Running a household with four dogs—a 13-year-old chihuahua/shih tzu mix named Jena, Brody, a nearly 11-year-old golden retriever, Louie, a 4-year-old mixed black Labrador and a hound/Labrador mix named Kona—Kendra Locke and Corene Petitpren had serious reasons to begin making their own dog food. The owners of K9 Kitchen, LLC, in Immokalee, Locke and Petitpren were adamant that kibbles weren’t going to pass their dogs lips. “It’s basically junk food for pets, and we were concerned about how often it got recalled,” says Petitpren, who notes that she and Locke had long careers in healthcare and were aware of the effects on humans that regularly consumed processed foods containing hormones and antibiotics.

The duo initially began making dog food after meeting a dog walker that made her own. “Kendra started mixing up a recipe of sweet potato, oatmeal and rice. One of our dogs had a bad case of dandruff, which we noticed improved, and Jenna, who’d never eaten a full meal in her whole life, gobbled up ever crumb. That’s when we said, ‘Let’s start a dog food business,’” recalls Petitpren. After researching regulations for pet food, they created what they considered a nutritious recipe and sent it off to a laboratory for testing. “Not being chemists or nutritionists, we were surprised when our first recipe was rejected.” 

After more research, the women located a veterinarian nutritionist with experience in pet nutrition and pet food recipes. “She knew what measure of correct ingredients made the most nutritious recipe. We worked to balance the nutrients in our ingredients, and then turned it over to her to do her magic, which she did, right down to the gram. We make our wholesome, premium dog food, pup-sicles and treats with human-grade ingredients. There are no steroids, antibiotics, hormones or preservatives and we use all natural, grass-fed, lean prime meats which we hand-trim and grind in small batches for consistency. We roast the veggies and scramble the eggs in our commercial K9 Kitchen. We deliver to your door as well as selling our meals and treats at locations in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Punta Gorda, Sarasota, University Park and Lakewood Ranch, which are all listed on our website. We also ship throughout the U.S.,” says Locke.

From personal experience, Locke and Petitpren know that feeding dogs healthy and balanced meals means fewer trips to the vets for allergies, food intolerances, food allergies and upset bellies. 

The K9 Kitchen LLC is located at 170 Airpark Blvd., in Immokalee. For more information, call 239-898-0795 or email info@The K9Kitchenllc.com.