Hi my name is Lyn. Everyone calls me Aunt Lyn-

I would like to take the opportunity to tell you a little about myself and my family, because along with YOU and the rest of our loyal clients – we all form Aunt Lyn’s.

First, my brothers Louis, Gary, and I appreciate and want to thank you for visiting with us. We really do hope you enjoy our website, not just as a place to shop, but to visit, read our blogs, newsletters, and mostly to share your Aunt Lyn’s experiences by posting pictures of you and your dog in our review area. 

We are more than just a store. We are a family owned business that takes pride in our products and services.  You and every one of our online friends are part of the Aunt Lyn’s community – that’s how we see it and it’s how everyone who works at Aunt Lyn’s feels.

So, let me explain how Aunt Lyn’s began and the driving forces, philosophies and values that got us where we are today.

 

Entrepreneurship – Starting Small

Aunt Lyn’s began when our Grandpa Louis and Grandma Domenica decided to leave their family and home in Italy and travel to America. This was way back in the early 1900’s. They had very little in the way of material goods but they had drive, a strong work ethic, and took pride in whatever job they had to do in order to make it. They quickly settled into the community, raised a family, and had many friends.

Grandpa Louis saw that there was a need in the neighborhood for good quality Italian bread just like they made back in Italy. He started baking bread and selling it from a pushcart along the cobblestone streets of Brooklyn, New York. 

With the help of Grandma, they saved their pennies and eventually bought the building they had rented. The bakery, with its coal fired brick ovens, produced delicious loaves of bread that were in great demand in the community and throughout the boroughs.

In addition to selling bread, Grandpa sold flour and other bakery supplies to other bakeries in New York. With the help of his children (Mike, Josephine, Santo, and Pat), bread, cookies, cakes, and pastries were supplied to restaurants and grocery stores throughout Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the other boroughs.

By watching how Grandpa and the rest of the family grew the business, my brothers and I learned that good things can start small-like a delicious loaf of bread or a small bottle of Wellness Oil and can grow into something larger.

This is how Aunt Lyn’s began - by helping people and their pets. Through good word of mouth, great products, and a sterling reputation, Aunt Lyn’s has expanded throughout the community and is continuing to grow.

And now Aunt Lyn’s is expanding through the Internet, and we are delighted that we can reach and help more people and more pets than we ever could before. We hope that one day, by continuing to work hard and persevere, everyone will know about the benefits of the quality products we provide.

 

Customer Service and Quality Products

To continue the story of our journey to where we are today , lets fast forward to 1960’s...

 

That's when my grandpa and grandma retired, an our Dad, Santo, along with his sister, Josephine - our Aunt Jo, took over the management of the bakery.

No one worked harder than our Dad – 7 days a week with no time off.  He made certain that the quality of the products remained deliciously consistent and that every baker, pastry chef, and drivers knew just how important the quality and timeliness of delivery were.

Josephine managed the retail side of the business and was the person that greeted the customers that came into the store, just like her mom had done , before her. She made sure the sales staff were courteous and helpful and held everyone to a high standard of cleanliness.

The work ethic of our dad and aunt showed us the value of being consistent and dependable in both product and delivery. We never forget that every product we sell is being purchased because someone cares about his or her pet.  We want to make sure every single item meets or exceeds that person’s expectations. Our dad always used to say that even though we were making thousands of loaves of bread a day, one person was going to buy and eat one of those loaves. To that person, that loaf had to be perfect.  That’s the way you keep customers coming back.

Aunt Lyn’s continues to follow this advice. We make, source, and sell the best products. If, for any reason, you’re unhappy with your purchase you can return it within 30 days for a full refund.

Love What You Do and You’ll Never Work a Day in Your Life

 

The bakery business, much like dog care , can be hard. If you’re committed to giving people fresh bread every day, you have to prepare and bake the bread during the night. It’s also a seven-day a week, no-holidays-off business. Despite the crazy hours, I never heard anyone in the family complain. The reason – they loved the business.  Something about the smell of the fresh bread, the complements we got from the customers and just the satisfaction of doing a good job made it seem more like a hobby than a job.

What we do at Aunt Lyn’s is a labor of love. Knowing that the products we sell help pets feel better and stay safe motivate me to work hard and constantly look for new ways to help.  Is it hard work? Sometimes, but so what?

We continue to follow this advice. We make, source and sell the best products we can.

 

Training

 

When people ask how we got started in the dog business, we say it can be traced back to our Uncle Pat. He was a trainer and breeder of dogs, but he loved all animals and had an assortment of pets from monkeys, birds, and snakes to everything in between. He also saw to it that every pet he owned was well trained, well cared for and, most importantly, loved.  We should mention that Uncle Pat gave us our favorite childhood dog, Gemini.

We can’t say that he was the sole influence on why we love dogs, but he certainly played a big part. He is the one that taught us the importance of having well trained dogs, giving them the best you can afford, and looking after them the way you would look after yourself. At Aunt Lyn’s we learned these lessons well. In fact, the Behavior, Exercise, Socialization, and Training (B.E.S.T.) program we use today had its start with Uncle Pat’s approach to dog training and care.

 

Nutrition

Our mom was an early adopter of the concept of eating healthy. At supper we always had fresh vegetables to go along with the meat serving, and as you might imagine, fresh bread on the table. However, Mom's nutrition went far beyond , "eat your veggies" that all children hear.

Mom was way ahead of her time when it came to making the right food choices. We would tease her about growing alfalfa in the kitchen and she would make whole-wheat muffins, waffles, and pancakes because she felt (and rightly so) that bleached flour or processed wheat was not the best. She also avoided buying packaged foods, which were starting to be all the rage at the time.  She preferred making dishes from scratch to avoid the chemicals and preservatives that food processors love to include.

All these ideas seemed strange at the time, but her approach was certainly the right one. Mom is now close to 90, has a social life most millennials would envy, and walks miles every day.

At Aunt Lyn’s we’ve adopted mom’s approach to healthy eating and staying active. Every animal in our care is fed a diet of natural and whole foods.  We avoid packaged products and make sure every dog gets the exercise he or she needs.

 

Herbal Natural Remedies

Our Grandma Pedrini , Granma Livia - had a way with animals.  Gemini, for example, absolutely loved her and she loved him.  Gemini would know she was coming for a visit when she was still a block away from the house. When she walked in the door he would be wild with excitement.

She always looked after him using herbal treatments as a way to keep him healthy and to treat him when he wasn’t feeling well. For example, she would make sachets of oregano, rosemary, and other secret ingredients to place on his collar to keep fleas away - he never had any. She would also feed him specially prepared meals made from table scraps and mixtures of herbs - it must have worked. He lived to be over 20 years old!

By the way, Grandma’s treatments were not reserved for just the animals.  She used them on herself and the family as well.  Now you know how our interest in herbal remedies was formed. Today our Wellness Remedies help with more than just fleas, but the ideas of the formulations started back in the day, watching Grandma make oregano, rosemary, and the secret ingredients sachets.  Oh, just as an aside, Grandma lived to be over 103.

 

Animal Advocacy

Everyone in our family believes that animals should be respected, treated humanely and should never be abused, neglected or mistreated. In fact, a cousin of ours who recently passed away, was chief operating officer at Texas Humane Heroes, in Austin, Texas. Ron was a strong advocate for animals and animal rights. He and his team were able to save many dogs and find them loving homes.  If you’re looking to make a donation to a no-kill, private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that cares for dogs and cats, you should look into Texas Humane Heroes.

 

Having Faith

 

Having faith in a higher power is a core part of my beliefs. Some customers feel that because faith is so personal, it shouldn’t have any place in business – they’re wrong.  Our faith affects how we treat people (honestly and fairly) and run our business (with the highest integrity). It is also helps during those hard times when you lose a loved one – person or pet.

Speaking of pets, because of our faith, every now and then someone will ask us if we believe dogs go to heaven. We like to tell this story in our response:

There was a little girl who was sitting on her front steps crying like she was never going to stop.  An old priest walked by and asked what was wrong. “My dog died today and someone said dogs don’t go to heaven”, she sobbed.  The priest smiled and said, “God wants you to be happy in heaven, so if your dog will make you happy – I guarantee he’ll be there.”

To honor all those family members who shaped our lives, and all those pets that shared our love, we will run special promotions during the year named after them. 

So, in addition to the usual July 4^th sale everyone has, don’t be surprised if you see saving promotions named after our Dad Santo, Grandma Livia, Aunt Jo and our beloved family dog Gemini, and  all the others mentioned above. 

We hope these pictures we've posted reflect, that by us looking back and remembering the people, pets, values traditions, and most importantly lessons they taught us ....this  is our way to not only honor them but expressing to you that they are  with us still, in our hearts minds and actions - walking  with us together-towards the future  . 

We hope you've enjoyed reading about our journey and we hope it prompts you to reflect on all the pets and people who have imprinted your life in a positive way.