K9 Shop Hosts Pet Nutrition Event With Green Juju’s Billy Hoekman

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Press release: K9 Shop

The K9 Shop located in Massapequa, New York hosted An Evening of Pet Nutrition with Billy Hoekman, vice president of nutrition at Green Juju on November 6.  

Pet parents from all around the area came to learn from Hoekman and ask a lot of questions. Hoekman’s kind demeanor and approach of educating pet parents about pet nutrition, funny stories throughout the event and eye-opening statistics had the audience leaning in closer to hear everything he was saying.    

“We are so happy with the event and our customers and staff are all talking about it. Billy is a wealth of information and was so generous with sharing his expertise about pet nutrition with our customers – we were honored to have him,” said Robert Tucker, co-owner of The K9 Shop.   

Hoekman answered many questions for pet parents whether they are feeding their pets a raw food diet, home cooked or kibble – he was able to give advice and scientific information that was easily digestible and simple for pet parents to start implementing into their diet. 

“We look forward to hosting more events in our stores in the future.  Our community is so important to us, and we love to bring even more education to our customers to help their pets. We adore Billy and are so thankful for his incredible advice and information,” said Anya Tucker, co-owner of The K9 Shop.  

Pet parents in attendance asked many questions ranging from asking about pet allergies, to when a puppy can start eating raw food, what certain supplements or products do, to what to add to a dog’s kibble diet to increase nutrition. Hoekman addressed all questions and even stayed after the event was over to directly answer more questions one-on-one.  

“We loved the pet nutrition event hosted by The K9 Shop. They are such a great store and already do such an amazing job of building community, but this definitely heightened our stellar opinion of them! My husband tagged along as he didn’t know much about raw feeding, he just knew the basics and he definitely feels more educated and confident now that he went,” said Peyton Martorelli. 

Hoekman mentioned during the event how lucky pet parents on Long Island are to have The K9 Shop with two locations, as there are only a handful of similar pet stores dotted throughout the country.    

“Pet nutrition is the first step in the longevity of our pet lives, and the easiest step a new pet parent can take – it was a fun event and I am so glad I could be there,” said Hoekman.

“Pet retail stores across the country should be hosting these kinds of events for their customers at least once a year, the amount of information they can learn, questions they can ask will have your customers returning and bringing their friends to learn and shop at your store. As our world opens up post-COVID, in-person pet nutrition events are so important to host for all the new pet parents out there.  I am so glad I was able to attend this very well done event,” said Nancy Hassel, founder and president of American Pet Professionals. 

 The K9 Shop is the brainchild of Anya and Robert Tucker, dog parents who are so passionate about feeding dogs a species-appropriate diet and helping educate other dog owners – that they created a business out of their passion. The K9 Shop is the largest and only specified raw pet food store in the state of New York. 

Hoekman is involved in Green Juju’s formulation, product development, science education and sales and marketing. He participates frequently in expert panels and speaks nationally and internationally in venues ranging from universities and conferences to public libraries. He also serves on the board of directors for Royal Animal Health University, attends AAFCO meetings and has numerous published articles.