Pet food store sells high-quality chow

RATHDRUM – If mankind’s four-legged friends could make dinner reservations, Pamela and John Cales believe their business would be a packed house night after night.

At their new high-quality pet food store, K-9 Kabin in Rathdrum, “where dogs would go if they could drive,” the Cales set out to offer a select few pet food suppliers and their assorted medleys – those of which are made from human-grade ingredients and can significantly boost a companion’s quality of life. The store’s collection of dog, cat and some ferret foods boast human-grade stamps of approval, which Pamela said guarantees that all ingredients are of the same caliber of those that go into human food. One of the suppliers even makes their pet chow in a plant alongside people provisions.

And once pet owners switch to a high-quality diet, the store owners said the differences can be seen in shinier coats, healthier physiques and, yes, easier cleanup since the animals eat less.

“The difference in their quality of life is substantial,” said Pamela Cales, as she turned over an Eagle Pack Pet Food bag for large dog breeds that demonstrated the distinction. Printed on the back of the bag was a Great Dane puppy’s before shot, showing warped leg joints because of improper nutrition from average grocery store food, and a high-quality-diet-makeover after shot of the same, more mature dog’s sturdy, straight legs. “We don’t have any artificial preservatives or anything like that in any of our foods, so they get more out of the food.”

With eight dogs, including five Great Danes, and nearly 50 pigeons, at their Athol-area home, the Cales know all about the difficulty in raising healthy pets. In fact, the idea behind their K-9-inspired store grew from the couple’s frequent local treks in search of quality dog food.

“There was nothing between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane,” Pamela Cales said, while two of their Great Danes, 13-month-old Kuro and 17-month-old B.J. (also known as Bruiser Jack), lumbered around the store’s entryway, greeting everyone who walked in with gentle nudges. “In the difficulty in getting our own dogs quality food, and seeing there was a need for good quality pet foods in the area, we decided to try the pet food business.”

As the store’s primary manager, she said she also wanted to start a business she cared about, while helping other animal lovers keep their pets around for as long as possible. “I wanted something that I could be passionate, and knowledgeable, about,” she said. And, she added, the area’s growth will to continue to support her long-term goals, as the demographics shift from people who raised strictly farm animals, to those who consider pets as members of the family. “For some people, these are their family, their children,” she said.

The Cales said that if more pet owners looked into the average, store-bought food brand’s ingredients, which can contain mice droppings and weed seeds in the sweepings from a packaging plant’s floors, they would feel the same in wanting to improve their animal’s diets. “You don’t want to know what goes into your average dog and cat food,” John Cales said.

Their store’s stock of Eagle Pack, Flint River Ranch and EVO chows, which cover almost every type and age of dog or cat, read almost like a health food grab-bag for humans: carrots, peas, blueberries and cranberries are just some of the ingredients. Since their brands are prepared and packaged in the same manner as human food, the Cales said issues such as last year’s recall involving rat poison-contaminated pet food don’t apply. “The difference is you don’t have those kinds of circumstances,” Pamela Cales said.

While the human-grade pet foods cost slightly more than most grocery store brands, Pamela Cales said it evens out in the long run because the animals don’t need to be fed as often.

In aiming to fill the gap for all local pet owners’ supply needs, K-9 Kabin also carries locally made accessories including leashes and collars from C-S Customs in Priest River. “This way it’s a different niche and it’s supporting local people,” she said.

Even before opening their doors in early February, the Cales had been trumpeting the benefits of high-quality dog food to other concerned pet owners. As a customer of Helen Byers at Panhandle State Bank, Pamela Cales didn’t take long to convince Byers to try out the Eagle Pack’s Holistic blend for her Jack Russell terrier Harley, who had developed an irritating yeast infection on his paws.

“It’s just been a complete change. I haven’t had a problem with him eating his feet anymore,” Byers said, adding that she’s since switched the diets for all three of her dogs and has become a loyal customer of K-9 Kabin because Pamela Cales is “a wealth of knowledge.”

“My dogs are shedders, but with these products it decreases their shedding, it keeps their coats shinier… I would highly recommend it to anybody,” Byers said.

With their new “cabin” up and running, the Cales do almost as much pet food teaching as trafficking, going over each customer’s individual pet needs and matching them with a specific brand.

“She’s very knowledgeable about her products,” Byers said. “And that’s important for anything, especially when it’s something for your extended family.”