Being sent to the doghouse isn’t a punishment to Jillian Plaster. In fact, she loves it, as long as she can get some work done.
Teamed with husband Ian Kester, Plaster opened the Dog House boutique in Tivoli Village four months ago, a pet health resource center and unique doggy retail outlet. Plaster decided to open the store after her first canine-related business, the Good Dog Food Company, was, well, a barking success. But make no mistake, Plaster wasn’t just handed her good fortune: She earned it.
Plaster and Kester, a culinary-minded couple, graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Las Vegas in 2008 and soon after adopted their bulldog, Trucker. His puppy-dog eyes at mealtimes made the couple feel guilty for giving him kibble while they had home-cooked meals. So, they started making his food by hand, too. Realizing the process was time consuming and difficult, the pair decided to mass-produce their homemade dog food to help other dog lovers feed their pets healthy food more conveniently.
“We met numerous times with a doctor of veterinary nutrition to formulate dog food recipes, and then sent them to the FDA for approval,” Plaster says. “We launched the Good Dog Food Company from our kitchen for a short while, but now we work with a butcher in Northern California, who helps with preparation.”
The food is made without fillers and is chock full of organic ingredients to keep dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds healthy, she says.
The cost of this special dog food, per month, for small breeds is about $100. Plaster says her largest client is a German shepherd. His food costs run close to $320 per month.
After a few years of operating her dog food business from her website, Plaster wanted a physical location to market her products. That’s when she decided to open the Dog House.
“We picked Tivoli Village not only because the plaza is brand new and attracts curious shoppers,” Plaster says. “It also attracts customers who can mostly afford to shop here. I wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else.”
Although the Dog House doesn’t offer services such as grooming, boarding or veterinary checkups, it does offer classes, Plaster says. Starting in mid-September, the store will hold classes each Saturday on pet care, nutrition, behavior and other hot-button topics for dog lovers.
Although it’s a challenge to run both businesses in tandem, Plaster says that changing consumer behavior has been the toughest part of being a small-business owner.
“It’s hard to change customers’ habits when they’re used to the convenience of manufactured products,” Plaster says.
And in this dog-eat-dog reality we’re all living in, that’s a treat-worthy accomplishment in itself.