Even Pets are Eating Healthier

Dawn Price, owner of The Natural Dog and Holistic Cat in Portsmouth. Photos by Christine Carignan.

Pets are often treated like kids these days, so it should be no surprise pet parents seek natural food to keep Fido and Whiskers healthy and strong. Dawn and Jeff Price cater to this crowd as owners of The Natural Dog in Newburyport, Mass. and The Natural Dog and Holistic Cat in Portsmouth.

The couple opened the Newburyport store in 2005 to cater to pet owners looking for organic and other healthier food options for their pets. The store has grown over the years and its success led the couple to open a second location in Portsmouth—rebranded to recognize cat lovers as well—three years ago.

Price’s two stores ring up $1.5 million in sales annually and both locations are steadily growing, she says, with annual sales growth of about 10 percent. Both are located in upscale areas with a significant population of pet owners and people who are passionate about healthy eating. This growth follows the trajectory of the global pet food industry, which saw pet food retail sales grew 4 percent in 2014 to about $70 billion, according to petfoodindustry.com

Some of the pet products available at the store.

“I’m a registered dietician and worked in hospitals and health and wellness clinics, but my passion has been canine and feline nutrition,” says Dawn Price. An animal lover her whole life, her journey toward entrepreneurship began when her dog became sick and could not stomach the commercial kibble available at the stores.

She started making her own dog food and the health of her beloved pet improved, as did his energy levels. “He lost a lot of weight. He didn’t have an odor to him anymore that he carried with him for years. His coat got shiny. He no longer had ear infections. He looked and acted like a puppy again,” Price says.

Each store is 1,800 square feet in size and carries about 30 brands of dry kibble and 50 varieties of canned food for dogs and cats. It also carries dehydrated raw food. The stores also feature freezers with frozen foods for raw diets, which she says is a big draw.

Price says the products she carries are designed to meet the specific nutrient needs of dogs and cats across the spectrum of
their lifetime.

“People are focusing on natural nutrition and trying to find cleaner foods. As awareness grows, they are seeking healthier safer alternatives for their pets,” Price says. “People know they can come in and get an answer to their questions. … We’re not just a place to buy food. People look to us for guidance and information about nutrition,” Price says.

To learn more, visit thenaturaldog.us.