PET TREATER AND BROWN DOG: Helping Pets Live Long, Healthy Lives Filled With Happiness and Treats!
Vantha Embry and her business partner, Chad Biggs, share a lot in common - they are both big-thinkers and visionaries, animal lovers and hikers. They see the world as it should be, rather than as it is; then they do whatever they can to turn that vision into reality. They are co-founders of the monthly subscription service, Pet Treater, which helps people to treat their pet every month.
Sixteen years ago, Vantha interned with Brown Dog Foundation's Founder, Carol Smock on a local business networking venture. Back then the original “Brown Dog,” Chocolate Chip, was a constant in the Smock household. “Sometimes, when we worked together on projects, Chip would lay beside us,” said Vantha. “I remember his big brown eyes and ears. From that time, I learned how pets can be so much more than just a pet,” she said. “They are family.” The strong, loving relationship between Carol and Chip prompted Vantha to adopt a puppy so that she could experience that unconditional love with a pet of her own.
As a new pup-mother, Vantha did what we all do - she spoiled her puppy. She regularly surprised Pita with a new toy or treat just so she could witness the reaction of a dog that’s similar to children on Christmas morning. She found great joy in seeing Pita prance around with the new toy, pulling out its fur, or making it squeak. “We have been her whole, entire life since she was adopted at 4 months,” Vantha said of Pita. “From 5 lbs to 52 lbs – she’s all awkward legs, and we love her so very much.”
Vantha knew there were multitudes of pet parents who enjoyed surprising their pets just as much as she did, but found the expense and the extra time and effort it takes to do so were the primary deterrents for most. That’s how her idea for Pet Treater was born. A small-business entrepreneur experienced in internet retail and merchandising, Vantha had an idea to give people a chance to treat their own dogs on a regular basis, with a new toy each month, as well as healthy treats and other goodies, in an affordable way without any added effort.
When Carol’s dog, Chip, passed away, Vantha witnessed the beginning of the Brown Dog Foundation and saw the great need for an organization to provide financial help to those responsible families and individuals who needed to save their family pet from unnecessary euthanasia due to the prohibitive costs of life-saving medical veterinary services. Civic-minded with a penchant for helping others, Vantha wanted to dedicate a portion of Pet Treater’s proceeds to help pets via a non-profit; and Brown Dog Foundation was a perfect fit.
“Even team members of Pet Treater have experienced the loss of a family pet because life-saving medical care expenses were out of reach,” said Vantha.
The partnership between Brown Dog and Pet Treater is beneficial to both organizations, allowing them the opportunity to spread awareness of their services to new and different groups of people. “Supporting BDF is supporting your friend, family, or neighbor who is hurting from the potential loss of their family pet,” said Vantha. “It’s paying it forward,” she concluded, “so they can prolong the precious time they have left with their pet.”
