Exploring Life & Business with Mario Garza of Luv-A-Bull Pet Products

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Garza.  

Mario, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have owned and operated my manufacturing facility with my wife in Bay City, Michigan for the last 30 years. When we got our first dog Sweet Pea in 2010, she was able to destroy any toy within minutes to hours. It didn’t matter which toy we purchased for her to chew or play with they just wouldn’t last. We adopted Missy Girl in 2012; she was even harder on her toys than Sweet Pea. When Gabe came to live with us in 2013, we knew that we wanted to start a dog toy business to hopefully help so many other dog parents who were experiencing the same problem we were with our three heavy chewers. We purchased ChooBee® Dog Toys in November of 2017 with the hopes of finding (a toy that our pitbulls couldn’t destroy in a matter of a few minutes to an hour.) PLEASE CHANGE TO THIS (something our pitbulls wouldn’t add to their ever growing toy graveyard within a day of getting it.) After purchasing ChooBee® we made some engineering changes to a couple of the toys as well as changing the color concentrates to make them FDA-compliant. Since that time, we have added two more versions of ChooBee® Dog Toys. The Tastee Choo™ is our most popular; it is a nylon chew toy infused with 100% real bacon. Our other version is the Softee Soft™ which is a softer more flexible play toy that floats. We have also added nine more toy designs for a larger variety to choose from. We love our dogs, and they are as much a part of our family as our children. All of our toys are made in Bay City, Michigan with FDA-compliant materials that are sourced in the USA.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. We have never owned a dog toy company before so everything was and still is a learning curve. Everything from the different types of dogs to the types of toys they prefer. After purchasing the business, we faced challenges with the packaging, designs, and the different types of materials that work best for play and chew toys. Once we had that portion under control then it was trying to learn how to market our product and get the ChooBee® name out there so that people would try it. We also had to learn how to build a website and promote ChooBee® through Facebook and Instagram. We started doing craft shows and bazaars to sell our toys because nobody knew who we were. Then when Covid hit, that was a tough challenge due to the fact that we couldn’t attend any shows to sell our products. After Covid, we started doing shows again. Finally, our name is getting out there, and people are starting to ask for us by name, they are also telling their friends about our products. As of today, we are getting sales from across the USA as well as Canada and are acquiring more wholesalers who love our toys.

We’ve been impressed with Luv-A-Bull Pet Products, LLC., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in dog chew and play toys everything from the (aggressive or mild) PLEASE CHANGE TO (mild to aggressive) chewer to flexible play toys that float in the water or fly through the air. We are known for our most durable chew toy which is the “Maxx” line and our bacon-infused Tastee Choo™. The durability of our chew toys is what sets us apart from the others. We are most proud that we make and sell our own product in Bay City, Michigan with USA-sourced materials. We would like our readers to know that we have long-lasting chew toys at reasonable prices.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Yes, we have taken a lot of risks, everything from purchasing the dog toy line to launching new toy designs. As the saying goes “If there is no risk, there is no reward”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.choobeedog.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ChooBeeDogToys
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChooBeeDogToys
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@choobeedog1265