordable and high quality for her dog and those she knows, she said.

“It definitely started as a hobby, but it grew as friends and family bought it for their pets and themselves. It grew organically from there,” Weber said.

With help from family members, Weber sources, processes, packages and sells tinctures and salves, which do not have any pharmaceutical ingredients or chemicals. She sources CBD from various Colorado farms that grow CBD-rich hemp using organic farming practices. She lab tests the CBD through a third party to make sure it’s free of solvents and pesticides and is more than 99% pure. She makes the finished products out of her home-based business, then sells them through her website, bygeorgecbd.com, and at The Rancher’s Wife, an antique store in Berthoud.

CBD is not approved by the FDA, so those selling products containing CBD cannot make direct claims about the benefits. Weber, however, has found that with her customers, they use it for relief from arthritis, joint and muscle pain, inflammation, anxiety, sleep issues and skin issues. Customers also say that their pets get relief from the same things.

Weber uses CBD to boost her energy, improve her mental clarity and focus, and provide relief from muscle pain caused by a shoulder injury. Muller uses it for sore muscles from rock climbing and riding his bicycle, as well as to reduce his anxiety in social situations. Their pets use it too—OG to slow the effects of Lyme disease and Donkey for airline travel.

Stacey Van Pelt of Albuquerque, NM, uses By George! CBD products for her 12-year-old male cattle dog and pit bull mix she adopted from the City of Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department when he was 1.5 years old. He had an old injury to his right front wrist, and she initially treated him with anti-inflammatory medications. In February when he started limping, he was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in his elbow due to compensating for his wrist. Van Pelt tried By George! CBD’s Pet Tincture and the Snoots & Boots Pet Salve to apply to his elbow and wrist.

“Within two weeks of regular doses, his lameness was almost gone. His energy returned, and he literally started running again on our walks,” Van Pelt said. “I can’t say enough good things about their products, but more importantly, I’m so grateful to them for giving my dog his quality of life back. You can’t put a price tag on that.”

The salves are applied topically, while the tinctures consist of oil drops that are ingested. The salves have the same ingredients for pets and people but lack the essential oils that pets like to lick. The tinctures come in 30 milliliter bottles with different amounts of milligrams of CBD that vary the concentration. They can be administered under the tongue or put on food, but that’s not recommended for the highest bioavailability for better absorption into the bloodstream.

Weber suggests starting low and slow—for instance, if there isn’t a noticeable relief in the pet, add a few drops. Most pets and people experience the best results if they take between 0.1 and 0.5 mg of CBD per pound per day. For most people, the recommendation is to start at 20 mg.

Weber sells the tinctures and salves at fairs and festivals, including the Berthoud Farmers Market each summer. Her parents, Cindy and Scott Weber, sell the product at events in Florida, while her aunt, Terri Murphree, sells them in Arkansas.

“We want to get out and talk with people and give them information, so they can choose the best products,” Weber said. “I just love getting feedback from my customers, hearing how my products helped them and their pets feel better.”

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