Why We Dropped Two Popular Brands (and why I'd do it again)

Doing the Right Thing Doesn't Always Make Us Money, But It Lets Me Sleep at Night

If you’ve ever had a pet with health issues, food sensitivities, or digestive trouble, you know the absolute nightmare of trying to find a food that actually works. You spend hours going down Reddit rabbit holes, scouring Google, joining Facebook groups, visiting more clinics than you can shake a stick at and trying brand after brand.

And when you finally find "the one food," it’s a huge relief.

When I think back to before my store opened, I had a very small product offering. Seven brands of food...that's it! One of my reps said to me that I really needed to have more options. I promised I'd look at the list of products again and I'd do my homework to make sure everything met the standards I had established. Looking through the other products I hadn't chosen to be in my store honestly made my stomach drop. I had completed my certification in Pet Nutrition, Raw Feeding and Advanced Canine Nutrition. I knew more about the pet food industry than I ever thought I could. I knew what ingredients were harmful and I reached back out to my rep and said..."I can't do it. I can't bring any of these other brands in and feel good about it. I need to be able to sleep at night, knowing I've done the best for the animal. So I guess if I fail, you can tell me "I told you so".

So why on earth would I willingly stop carrying popular brands that our customers bought every single day? Because if doing the right thing means I lose customers to keep pets healthy, then I'll do it every single time!

Case in point: Big Country Raw and Farmina.

🎙️ If you'd prefer to listen to this blog, you can find it here anywhere you love listening to podcasts! Look for S1 E37: "Why We Dropped Two Brands (and why I’d do it again)".

We didn’t drop them on a whim because we just decided we didn't like them. We dropped them because the manufacturers changed their recipes and shifted their focus. Companies that at one time looked out for the health of our animals made a choice to put their profits above our pets, swapping in ingredients I wouldn't be comfortable recommending to any animal.

I knew those changes would not positively impact your pet's health, so I got rid of them.

And looking back, I am so glad I did. As we’ve continued to monitor both companies, the red flags just keep piling up: more ingredient swaps that aren't for the better, questionable sourcing from places like China, changed or hidden expiry dates just to move old product, and a heartbreaking rise in animals reacting badly...very badly, to these "new recipes."

It’s scary stuff. Especially when so many pet parents, retailers like us, and industry professionals built years of trust on who these brands used to be. With all of this new information coming to light, I am so glad we dropped these brands when we did. We're finding out a lot of information the company tried to keep concealed for a long time, but the jig is up and the information is getting out. It confirms for me everyday, that we did the right thing by eliminating these brands immediately, as soon as we saw the shift versus waiting to see if they'd correct themselves.

Because a brand built on legacy reputation instead of current integrity is just a house of cards.

Eventually, the mask slips, more information comes to light, and the whole illusion collapses. The problem is, when a pet food brand’s house of cards falls down, it’s our animals who pay the price.

Dropping major brands obviously hurts our sales. But I've told you from day one, I will always put your pet above my profits. Honestly, if I opened House of Paws to become rich, I'd carry everything under the sun that people everywhere buy their pets. But I can't do that. It literally gives me a pit in my stomach and hurts my heart to think of things on the market being sold for our pets. I would never contribute to that and I certainly couldn't make eye contact with you in or out of my store, knowing I sold you something that harms your pet.

So when we drop popular brands, and a customer says, "Well, this is the only food that works for my dog," that may have been true when it was on our shelf. But after those recipe changes and ingredient swaps stop working, you’re back to square one, going down Google rabbit holes till the cows come home just trying to find a food that will once again work for your dog. You may wonder why we sound like a broken record when it comes to serving a rotational diet, and this is one reason why. We never want to get married to brand for our pet's sake and for their ultimate health.

Doing the right thing doesn't make us money, and it doesn't increase our sales. But I'm not dropping brands for me, I drop them for you! I know that sounds strange, but let me explain.

✅ It saves you time and stress: You never have to spend hours decoding ingredient panels or worrying if a brand quietly changed its recipe behind your back. We do that! We keep our eye on the ball to make sure you can always know the research has been done and the products you buy for your pets have been vetted by someone who loves your furry family almost as much as you do even if we've never met them!

✅ It gives you total shopping confidence: We made a promise at House of Paws to always do the research. We extensively scrutinize every brand before it comes in, and we continue to monitor them as long as they sit on our shelves. We want you to be able to shop with confidence, knowing everything you find in our store will positively impact your animal's health. You've likely heard me say it before, if I wouldn't use something with Zaner, I will never recommend it for your pet. That's not a marketing slogan, that's honestly how I feel.  

✅ You get a true partner: Anything you take off our shelves or out of our freezers is there because it positively impacts your animal's health...period. Not because a manufacturer gave us a kickback, or free product, or that we just blindly believed what they said. Believe me! If you asked reps who have come into my store, it's likely the store they avoid the most! I ask tough questions and I question everything. Or I point out things others wouldn't or didn't. I'm not your typical store owner chasing the next shiny object. Oftentimes I've done my homework before the rep even walks in so they better be ready for the final exam because I've got a lot of questions.

I am never bringing a product in because it's the latest craze, or because everyone else has it. I'm bringing in the products I trust and use with my own dog. I'm bringing in products that will address the issues you talk to us about that no one else has been able to help you with. I bring in products that have transparent backgrounds and honest representation. And I drop products that fail to deliver on any of the previous points. Companies change, I get that, but when those changes are to improve their profits at any cost, including the health of our animals, that's a company I will no longer stand behind and I certainly would never recommend them to any pet in my care.

If doing the right thing costs me sales and makes me a bad business person, then so be it. At least I can sleep at night, and at least I can look you in the face when I see you outside of the store knowing I did the absolute best for your animal. That matters more to me than chasing dollars at the expense of the animals we all love so much.

Thank you for trusting us with your furry family members. We’ll keep doing the research so you can shop with 100% confidence, knowing that when you shop at House of Paws, everything you purchase will positively impact the animals who use it. That's good business in my books!

Carly, Zaner (the inspiration behind everything) and the House of Paws Team 🐾