Focus on: Business Strategies Twenty years of steady growth and smart acquisitions have propelled Doctors Foster & Smith to the top spot among pet-supply catalogers.

By Reported Donna Loyle

In a typical DFS print catalog, 12 to 15 percent of square inches are given over to educational articles that help customers better understand their pets and how the products sold assist pet owners in taking better care of their animals. The articles are written either by the doctors themselves or by one of the many veterinarians and vet technicians they keep on the catalog’s staff. Dubbed “The Doctors’ Information Series,” recent article topics have included, for example, “Questions and Answers About Behavior Control,” “Treat Pet Stains Too Tough for Normal Carpet Cleaners,” and “Oxygen and Pond Health.”