Claudia Henning and her husband, Jerry Peters, started Magic Dog 12 years ago in a small ranching community in Elizabeth, CO. They started with a home-grown training and 
grooming facility but now Magic Dog is primarily a retail business. They are hands-on dealers that truly work with their customers to find a solution that fits both the dog and its family.
Carna4 became one of Magic Dog‘s select product lines after Claudia discovered it to be a great addition to the resources they use to help dogs heal, naturally. We recently had a chance to speak with Claudia about her experience as a devoted dog owner and pet food retailer. Below is a summary of our conversation:
C4: Hi Claudia, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. First off, can you tell us a little bit about your experience in the pet food industry?
CH: The pet food industry is changing dramatically and so is our own food supply. Pets are at the bottom and their lives are crunched so they show signs of a poor diet a lot earlier than people. Dogs have a condensed life span and have the same health issues as people but they are visible much earlier and more often. It’s mainly from processed food.
C4: That’s a really interesting way to explain it. Dogs are showing a condensed version of the same health problems that people have due to our processed, western diet.
CH: Exactly! And recently I’ve been seeing health issues earlier and earlier in dogs.
C4: How did you begin helping dogs by promoting cleaner, more nutritious diets?
CH: I have seven freezers and have been doing raw for 12 years. I’m sort of a pioneer in promoting raw diets. And I began because of issues with my own dogs. One suffered from IBD. I tried limited ingredient foods and it improved. So moved to raw which really improved the problem. My other dog had terrible gas, constantly. Raw cleared it immediately.
C4: What do you think the future trends will be in pet food?
CH: Pet food is going in two directions. Commercial kibble, especially with major national brands is going down. The ingredients are getting much worse. It’s becoming more processed and now there is lots of GMO use. Then there are raw and dehydrated and foods like Carna4. They are much better but the problem is cost. People are used to buying cheaper food. It’s a lot of work to get people to understand the differences. I just try to get owners to add some better food to their dogs diet. I hope dogs are at least getting a little good food. If a Carna4 biscuit can replace a milk bone, that s huge!
C4: What kinds of changes have you seen in an average dog owner?
CH: It’s a SLOW education process. Many owners still feel they need to feed the same food, even the same protein for their dog’s entire life. And convenience is hard to overcome. Generally speaking, when their dog has an issue, they are forced into it (changing what they feed). They treat one dog successfully and then they may try to feed the next one well from the start to avoid health problems. They become proactive. But advertising and commercials make it difficult.
C4: What advice would you give new people in the industry?
CH: Study and read everything! I could not be where I am today with out my experienced from yesterday. Learn everything you can and talk to others that have a clue.
Carna4 would like to thank Claudia for sharing her experience with us and for her efforts to promote Carna4 as a healthful addition to any dog’s diet.