Roscoe is the only one who seems totally disengaged with what’s going on around him. While the others are having the time of their lives, jumping on the grass, squealing with glee, desperately crying for attention from their sitters, he sits in a corner, alone, quietly yawning.

 

It’s obvious he’s over the excitement of daycare. After all, the spotted Parson Russell Terrier is toted here all the time by his dad, Mark Boonnark, who co-owns the place with his business “paw-tner,” Andrew Kim.

 

The doggy daycare is only one of many services offered by Healthy Spot, a new boutique in Santa Monica, Calif., dedicated to serving Man’s Best Friend. The high-end store caters to privileged pooches who enjoy the finer things in life, like eating doggy fro-yo, having their fur tousled at a hair salon or getting a massage.

 

 “I want the community to view this as a second home where we care as much about their pets as they do themselves,” says Kim, 28, who owns two dogs — a boxer and a shih tzu-terrier mix.

 

For Kim, the idea for the store came after last year’s massive pet food recalls and an incident that left a friend’s dog homeless. He decided that he not only wanted to create a store that offered healthy dog food and promoted pet adoption, but an environment where customers could feel at home. 

 

“What struck me was the disconnect in the shopping experience at stores like Petco,” he says. “I asked, ‘How come people aren’t friendly? Why is the store so cold?’”

 

But the quest to create a “dog lifestyle center” wasn’t easy as he encountered several skeptics. “Try explaining organic foods for dogs to Korean parents,” says Kim, who was working for a hedge fund at the time. One of the few people who believed in the project was Boonnark, a friend who was working in advertising and felt the need for a career change. He hopped on board.

 

“We realized there’s not a lot of education out there about healthy dog products,” says Boonnark, 28. “There was a need for this.”

 

Soon, everything started to come together. A few months into the project, a competing pet store suddenly closed. A month into the opening, the owners of a nearby dog grooming business retired and referred all their customers to Healthy Spot. “It is naïve to believe that God isn’t looking over my shoulder,” Kim says.

 

Today, the 3,100-square-foot locale offers a wide range of healthy dog food, from vitamin-infused meatballs to vegan options, along with eco-friendly toys and products such as mattresses made of recycled soda bottles and organically-made Frisbees. The store also hosts dog adoptions and has teamed with local humane societies and dog-centered charities.

 

Joy Saunders and her French bulldog Tulip have become regulars.