EP# 264: Discovering the Best Natural Chew Toy with Michael Cilurso of Paw-Gistics | From Humble Beginnings to Pet Supply Success

What makes Michael Cilurso with Paw-Gistics Antler Supply Corp a good neighbor?

Want to know why elk antler chew toys are the best choice for your furry friend? Discover the secret to superior canine dental health and well-being as we chat with Michael Cilurso from Paw-Gistics. Michael takes us behind the scenes of his unique pet supply business, which specializes in naturally shed elk antlers. Learn how these calcium-rich, fully digestible chew toys are gathered from the wild and minimally processed to cater to dogs of all sizes. Gain insights into why elk antlers trump other types and how they effectively reduce tartar buildup in your pet’s mouth.

Michael’s journey from Canada to Florida is nothing short of inspiring. He recounts the humble beginnings of Paw-Gistics in green markets and reveals his exciting plans for expanding into wholesale and retail. We also tackle common misconceptions about antler chew toys and why choosing the right type is crucial for your pet's safety and health. If you're a pet owner eager for natural, healthy options for your dog or someone fascinated by niche entrepreneurial stories, this episode is a must-listen. Michael’s passion and expertise shine through, offering valuable takeaways for everyone.

To learn more about Paw-Gistics Antler Supply Corp go to:
https://paw-gistics.com/

Paw-Gistics Antler Supply Corp
772-260-2713

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, GarfieldBowen.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of Adler chewtoys?
Well, one may be closer thanyou think.
We got you covered here.
Okay, Today I have the pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, Michael Salurser, withPurgistics.
Mike, how are you doing today?

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Doing great.
How about yourself, Garfield?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I am well.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business and
this Adler Chew Toys.
Tell us about your company.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
We're originally based in Canada and recently
have expanded into Florida.
We are a pet supply companyspecializing in naturally shed
elk antlers, and those are dogchew toys.
They come in a variety of sizesand cuts and it's one of the
healthiest, if not thehealthiest chew toy you could

(01:10):
give your pet.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm just curious.
I'm sure everybody's curious.
Is it plastic rubber?
Is it food?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
I mean no it's a naturally shed elk antler.
So the elks in the wild.
They shed their antlers once ayear in the wintertime, usually
February, march, april.
Once they've shed they're inthe woods and after a certain

(01:40):
date, at the end of April, weare allowed to go out there and
gather them.
And then we bring them to outthere and gather them and then
we bring them to our facilityand process them.
And it's minimally processed.
They're just cleaned up and cutto size because we have
different sizes for differentsized dogs.
So it's a calcium enriched,naturally shed product which is

(02:00):
100% consumable.
It helps with tartar on theirteeth and we've had nothing but
success with the product for thepast.
Our partners in Canada havebeen doing it for about 16 years
and we've been doing it heresince the beginning of the year
with great success.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
So I know, the magic question now is Mike, how did
you get into this business?

Speaker 3 (02:25):
that's a that's a really great, interesting
question.
The original people thatstarted this business and myself
have a mutual friend and I'veknown this gentleman for about
20 years and when they starteddoing their distribution of
antlers started doing theirdistribution of antlers, he

(02:48):
became friendly with the couplethat started the business and
said hey, you guys are retailing, you're wholesaling, you're in
the stores.
I want to do some markets inour season and this is in Canada
.
And so he started doing greenmarkets and it became quite
successful.
They wanted to move into theUnited States for the
opportunities that are here.
But what we're doing here inFlorida is we're kind of doing

(03:10):
it backwards.
We're doing it the opposite ofthe way they started.
Here we're starting with greenmarkets and then we plan to get
into wholesale and retail.
So at the beginning of the yearis when my partner came down
and we started doing markets, inwhich we continue to do and
just look forward to getting ourproduct out there, look forward

(03:33):
to meeting with our customers,which we don't get to do on the
retail side because they'rebuying it from somebody else.
So it's nice to meet theanimals, it's nice to meet the
owners and it's nice to get outthere and get their feedback.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
It's nice to meet the owners and it's nice to get out
there and get their feedback.
So I mean when you're tellingpeople about antler chew toys
what are some of the myths andmisconceptions?

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Probably the biggest misconception, if you're
familiar with antlers, is thatthey're all the same whether
it's a deer, a moose, an elk.
We specialize in elk.
We do do some moose, we don'tdo deer.

(04:16):
The elk antlers, to us, are thethe most calcium enriched and
they're they're better, they'resofter, they help with their
dog's teeth and, again, they'refully digestible.
So that's, um, what we you know.
That's.
That's one of themisconceptions, that it, you
know, everything is the same.
And then the other thing isthat, uh, some people will say
on the internet that a, um, awhole antler is much better than

(04:40):
a, than a split, and thatreally doesn't have any bearing.
I think that some companies orpeople may say that the whole is
better because they don't havethe ability to make the cuts
that we do and they don't havethe processing that we have to
make it, you know, to give everyanimal the opportunity to enjoy
their antlers.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Now I'm starting to.
Didn't understand the antler inthe beginning, but it's
actually the horn.
They call it the ATLA.
Okay, I didn't know for me.
It just dawned on me what theATLA was.
So, Mike, when you're not busyrunning your business, what do

(05:21):
you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3 (05:24):
We are, as a family, really into music.
The boys grew up playing pianoand guitar and we enjoy going to
concerts, playing music andhaving people over and just
having a good time.
We also enjoy playingpickleball.
We have a group of friends thatplay pickleball.
We enjoyed it so much.

(05:44):
We actually built a courtbehind one of my friends' house
of friends that playedpickleball.
We enjoyed it so much weactually built a court behind
one of my friends house and welike to eat, we like to cook, we
like to do things as a familyand have friends and family over
.
And that's what I say would bemy top three things that we
enjoy doing, maybe notnecessarily in that order,
because you have to.
We live to eat, not eat to live.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
So I'm like you're having a good time over there.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Let's change gears a little bit.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Life often throws us curveballs.
Let's talk about one hardship,one life challenge, something
that you've been through and youcan look back today and say
you're better and strongerbecause of it.
What comes to mind?

Speaker 3 (06:23):
You know I toyed with this thought and this question
for a long time and I have to be.
You know I I toyed with thisthought in this question for a
long time and I have to be.
You know it's very personal,but to to be painfully honest,
the one of the most difficulttimes that I've had as a
challenge as a human is, um, Ihave two boys and what 18 years

(06:45):
ago, 19 years ago, we had totake in our nephew and that was
very challenging for me becausethe circumstances were very
difficult, but it was a learningprocess.
It was a learning curve andmake a long story short, fast
forward.
Today the kid is brilliant.
He's a junior at UCF, studyingengineering, and we're just so

(07:10):
blessed to add him as the thirdaddition to our boys in the
beginning.
But I thank God that you knowwe had the guidance and the
ability to turn this kid, youknow, put him on the right path,
which could have gone downhillfast.
So that's to me that's the mostchallenging and what I've

(07:31):
learned the most from life sofar.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
That's powerful.
I mean all of us could lookback and point to a teacher, a
mentor, a parent or someone thatreally impact and change their
lives, and you know what I mean,and I'm sure the community,
everybody's glad to have youthere and for you to lend your
hand out and give that support.
I'm going to put you on thespot a little bit here, mike,

(07:57):
all right.
Okay, make you a littleuncomfortable, if that's all
right.
I know you have a lot to sayabout logistics, but we want to
narrow it down to one thing.
I want you to tell me one thingthat you want our listeners to
remember about logistics.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
um, I think what I'd like to be.
The takeaway is for everyone toknow that we have an office in
Florida.
Now we're in the United States,we're in Martin County when we
do business in St Lucy andMartin and Broward and Dade and
Palm Beach, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
And I'm sure we have people up there for babies and
if nothing else.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
They're curious.
You know what?
What would it be like for themto chew on a, on an Adler toy?
I can tell you that I, in myexperience in this business,
there's two types of animalowners.
One of them comes and looks atour setup and grabs three
antlers and pays for them.
And we smile and I say, are youfamiliar with them?
And they say yeah, and I saidokay, I can, I can save my
breath.
And then I have somebody whohas an animal but they've been

(09:17):
giving them raw hides which arejust not the proper thing to
give your pet to chew on, and soI explained to them a little
bit about the digestibility ofthe product and how it lasts.
Sometimes people think that thisproduct is pricey, but when you
compare it to how long it lastsas opposed to a rawhide, it's

(09:42):
non-comparison.
These last a minimum of four tosix weeks if you have a rabbit
chewer, whereas a rawhide mightlast a day or a few days.
So you're getting bang for yourbuck, you're getting quality,
you're getting product that'sdigestible and we have about a
95% to 99% retention ratio orpercentage, excuse me.

(10:05):
So a newcomer comes in, theytell me about their dog, we get
them an antler.
They're going to come back.
They don't come back as quicklybecause the product lasts a
long time, but the 95% to 99% ofthem come back.
It is just.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
It's a great product and that leads me to my question
.
You know, for those, uh, petowners that are curious and they
probably have friends andfamily also have pets they
probably have one question ontheir mind right now and that's
how, how do we get moreinformation on um logistics?

Speaker 3 (10:42):
um, currently you could go to our instagram, which
is pawgistics.
Um, you can go to our website,which is paw slash or dash
gistic.
So p-a-w.
Dash g-i-s-t-i-c-s dot com.
That's going to direct you to asister company because we are

(11:02):
currently redoing our ourlogistics website, but you can
get you'll get the sameinformation.
It's just going to redirect you.
And then we are at Hope SoundFarmers Market every Saturday,
jammin' Jensen every Thursday,and we do markets here and there
based on what's going on in thecommunity over the community.

(11:23):
Over the summer.
We're not in season, so thingsare a little bit slower.
We've been in tradition marketa few times.
If I'm not there, we do havepeople representing us selling
our product and you can alwaysemail me, which is mike at
podgisticscom.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
And those that want to just press the numbers on the
phone.
Is there a number you'd like toshare?

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Sure, you can call myself.
My cell phone is 772-260-2713.
Anybody is welcome to call me,text me, email me.
I'm happy to to create dialoguewith them.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Well, Mike, we really appreciate having you on the
show.
We wish you and your businessthe very best moving forward.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast Port St Lucie.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpportsaintluciecom.
That's gnpportsaintlucycom, orcall 772-362-3840.