What an exciting journey it has been for the entire DogGone Natural team since our Grand Opening in 2007. We want to extend our warmest regards and deepest thanks to all of you that are supporting our store and a friendly welcome to those who are new to our nutrition center. We have been overwhelmed by the way our community has embraced the alternative, holistic pet care movement, and are proud of the role we play in helping our friends understand the benefits of a more natural approach to maintaining their pet’s vitality. This store has been a dream of ours for a long time.  We may have opened the doors, but it is you, that have helped grow DogGone Natural into what it is today.

For those readers that are unfamiliar with DogGone Natural, let me give you a brief introduction to our history, values and approach. My name is Kimberly Correnti. In 1998, I began serious study of alternative and holistic pet care because of a condition being suffered by my dog Sassi. Her trusted vet and other specialists didn’t know how to cure her condition. They consistently prescribed conventional medications that only kept her symptoms at bay for a short period of time.  This way of helping her didn’t make sense to me so from that moment on my mission was to find her cure.

Changing Sassi’s diet was my first step. She had already been through the gamut of allergy testing with no conclusive results. Through lengthy research I concluded I needed to feed her a raw diet.  For the first time, I fed my dog the diet she was designed to eat.  Along with her new diet, herbs and homeopathic remedies Sassi began to feel better, become more playful and her skin showed improvement. Unfortunately though, the past over-prescribed antibiotics and steroids had already done their damage to Sassi’s system. With great sadness I resigned myself to the fact that her kidney damage could not be reversed. Even though every vet we visited previously had gave her months to live, Sassi stayed with us for well over 6 years. I knew then this holistic approach needed to be shared with others.

I continued my schooling and research, combined it with in-depth studies of available products and other people’s past experiences. Before our doors opened, this community’s only options were grocery or large box pet stores, staffed by stock clerks. This was unacceptable to me. I wanted a place where deceptive products were removed from consideration and staffed with educated and enthusiastic people. I wanted a personal relationship with store employees that considered my dog’s circumstance and took the time to find products that fit her particular needs before making recommendations. Creating DogGone Natural in this image was the only way to achieve this.  I knew then that I would have to offer these great products and solutions to the pet owners of Ashburn.