Need Dog Savvy Consumer Advice

I love Fat Cat Inc ** [linkhttp://www.fatcatinc.com/html_site/hhome.shtml]http://www.fatcatinc.com/html_site/hhome.shtml[/link] ** They make really heavy duty dog toys.  Belle loves them!!

I work for a pet product distributor I tell pet stores what to buy for a living.  Really I do.  I have to councel new stores all the time.

As far as treats go...
The most popular, fastest growing dog treat company right now is Cloud Star. They are an all natural treat company with adorable packaging and a variety of treats to choose from.  They also make  a line of shampoos, conditioners, cologne and skin treatments and a line of food that  not one of the large retailers carry.  Again, everything is all natural.  I have clients that I thought when they opened would never sell a thing.  But everyone can sell Cloud Star Buddy Biscuits and the shampoo Buddy Wash.
https://www9.mailordercentral.com/cloudstar/products.asp?dept=7

As far as toys go...
Premier has a large line of "smart toys," as one of my clients who is a trainer calls them.   I don't know what kind of training methods you use, but Premier is the maker of Gentle Leader and the Easy Walk Harness. [linkhttp://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=13]http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=13[/link]
Premier also sells beds.

Foods...
Sell foods that the large chains do not.  As you are the dog trainer people will take your advice on what to feed.  If you can convince them to buy your food that they can only get from you...then they have to keep comming back to your store for food ( a necessity) and may purchase another other items while they are there like a toy or treat.  Food in general does not have a high margin.  You will make maybe 15% profit on a food, but you can make double your profit on treats and toys.

As mentioned before Cloud Star makes an excellent dry baked food.
Theres also the Breeder's Choice line, which is Avo Derm, Pinnacle, and Active Care that most of the large chains do not carry.
Natura (Innova, California Natural, Healthwise, Evo) again look around to make sure no one else in your area carries it
Nature's Logic
Nature's Variety
Merrick
Solid Gold

Another thing to keep in mind is that somethings like Cloud Star and Premier you can order on line very easily at a good price.  Other things like most of the foods, you'll have to find a distributor that carries them to get them at a good price.  Distributors have minimums so you might as well get everything you can from them rather than some on line and others from the distributor.  You can call the manufacturer for distributors.

Anne - that would be GREAT!!  Good luck!
 
If you are in Boston any time soon - take a look at Polka Dog Bakery (in the South End) - they are probabkly bigger than you would want your retail section to be, but, I think they do a great job at being the one spot where I can come in and find great products and people who are very knowledgeable...
 
If I were you, I would just try to have all of the items that someone would need on a regular basis - including high end food and treats, training tools that you use and recommend for those who work with you (including long leads and clickers for sure - why are they so hard to find??) and interactive and hard to destroy toys. 
 
I think I would also carry the books and DVD's that you most recommend to people... 
 
If you end up opening up shop - let us know, Wesley and I will definitely come by!  Maybe we will even be able to sign up for a tricks class or something fun like that!!

Oh yeah, Cloud Star.  How could I have forgotten.  I absolutely love their shampoo (all natural saponified oils) smells wonderful and is so easy to rinse off, I also like the pet salve.  These are the two prodcucts I have tried from them and I am never without.  I buy at my local whole food store.
 
Also, how about a small section of raw food?  I buy Primal for Romeo at bones2go and I drive 35 miles each way every two weeks to get, because I cannot find anywhere else.  Most places carry Nature's Variety, but Primal in my humble opinion is way better.

Good quality leather leashes.  I lost mine!  I've been using it for ... my whole life actually... it's the first leash I ever touched.  It might be older than me.  I've searched everywhere for years for leather leashes that don't destroy my hands.  My aunt actually said she buries new ones in the ground for a month to soften them.  The darn things are so cheap and rouch with a cutting edge and no bend.  I've been substituting horse reins instead which is what the instructor at 4-h obedience does.  She puts clips on them and sells them to all new people since she can't find any good leather leashes to buy.
 
2nd a good padded harness instead of those thin nylon things.  I had to order one.  Then my order never came.  A month later I cancelled it and I'm still searching for a harness that is thick enough and doesn't cut into the dog.  Goes along with dog sporting equipment or things for those that spend alot of time outdoors.  Tracking harnesses, agility equipment, portable water bowls, backpacks(both human and dog), etc....  Oh and a good quality dog seatbelt so I can haul her all those places I go.  I ended up with a cheap one from petsmart that I'm not sure I trust and isn't comfortable for her.
 
Dog food like natura brand(only one store that sells it in 50miles), canidae(same but different store), timberwolf(order it online), and many others like that.  Then bulk treats.  Having dogs that reach 80-100+lbs at adult size buying little packages of treats or individual ones is an expensive pain.  I'm still trying to find a good source for things like texas taffy or moo tubes without paying $4 a piece for each one.  I get bulk pig ears from the feedstore and bulk raw bones whenever we order beef from the butcher.  It would be so cool if a petstore actually had a freezer with frozen foods and raw bones.  I have to hunt everywhere else for them.
 
In the end the only things I actually buy from a petstore are the occasional softer treats.  I order from timberwolf and get bulk things from elsewhere because the petstores are so inadequate.  All they carry is overpriced junk.
 
The only other thing I've been looking for are chews that both aren't rock hard like dried up rawhide and bones but aren't destroyed in less than 2minutes like texas taffy or jerky treats.  I can't remember the brand but I had these twisted chews that were flexible.  I could bend them all around but the dogs carried them around for 2 days chewing on them.  They were absolutely perfect for the 6month old pup and also said they could be microwaved to soften further.  Really liked those but can't find anything similar.

Puppia harnesses - I would love to see one in a store!

Maybe a small rack with ear cleaners and tooth brushes along with pamplets explaining the merits of good ear and/or teeth care.
 
Good Luck, if it's not too far from me, I'd like to come and have a look see when you open.

Dogfessions, is it the "Break-Fast Dog Food Bowl"?