Helping her best friend with a food allergy

Back in 2010, Kim Loper, had a dog named Trooper. He was her heart, so when he developed a food allergy, she started baking treats for him using high-quality, all-natural, human-grade ingredients.

Trooper loved them, and as she began giving them as gifts, so did her friends' and family's dogs.

Kim began selling her treats at farmers markets

As people began to ask Kim if she would be willing to sell her treats.

She bought a tent and began selling them at a local farmers market and they were an instant hit. Life Is Grruff was born!

Local markets and stores throughout Long Island began carrying her baked goods.

Our first Farmers Market

The day she bought Harbor Pet in Greenport--the new headquarters of Life Is Grruff

Kim bought her own pet supply store

While delivering her goods to a local pet supply store in the popular tourist town of Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island, New York, the owner mentioned the store was for sale. Kim bought it. The pet supply store and bakery became the "Life Is Grruff" headquarters.

This let her expand her bakery

Purchasing the store allowed Kim to increase the size of her bakery, too.

She was able to expand to eight flavors including a wheat-free line.

Life Is Grruff's expanded bakery at Kim's new store

Increased production capacity enabled Life Is Gruff to go national

Life Is Gruff goes
national!

With the jump in production due to the larger bakery, Kim began attending national pet-related trade shows and across the country, general stores, craft beweries, restarurants, and other shops whose customers love dogs began selling her Life Is Grruff baked goods.

A new product line from a local craft brewery's leftover grains.

Kim learned that the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, a popular local craft brewery, had high-quality, nutritious, human-grade "spent" barley, oats, rye, and wheat grain left over after their brewing process.

Kim created a new line of baked goods from these ingredients with eight different flavors called Grrowlers Dog Bones.

They became an instant best seller.

A new favorite: Grrowlers Dog Bones from high-quality barley, oats, rye, and wheat grain.

Harbor Pet expanded again recently, doubling the size of their retail and bakery space

Another expansion!

Kim recently moved to a new location that enabled her to double the size of her retail and bakery space. Harbor Pet has become a destination store for customers all over the country.

Kim's Life Is Gruff line of dog treats is now sold throughout the U.S. and they've recently increased their product capability one hundred-fold