Catering For Your Pets
With Coopers Kingdom.
My second interview of the year is with Terri and I cannot wait for you to meet her too. She’s another Perth local in the pet industry, who has been running her business ‘Coopers Kingdom’ for nearly 4 years, selling premium natural dog treats, supplements & enrichment toys for your beloved pets… and you thought you couldn’t spoil your dogs much more? Well, they’re in for a real treat (pun intended). Take a read and get to know Terri, her Labrador Cooper, & her Golden Retriever Piper, a little bit more.
Dog Mums, have I got a treat for you - your dogs are gonna love you for this intro! I photographed Terri from Coopers Kingdom alongside her fur babies Cooper & Piper, at Perry’s Paddock and asked her a few Q’s about her biz. Your dogs life is about to be changed forever!
What a fun shoot this was - and clearly (as you’ll see from the images below) the dogs also had a blast, and I’d hate to have it any other way! I connected with Terri last month to photograph her and her beloved dogs and I also chatted with her about her own pet business that she successfully runs. From the interview style blog below, you will get to see how freakin passionate this girl is about her dogs, your dogs, the food they eat and making the world a better place, one bag of treats at a time. After reading this, I have no doubt that you’ll be ready to make a change by introducing premium, natural and healthy dog treats to your fur babies too.
• I want to start by asking ya, Terri, who are you? Share with our readers here a little bit about yourself, so that they can get to know you better.
Oh hey, I’m Terri owner of Coopers Kingdom whilst I’m certified in canine nutrition, in a dogs eyes that just makes me their snack b*tch and to be honest I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am an enrichment toy obsessed Dog mum with two fur kids called Cooper and Piper. I could talk your head off about my passion for canine nutrition and enrichment. Aside of all the crazy dog mum stuff I’m a lover of cocktails, beaches and sunsets - preferable all 3 in that order. I love to travel, hike, and scuba dive, life under the water is just incredible.
Yas! I can soo relate to the cocktails, beaches and sunsets haha!
• And now tell us about your business and why every dog mum needs you in their life.
Ok, so, Coopers Kingdom is a Premium all natural pet treat company helping pet parents to never feed unhealthy treats again, not only with our treats but with the help of our supplements too. All of our treats and supplements are made only with all natural ingredients that have no fillers, additives or any other hidden nasties, so dog mums and dads can nourish their dogs without the guilt. Our supplements have helped so many dogs across Australia from those with environmental allergies to skin conditions and joint problems. In addition to the edible side of our Kingdom we also provide a range of enrichment toys, helping to entertain and slow down your dog’s eating habits, but also to encourage natural behaviours whilst saving the furniture all at the same time. There is litererally something for every dog.
Wow, just from that answer alone, I’m sure I’m not the only one who can truly see how passionate you are about this subject - hence why you’ve found yourself with this business no doubt.
• I’m pretty sure I know this next answer, but were you much of an animal lover growing up?
Yes! I have always had a love of animals. Living in an apartment in London as a child, my mum was dead against having a dog and rightly so due to the hours they worked too, but you bet I had every other pet that we were allowed to. I had a budgie, a hamster, fish, a rabbit, gerbils, turned out I was allergic to guinea pigs though, but yes, I was obsessed with animals! Somewhere I even have a cringe photo of a 7 year old me decked out in my 101 Dalmatians bedroom with Pongo, Perdy and the gang.
• Seriously, haha, Oh I wish we could have seen that! So should I ask why didn’t you end up with a Dalmation yourself now?
I actually wanted one so bad, but I had to come to a compromise. Between me wanting the Dalmatian and my partner wanting a German Shepherd, that somehow resulted in a Labrador and a Golden Retriever.
And they’re beautiful dogs at that!
• You have been running your business Coopers Kingdom for 4 years right? How did you come up with this business idea?
Yes it will be 4 years since we opened on April 29th and I have an awesome Birthday celebration planned too for our customers. The idea sparked before I actually had Cooper - Let me tell you a little bit about that moment: What the actual f*ck!
That’s how Coopers began, in a ‘what the f*ck’ moment.
I was sitting at my desk at a previous job, and I heard a co-worker blurt out "This needs to go for fumigation". They were working on an import of pet treats from China for a major brand back in 2015.
"I’m sorry what?" I had not quite understood the statement.
My co-worker continued to enlighten me: "It contains undeclared meat so has to be fumigated".
Remember this was before I even had Cooper and I was thinking to myself what the actual f*ck!
So when Cooper did come into my life, I knew I wanted to avoid this at all costs. It was paramount that I knew exactly what was in the treats I was giving to him. I was forever checking packets only to find they were full of preservatives or fillers, or that food had been imported from overseas and could have potentially been fumigated with nasty chemicals. That’s when Coopers Kingdom was born.
My vision behind this brand is to encourage all pet parents to feed all natural treats that are biologically appropriate. Seeing imported pet treats being chemically treated first hand sparked my passion to provide all natural delicious and nutritious treats with no added nasties or fillers whilst being appropriate for their species. Ultimately helping pet parents’ to never feed unhealthy treats ever again.
• Clearly your business revolves around your Lab Cooper for you to name your business after him, right?
Honestly it was clear from when we got Cooper that’s this was his kingdom and I was just living in it. From constantly checking packets to try and find appropriate treats and preparing his meals myself, stealing my heart… and my bed, he ultimately chose the business name by coming into my life. Piper didn’t come along until a few years later.
• The fact that you sell food and treats for dogs, are you a foodie yourself then? What food do you love to indulge in?
Haha yes! I’m the kind of foodie that hates cooking, take me anywhere that does a full on roast dinner with Yorkshire puddings and I’m a happy gal. I am also a little bit obsessed with the Orange and poppy seed pancakes at Meelup Farm house, if you haven’t tried them and you’re on a trip down south, then they are definitely a must - plus they have the cutest Chocolate Labrador wandering the grounds along with alpacas and a cow!
*adds Meelup Farm House to my list of places to go asap! Sounds like the spot for all animal lovers alike!
• And so back to Coopers Kingdom, what would be the most popular or tastiest food you sell for our readers' fur babies?
We have 4 super popular treats. The first would be the Lamb Puffs. These are the perfect training treats due to them being easily breakable and low calorie. The other 2 are the Shark Cartilage and Mackerel Twists. These last a little longer and have plenty of that fishy omega 3 goodness to them, honestly dogs cannot resist these ones. Last but not least are our bully sticks. They’re an awesome chew for puppies and adult dogs to get those happy endorphins flowing.
• I have seen that you sell some interesting dog treats: fish tails, squid, crocodile feet, goat hearts - haha, sheesh I'm glad I don't have to live off dog food, but I'm sure the dogs find it all a real feast! How did you even come to know that these were products that dogs would love?
This all starts around our no waste ethics, there are so any waste products from food for human consumption and so we have tried and tested so many over the years to see what dogs love. I’m also certified in canine nutrition as I mentioned at the start, so that knowledge comes in handy when deciding on what I’d like to add to our range from what’s available, whilst also providing the best nutritional option for our fur babies.
• Where do you source your food from too, as I'm sure you don't actually go and hunt the crocodiles yourself right haha?
Haha, No. All of the treats, with the exception of our human grade NZ green lipped mussels, are sourced within Australia, primarily within WA. I work with a number of small businesses, food processors and abattoirs that align with our business and the majority are all waste products from food for human consumption.
Huh, so interesting!
• So, Cooper and Piper; What are their favourite treats and how do you love to spoil them?
Oh gosh, how do I love to spoil them? Well for starters, they have their own bedroom…..haha! I know I’m crazy. We love to take them on adventures, big long walks so they can enjoy themselves; run, sniff and just be dogs, preferably with mud and water involved, because that’s their favourite.
Coopers two favourite treats are our Moo Tubes and Lip Smackerels (mackerel jerky) and for Piper it has to be our Bully Sticks and our Kangaroo Ears!
• I also love how you're doing your part when it comes to being a little more eco-friendly in your business. I'm sure the readers would love to hear a little about this!
As both a consumer and as a business it was important for me from the outset, to have ecofriendly packaging. Trying to reduce, reuse and recycle in my personal life, I channelled this into my business too. I dabbled with both Kraft packaging with and without plastic and decided on our eco-friendly degradable packaging to keep the integrity of our products.
Standard plastic / foil bags are made with 100% non-renewable products and are not degradable and generally not recyclable via kerbside bins either, unless dropped at a soft plastics facility. I was wanting to avoid this at all costs but it did take me a long time to find the perfect one.
Our packaging is primarily made up of renewable wood pulp starch - 60%. Wood pulp starch is completely biodegradable. 100% of a wood pulp starch based portion, dissolves in healthy compost in approximately 120 days in a residential composting environment facility. The remainder of packaging is PE from fossil and will breakdown over approx. 10 years. Now 10 years sounds a lot doesn't it? BUT a standard plastic food package takes up to 1000 years to break down, which is also food for thought.
Knowing that when an empty Coopers packet placed in the bin, will have less problem degrading compared with standard plastics, is so important to us as a business. Our impact on the earth far outweighs having a cheaper non degradable packaging type. We have big plans for the future to make all of our packaging fully biodegradable within 120 days within residential compost so watch this space!!
What an amazing effort you’ve put into all that research! The world could certainly do with more business minds like yours! Thank you so much Terri, for hanging out with me and answering these questions. It means a lot and I’m sure the readers will appreciate all the info too!
• Tell us then, where is the best place for dog mums alike to connect with you?
We are across a few socials. Instagram is our most popular platform though and you can find us there at @cooperskingdom. If you’re interested in learning more about what we sell and possibly trying something new for your dog, the website is cooperskingdompetco.com.au and we’re currently offering a free bag of chicken necks with valid orders over $30.00 - There should be a pop up on our website for the full details on how to claim.
Thank you so much for reaching out and connecting with me. It’s been great to chat and I’m loving ALL of the photos!
Isn’t she amazing and inspiring! I’m hoping you get a giggle out of the above image, maybe it’s not the one you’d choose for the wall, but it is definitely album worthy with facials like that haha! And I also hope you enjoyed getting to know Terri just as much as I did. If you do jump over to her Instagram, make sure you say hey and let her know, that you read this blog post x
I couldn’t not share a few more photos from our session, because I really did have so many favs! I had the best time with these 3 in front of my camera. If you’d love some photos like this of you and your dog, make sure to reach out, and send me a message, it’d be my honour to make some magic memories like this for you too!
