About Us

Pug & Hound is a small, single location business founded by Krysta Fox and Jeff DiRe.

Pug & Hound is a naturally minded resource for pet owners looking for a more organic approach to their pets’ health concerns. We offer personalized service tailored to your pets’ specific health needs. Our entire staff currently works or has worked in the veterinary field, so we have the experience and knowledge to help you figure out the tricky world of pet health.

We have the largest line of herbal, homeopathic, and whole food supplements in the Chicagoland area, with the knowledge to help you decide what is best for your furry friend. We focus on addressing root causes, not just masking symptoms. We wholeheartedly believe in a proactive approach when it comes to addressing your pets’ health.

Beyond our huge selection of high quality supplements, we also have the best selection of treats and fresh food. We have inspected every ingredient in every product we carry, and have chosen only the highest quality products to put on our shelves. We are very picky about what we choose because we want any choice you make to be a great choice. We won’t carry anything in our store that we wouldn’t give to our own pets.

We believe in upholding the highest level of integrity and honesty when it comes to our products. There are a lot of choices out there, so we do the leg work for you and select only the finest to be on our shelves. Come check us out and see what makes us so different! We are here to help!

Meet the Founders

Meet Krysta

Krysta began her pet industry career at a small feed store in her hometown, and since then has taken on various roles within the pet industry from sales to manufacturing, formulation, and marketing. Krysta is a seasoned veterinary technician; working in traditional, holistic, and integrative practices for close to a decade. This plays a key part in her knowledge of veterinary medicine and common (and uncommon) practice within the field. Krysta is obsessed with learning more every day in the field of animal health and nutrition. With her combined veterinary and pet industry knowledge, she can effectively help almost anyone she comes across in some way regarding their pets’ health.

Meet Jeff

Jeff has been involved in the pet world for several years now as a fresh food advocate. He brings real world perspective as well as knowledge anyone can understand. He owns Willy and Xena, two wonderful raw-fed rescues that thrive on their amazing diet and wellness protocol. He continues to educate himself daily and get the word out about the fresh food movement! He makes the crazy complicated world of animal health easier to understand for all pet owners! Jeff now works for one of Pug & Hound's favorite brands- Green Juju! He is still seen at the store from time to time, but keeps himself busy traveling the country educating pet parents!

Our Team

Jessica

Manager
Jessica is a former veterinary technician, with several years of experience in the field. She is our most “credentialed” employee, having taken several holistic courses since joining Pug & Hound. She is a Certified Pet Nutrition Expert, Certified Canine Essential Oils Specialist, and Certified Acute Canine Herbalism Specialist. She is passionate about helping you find the best options in the store to help your pet live their best life. Jess is also a mother to an adorable daughter and has 4 dogs: Tiger, Mona, Luna, and Ruca.

Kiandra

Advisor 
Kiandra is a veterinary technician at the same clinic as Krysta. Kiandra is passionate about advancing her skills in the vet tech world as well as learning as much as possible about nutrition and supplementation. She grew up with a dog named Spencer, and owns two cats of her own, Koda & Kahlua. Kiandra is our resident cat expert. She has successfully transitioned her cats off kibble and onto a fresh food diet, and is happy to help you with your feline needs! She is also a Certified Pet Nutrition Expert (DNMU), and is continuing to study more and more every day in the field of holistic nutrition. 

Kimmy

Advisor 

Kimmy has always loved learning about nutrition and alternative ways of healing the mind, body and soul. After dealing with some chronic health issues it was needed for her to dig deeper and find answers. Kimmy then became a reiki practitioner and found how important energy healing is, as well as proper nutrition and herbal medicine. 

During this journey she realized that it wasn’t just her who needed all these changes, but also her pets. She and my pets are thriving and we have never been healthier. 

“I’m so grateful for the experiences that have led me to Pug & Hound, I’m honored to be part of an amazing team that share the same passions. I’m so excited to continue to learn and grow, and to help others on the way!”-Kimmy

Robyn

Advisor 
Robyn’s passion for furry creatures (& not furry) has been very apparent since she was little. Her first animal job was at a boarding/daycare facility, which eventually  led her to the veterinary community. Robyn has been a technician for 4 years now.  She enjoys educating her community on nutrition and how we can use naturally occurring plants/minerals to ensure our companions’ longevity, mentally and physically. 
Robyn has a chihuahua/schipperke mix named Cypress and 3 cats: Hickory, mesquite, and Shnoot as well as a flock of coturnix quail! 

Pug & Hound Pet Apothecary