Mark & Erik Johnson | Founders of BarkDine
Mark and Erik Johnson, the father-son founders of BarkDine, share how decades of hands-on pet industry experience evolved into a premium private-label manufacturing business—covering sourcing realities, scaling from 7,000 to 40,000 sq ft, functional natural chews, sustainability tradeoffs, and where private label is headed in pet over the next five years.
We spoke with Mark and Erik Johnson, the father-son duo behind BarkDine, a private-label manufacturer of premium-quality natural animal chews.
In this conversation, they share how decades in training, showing, selling, and manufacturing shaped BarkDine’s approach to product development, why private label is becoming one of the most strategic positions in pet, how they think about sourcing and scale, and what’s coming next for the business.
Mark, with over 30 years in the pet industry—from training and showing dogs to launching treat companies—how has your hands-on experience shaped BarkDine’s approach to product development and innovation?
My three decades in the pet industry, starting as a dog owner and trainer, shaped BarkDine's product development by emphasizing customer and canine needs. My experience in showing and breeding dogs highlighted the importance of diet for overall health and appearance, which in the show world is very much critiqued.
Working as a sales rep for pet food distributors provided Mark with extensive knowledge of canine nutrition, beneficial ingredients, and their impact on health. Visiting hundreds of retailers taught him about pricing, presentation, positioning, and the critical role of product education in sales.
Transitioning to manufacturing, Mark leveraged his background to understand raw material selection, proper processing, and pricing. Early manufacturing roles involved on-site visits to packing houses to identify available materials and negotiate fair prices.
While raw materials were cheaper in the 1990s, the focus now is on sourcing safe and beneficial materials and collaborating effectively with packing houses by providing clear specifications.
Other Interviews
More conversations with founders, operators, and investors building the future of pet care.
Alexandru Bacita | Co-Founder & COO, The Cat Health Company
Cats are living longer, but the drugs for age-related disease have not kept pace. The Cat Health Company, a clinical-stage biotech, has three drugs in trials and 11 more preclinical candidates, and has out-licensed its first therapeutic. Co-founder and COO Alexandru Bacita explains why cats compress the drug-development loop, how the company targets muscle loss and kidney disease first, and why the route to longevity runs through veterinarians and pharma partners.
Elias Weiss Friedman | Founder, The Dogist Company
Elias Weiss Friedman spent a decade turning street photography into The Dogist, one of the largest dog-focused audiences online. Now he's testing whether that trust extends to physical products, starting with Vitality, a vet-formulated antioxidant chew built with Dr. Angela Rollins. He talks about the discipline of brand extension, the operational learning curve of a first physical product, and what a decade of stopping strangers on the street taught him about people, not just dogs.
Sarah McLean | Co-Founder & CEO, Big Damn Dog Co.
A joint supplement label that stopped at 60 pounds sent Sarah McLean looking for a product that did not exist. Big Damn Dog Co. is the bootstrapped answer: giant-breed formulations, dosing built for 120-pound dogs, and a customer list the founders still call by phone. Six months after launch, its Gravy Blend already accounts for roughly 40% of joint supplement sales.