Sonstegard retires from Becker Pet and Garden in Detroit Lakes

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – After 13 years of serving the lakes area pets and keeping kids happy with candy, Scott Sonstegard has sold Becker Pet and Garden and will be retiring.

Sonstegard bought the business in September 2010 and has since proven himself to be a true neighbor and friend to all of the lakes area’s furry companions.

But, he said, it always takes great employees to have a great smalltown business.

“Running a store, you’ve gotta have super, super employees and I have just the greatest employees around, they are just fantastic,” said Sonstegard. “You’ve gotta empower your employees to make decisions too. People don’t want to work someplace if they are being dictated things to do, they want to be successful too.”

He also said one thing he has witnessed in his years of interactions at the pet store is that people need to socialize their pets more often so they are not afraid of introductory situations with other animals or people.

“At Becker Pet, we encouraged people to bring their dog in the store,” he said. “Because, to have a good dog, it really has to be socialized. You don’t want to have a dog bite anybody, or growl, or if you have people over for the evening the dog that is being difficult. So, they bring their dog in and they also get a treat and we always give it some attention.”

He also shared some stories from owners of dogs that recognize the exterior of the store while riding with their owners in the car, which caused whining, which caused their owners to make an unexpected stop at Becker Pet and Garden.