Growing Together w/ Brad Kriser

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A Bond With Dogs Since Birth, Which Evolved Personally and Professionally

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About The Episode

Brad Kriser and his childhood dog, Coco, were born a week apart and united only a couple months after. That dog lived to be 16 years old, growing up with him into his teenage years. That was the beginning of a lifetime spent with at least one dog by his side at a time, if not more. It didn’t take long for Brad to get his next dog. After his freshman year of college, a golden retriever named Casey Jones came into his life. They became best friends and he was through crucial parts of Brad’s life – college, his early works years, getting married, and more. Since then, Dr. Woo (another dog, not an actual doctor) came along and was there for the births and raising of all four of Brad’s children – although he sadly recently passed away. But they also have two sibling dogs, Bella and Bailey, who were additions to the family around 5-6 years ago.

Dogs aren’t only part of Brad’s personal life, they have also played a transformative role in his business life. He was working a job he didn’t like and wanted to shift his trajectory. Obviously he’d always loved dogs and pets in general, and had thought about starting pet businesses when he was younger. So he opened The Barking Lot in Chicago, his hometown, in the late 90’s. It had boarding, daycare, grooming, training, massage therapy, and retail of natural pet foods. The last item on that list became something very crucial to the business, and Brad started Kriser’s in 2006 as his next company - focusing on natural pet food as the main store offering, along with really honing in on ways to educate people about it and general health/wellness for pets.

A few years ago, Brad sold Kriser’s to Independent Pet Partners (IPP), where he currently works as the Chief Education Officer to best inform people on the best ways to have their dogs (and other pets) live a happier life. They also created the 5 Pillars of Pet Wellness (Nourishment, Play, Comfort, Companionship and Purpose) in collaboration with the University of Denver’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection – which looked at the research of integrated health needs for animals and what that means for ways humans interact and impact that dynamic. Two key pillars of that group include Companionship and Purpose, which both play a key role in showing how important the relationship with our dogs can be.

With his perspective from both his personal life and talking to many customers over the years, Brad has a unique insight into why dogs are so important to us and has heard from so many people of their stories on why and how dogs save us as people. And for him, he can’t imagine ever living in a house without a dog. “It just wouldn’t feel right.”

About The Guest - Brad Kriser

Brad Kriser is the Founder of the successful Kriser’s Natural Pet Store chain, which he started in the mid-2000’s after getting experience with his first pet business, The Barking Lot. Eventually, Kriser’s sold to Independent Pet Partners (IPP), where Brad is currently the Chief Education Officer. His goal has always been to offer services and ways to help strengthen the dog and human bond. With IPP, they recently created a guide to the 5 Pillars of Pet Wellness, including key pillars of companionship and purpose, to help dog owners realize how important your emotional connection with your dog is for their overall well-being. He has also had many dogs throughout his life since birth and has had a bond that he could not imagine living without.

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