Thoughtfully Curated Shop for Pooches Opens in River North

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Marcia De Andrade has run a successful online "species appropriate" pet store called For Dog's Sake for 20 years out of her Humboldt Park warehouse at 1757 N Kimball. Last month, Marcia finally decided she wanted to expand to an energetic and creative, neighborhood where like-minded businesses and art galleries are in such close proximity. "I love River North, it’s so fun, and a great fit for me because I miss having a smaller store." Marcia tells us, as we follow her around this bright and cheerful space just above street level located at 207 W Superior.

We're walking through the doggie boutique and commenting on the uber cutie boiled wool dinosaur chew toys and rainbow feather boas for kitties when Marcia's collection of deluxe leather collars catches our eye. This is without a doubt, one of the most beautiful canine collars we've ever seen is hanging right in front of our eyes. It’s a three-inch thick studded slab of hide trimmed wild boar hair. We'd go for a walk wearing this.

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For Dog's Sake also is stocking smaller collars ranging from be-dazzled and be-jeweled, to Italian studded leathers with other methods of embellishment. As we're going gaga over the glittery wall of collars adjacent to the wall of Donald Pliner clothes, Wet Wear gear, and George SF beds, Marcia pulls us over to the treats wall to show us the wild boar heart treats and explain the meaning of "species specific" which is really the reason she's in business.

"In the early 80's we were really the first health food store in the country for pets- before us, people didn't have anywhere to go. So we've worked with brands and breeds, we've really seen dogs do well with the food we sell. We say For Dog's Sake specializes in "species appropriate" and we take into account the dietetic needs of an animal in order to thrive. All of the diets we sell are carnivore-centric which is the true biological makeup of cats and dogs." Marcia elaborates, "The only food that I can truly recommend and I'll sell forever is Abady. More than any other diet, I've worked with them for 18 years. I've even been to Poughkeepsie to visit the factory- they're truly amazing and I'll stand behind them always and feed it to my own pets." Which we later learned were a giant schnauzer, Scottish terrier (and three cats and a cockatoo).

Well, any woman with the chutzpah willing to travel to Poughkeepsie is obviously dedicated to seeing puppies and kitties grow into amazing long-living creatures. So although we didn't taste the Abady dog food, we touched all the pint-sized fabrics, furs and leathers in the store and can attest that the quality of product is some of the finest we've seen in the downtown area.
· For Dog's Sake [Official Site]