And we were so tempted in the beginning to add services like grooming, like daycare,

all the other things where a lot of brands were looking at it and we have customers.

Why don't you provide these things?

It's because we wanted to be the best in the world, which we had the privilege and the honor

of the entire nation voting on this.

Pet Innovation Awards gave us Pet Ret pet retailer of the year in 2025,

is the innovative side of it being the experience in hospitality, which is nothing special,

nothing new, but it does, it's not simple to do, but it takes a lot of work with the teams

in place and getting a lot of feedback, but you have to embrace hospitality through your bones

in and out in your environment 24-7. It can't just be something you talk about.

Step into the world of success with your brand amplified, the ultimate podcast designed to

unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Onika Jackson,

and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies, and secrets that have propelled

entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. It's not every day that I get to come on

the show and talk about my dog. And today is going to be one of

those days. I'm delighted to be here with Courtney and Slava, the founders of Pupteak, which is a really

interesting business story. We're not probably going to get into some of the things about our dogs

and their health care and all those parts of things.

We're going to talk about some fun aspects. But before we do that, I'd love to start at the

beginning. Let's start with Champ. Walk me through Champ's story, the moment he flatlined,

what were you both thinking and feeling? Well, I mean, I'll do the background of it, but our dog champ, he is a Kishu Ken, which is a Japanese

purebred dog.

...