For those of us with furry family members, ensuring that they lead a healthy and happy life is paramount. Some key components in safeguarding your pet’s health are providing them with proper exercise and an optimal diet.
For my first episode hosting The American Dream, I chose some of the exceptional pet health and nutrition offerings right here in North Royalton, Ohio: Aukerman Park’s on-leash dog agility course and The Natural Pet Enrichment Center.
Aukerman Park On-Leash Dog Agility Course
Our first stop in North Royalton is at Aukerman Park, part of Cleveland Metroparks‘ Brecksville Reservation, where we’re taking our dog to the on-leash dog agility course.
Created with support from Dr. Adam Hechko of North Royalton Animal Hospital, Aukerman Park’s dog agility course has six stations, including an A-frame ramp, hurdles, and a teeter-totter. The course is suitable for dogs of all breeds and sizes―even our 4-pound Biewer Yorkie, Notso Big―offering different levels of difficulty depending on the type of dog and skillset that they may have.
This local dog agility course presents a unique opportunity for exercise, enrichment, and strengthening the bond between you and your dog.
In addition, Aukerman Park includes watering stations for thirsty dogs and their owners, as well as a half-mile mowed-grass trail, restrooms, and a picnic shelter with grills―a great location to host your pup’s birthday party.
Should you and your pooch have leftover energy, the park intersects the paved all-purpose Valley Pkwy Trail for a run or walk.
The Natural Pet Enrichment Center
After tiring out our little guy, we visited Notso’s favorite store, The Natural Pet Enrichment Center at 6720 Royalton Rd. This holistic and natural nutrition-based pet store specializes in super-premium products for dogs and cats.
For more than a decade, my wife Lesleigh and I have turned to owner Christine McCoy and The Natural Pet Enrichment Center team for advice on enhancing our dog’s health and nutrition, and we enthusiastically recommend them to every pet parent we meet. You can read our review here.
Christine became a proponent of nutritional wellness after it completely transformed the health of their family dog. Dissatisfied by the results of veterinary visits and medications, Christine began extensively researching a nutrition-based solution to improve their dog’s health issues. After feeding a raw diet and balanced meals, their dog’s health improved significantly. Inspired by this transformation, Christine turned her newfound passion into a family-run business that focuses on nutritional health for pets.
The motto of The Natural Pet Enrichment Center is, “When you know better, you feed better,” reflecting their commitment to improving pet health through better nutrition.
The store carefully selects and promotes raw, fresh and gently cooked foods that are free of corn, wheat, soy, byproducts, and artificial ingredients. In addition to its extensive range of foods and supplements, the store also has a wide variety of treats, toys, chews, grooming supplies, and apparel.
The passionate and friendly staff at The Natural Pet Enrichment Center is eager to listen to customers and offer judgment-free advice and product recommendations. Every employee is extensively trained and highly knowledgeable, continuing their education by attending conferences and speaking with pet experts. Both Christine and Nancy Rundell (who’s typically passing out samples of freeze-dried chicken hearts) are Clinical Pet Nutritionists, ready to help tailor nutrition to your pets’ specific needs.
We can vouch for their expertise and advice firsthand. When our beloved 12-year-old Yorkie began having seizures and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, we were completely devastated. The side effects caused by his prescribed anti-seizure medication were beyond heartbreaking. Our little guy was so overmedicated that he could barely stand or walk on his own and had stopped eating. Dissatisfied with our current vet’s approach, we immediately turned to our friends at The Natural Pet Enrichment Center. They helped connect us with esteemed medical professionals for both holistic and veterinarian care. We were given lots of food and supplement samples to try and entice his appetite while ensuring we fed him a kidney-compromised diet for optimal nutrition. They suggested trying oral CBD oil, which had shown promising results in treating seizures, and even put us in touch with their Pet Releaf rep so we could speak with him directly. Amazingly, the CBD oil helped to curtail the frequency and duration of his seizures so that we were able to reduce his anti-seizure meds, minimizing their debilitating side effects. We credit our friends at The Natural Pet for greatly improving his quality of life and giving us many, many more months of quality time with him. During this time, the entire staff showed us so much genuine compassion and concern. When we came into the store, they always inquired about him and were ready to offer support or simply a hug. If we hadn’t been into the store recently, Nancy would call to check on us. She even called to offer condolences and send her love several times after our little guy had passed. We are beyond grateful for this team who goes above and beyond in showing that they sincerely care, not only about your pets, but about you.
You can also rely on the staff as a trusted source for vetted pet providers including veterinarians, pet sitters, groomers, trainers, etc. One of their preferred animal practitioners, Dr. Sara Jerman, DC of Animals in Motion Chiropractic offers chiropractic sessions for cats and dogs at the store by appointment.
When you shop here, you don’t have to worry about your pets not liking what you buy. Shoppers will appreciate their no-nonsense full-refund policy. If your pet doesn’t like the products you bring home, you can return them for a full refund!
Customers also love their in-house rewards program. For every $150 spent, you receive a $5 reward to apply to your purchase. Rewards never expire and can be accumulated for future use.
The Natural Pet Enrichment Center’s self-serve dog wash, located behind the store at 13933 Ridge Rd, offers dog owners an affordable, clean and comfortable place to bathe their dogs. Inside are three fenced washing stalls providing dogs their own private space. Each washing station is equipped with all the tools and products needed to wash and dry your dog, including towels, aprons to keep you dry, and K9000 dog wash machines with built-in shampoo, conditioner, flea and tick rinse (a natural tee tree oil treatment), and blow dryer.
This is truly a gem for all pet parents right here in North Royalton!
Interview with The Natural Pet Enrichment Center owner, Christine McCoy:
Damien Baden – We are over at the Natural Pet Enrichment Center, and I’m with the owner, Christine McCoy. Thank you for having us here today.
Christine McCoy – Absolutely.
Damien Baden – Christine, could you tell us how you got this whole business started?
Christine McCoy – I’d love to. We started the business back in 2008 because we had a dog from previous years that had some illnesses, actually seizures, and we worked with our veterinarian. And one of the things that never came up was nutrition. It was always medication. So we thought we could help her with nutrition, and it kind of started to snowball. I did a ton of research and decided that there really was a place for us to have a business where we could have nutrition as being in the forefront for our pets.
Damien Baden – Wow! And why don’t you explain your motto to your store?
Christine McCoy – Okay. So our motto is, “When you know better, you feed better,” so you can’t beat yourself up if you don’t know any better. So once you have that knowledge and you can, use that for the benefit of your pets and their health. We do a lot of education, a lot of learning. We learn from our reps, we learn from studies. I went back to school, and Nancy, who works with us, went back to school. We did a thousand hours of training. So we’re a Clinical Pet Nutritionist.
Damien Baden – Almost every time Notso comes into The Natural Pet Enrichment Center, he’s always trying something different,so he’s always getting the opportunity to see what he likes. You know, some people just literally feed their dog the same stuff for years.
Christine McCoy – Yeah. Rotation is really good. And we guarantee our foods, our treats, our supplements. So you are not afraid to try new things. Nutrition is key. You know, and it’s not always just one thing.
Sometimes you have to layer and add different things. It brings us sometimes to tears when customers come in and their dogs or their cats are, are doing very poorly. We change their diet, or add a supplement, or add something as simple as goat’s milk, which has the probiotics and the prebiotics and digestive enzymes, and they start to thrive. It humbles us when people come in and they say that you’ve changed their lives.
We have ’em for such a short time. So if we can extend their life through health, that’s the best thing we can do.
Damien Baden – I know Notso loves it here, and we always enjoy coming in. It feels like family when you walk through the door.
Christine McCoy – Well, that’s what we hope for, you know, so that you become family, as you have. So we really appreciate it.
Damien Baden – Well, I really appreciate you letting us come in and expose your store to people that may not know about it. It means a lot to me.
Christine McCoy – I appreciate it. One of the greatest compliments we can have is a referral. So we’re very blessed with that. So we appreciate all the kind words. Thank you. Awesome.
Damien Baden – I want to thank you for taking this journey with us today as we uncovered healthy pet options here in North Royalton, Ohio. Keep in mind that exercise and a nutritious diet are the keys to longevity and the happiness of your pet. I look forward to sharing more with you of things I like here in The Land.
