TRAVERSE CITY — A Traverse City local business, Contigo Dogs, has made the move to a storefront downtown.
The business is excited to host events and even offer a way for your dog to exercise.
“We get lots of wet puppies this time of the year,” said owner Stephanie Dehn. “So it’s been a ton of fun just to be more centrally located for the community and being able to offer so many more products and activities now too.”
Contigo Dogs started as an Etsy shop for Dehn. She started by creating waterproof custom-made dog collars.
In January, the store moved from the Grand Traverse Commons to Front Street.
“Before we’re at about 200 square ft., so now that we’re almost at 1000, it offers such a variety of other products to carry classes to host,” said Dehn, “The other thing with the products is now we get to carry even more local businesses as well.”
“So about 70% of what we have in store today is small business, and that can be anywhere from Downtown Traverse City, small businesses, to LA. We want to open up our space to help out as many other small businesses as possible, because I know how much it meant to me in the very beginning to be able to have other people supporting us.”
With a focus on community, Dehn has now created a dog community. Hosting ‘Pack Walks’ where all dogs, big and small, and of all abilities can join in.
They have also started hosting kitten yoga, with kittens you can adopt from TC Paw Cat Rescue.
The new storefront also has a way for your dogs to exercise with dog treadmills. You can book an appointment for your dog on their website. If it’s your dog’s first time. Dehn will help them feel comfortable.
“I know we focus so much on our dogs, but this is really for people too,” Dehn said. “Bringing people together in whichever way they come and making sure that they feel comfortable here. Coming from Brazil and being an immigrant to the country as well, too.
“It’s just one of those things where I’ve been given so many opportunities to succeed. That’s all I want for our community and our pets to is just to be able to have the opportunity to have really fun events and really cool things to do. While at the same time bringing other people together that you might not have known about because it’s hard to make friends our age, too.”
Dehn said primarily, their treadmill appointments have been super popular. Treadmill appointments are for just about every dog.
“Dogs that need to lose weight, dogs that are done post ACL surgery or some type of physical therapy that they might need. Also, all of our crazy dogs. Our hunting dogs are dogs that are off season, that just need to maintain fitness.”
The business sees a variety of different dogs, including puppies whose owners want them to learn a little bit more and gain more socialization.
“With the walking pad, we get them started to get them comfortable with it and get them used to the noise and movement,” Dehn said. “Once they’re comfortable and confident and or they just show that they really want to do more. The slat mill is a great alternative for them as well.”
This way, Dehn said, dogs can exercise and run as fast as their little hearts want to, or if they just want to walk, they can just walk as well.
“This alone is a really great exercise because there is some level of resistance with it, because they’re the ones that are moving the slot mill itself. The reason they are attached here is that if they aren’t attached, they’ll just walk off of it just because of the way that they walk.
“There’s not usually a lot of tension with him, but some of our other crazy dogs, I just love to run. It’s usually at full capacity in terms of pull. The really cool thing is, my most important aspect of teaching dogs how to use a slat mill is how to stop it. So, we want to make sure the dogs feel comfortable where they are, okay with, hey, if we’re done, we’re done. He can just sit or he can just wait.
Contigo Dogs also offers memberships, each of which includes different perks based on your dog’s needs.
“Depending on the packages, you can get everything from free nail trims once a month, unlimited use of our treadmills, getting our one free treat bag a month as well too, which we call the treat of the month,” Dehn said. “Usually, that’s a small business, either locally or within the U.S. that is shipping us a treat that you get to try out before anybody else in our store does as well, which is super cool. And the memberships are awesome because they save you a ton of money and time.”
Dehn said she wants to emphasize the importance of shopping at small businesses, as a purchase doesn’t just impact the business but the community.
“It makes a huge difference,” Dehn said. “It’s one of those things where for every dollar spent locally, I believe almost 60% of it stays within that region versus, you know, if you spend it online and a big multimillion-dollar company.
“Not only is it the dollar amount, but what we do in the community makes a huge difference in terms of volunteer work, our donations to the local humane society, the time and effort it takes to be able to host your event.”
Dehn said the Contigo Dogs staff looks forward to meeting more people and their furry friends during their first summer in Downtown Traverse City.
“So many dogs, so many fun and excited dogs,” Dehn said. “This is Disney for them. They get to see and do so many cool things here, and I’m very fortunate that I get to benefit from that.”
To get more information about Contigo Dogs click here.