Amanda Wilbourne, owner of The Nautical Dog, poses with Twinkie, a 12-week old kitten up for adoption at the Cat Cove. 
The Nautical Dog is located at 5102 Main St Suite B at New Town Commercial Association in Williamsburg, VA. It encompasses three storefronts including: the Local Pet Market, Schwartzy’s Cat Cove and the Dog Wash. 
Schwartzy’s Cat Cove- Nautical Dog’s First Mate, the official name of the Cat Cove, is named after Nautical Dog’s first shop cat. “Schwartzy won everyone over very quickly and would spend his days sitting behind the counter on a stool greeting guests, judging them, and talking a lot.” 
Large windows and cutouts looking into Schwartzy’s Cat Cove allow passerbyers to stop and take a look at the adoptable cats. 
239 cats have been adopted out through the Cat Cove in correlation with Heritage Humane Society. 
16,000 visitors came to Nautical Dog’s Cat Cove this year to see cute cat faces like this one peering down on them. 
All cats in Schwartzy’s Cat Cove are available for adoption through Heritage Humane Society; these two calico siblings are a bonded pair and are required to be adopted together. 
Sammy, the orange tabby, takes a snooze on the moon shaped wall mount. 
“It’s such a great idea, when I am ready to get my next one I’m coming back here.” said Ellen Dees, about the Cat Cove. Ellem Dees is pictured with Olivia Coleman. 
Jeremyah Robinson pets Twinkie, the 12-week old kitten, who is up for adoption at the Cat Cove. 
A staff member stocks the shelves of the dog food portion of The Nautical Dog. 
The bone bar in the middle of the store provides over 80 options for all natural chewable toys for your furry friends. 
Fresh products like “GoatNOG”, “Pork Jiggles”, and “Better Butter Tea” are fully stocked in refrigerators surrounding the Bone Bar. 
Enticing treats like these ones are available alongside a human-grade fill-your-own treat bar. 
The dog wash is open to all dogs big… 
…or small. 
The store’s products are all holistic and have a positive agenda too. Shelves are stocked with products like these that give back to animals in need with deals like, “Buy A Bottle, Feed An Animal”. 
Aside from food, treats and supplements, accessories for you and your dog are available. 
“…just me seeing the changes it has made with animals I just think the holistic thing is the way to go because the whole idea of all the processed stuff that’s just something we made to be convenient, but it’s not really what they were meant to eat.” said Amanda Wilbourne. 
Ollie, one of the shop cats, “manages” as Connie Manning, employee at Nautical Dog, stocks the store’s supplies. 
Ollie is one of two shop cats following in the footsteps of Schwartzy.
Sammy Pietrinferno
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Amanda Wilbourne opened up The Nautical Dog in 2006 at age 20 for her first dog, Roxie. Originally located in Mattaponi, Virginia, The Nautical Dog has now resided in Williamsburg since 2008.
“Roxie is why I opened up the store,” said Wilbourne, 37. “She had really really bad allergies that we could never really quite figure out and at 18 years old, I didn’t know anything about pet nutrition. So I did a lot of learning with her and realized that a lot of better foods, natural remedies, supplements, those are how you fit it because a lot of allergy prescriptions are really dangerous for dogs.”
In recent years, Wilbourne has begun fostering hospice dogs with the goal is to help them live a better quality of life for longer through the use of holistic care and foods, like those at her store.
“My last hospice dog, when I got her, she was a really, really old shih tzu and they expected her to live a couple weeks,” said Wilbourne. “She was in really rough shape and I switched her diet and added some supplements. She ended up living for over a year, so just me seeing the changes it has made with animals I just think the holistic thing is the way to go because the whole idea of all the processed stuff that’s just something we made to be convenient but it’s not really what they were meant to eat.”
Shopping at Nautical Dog supports everyone who works here, in addition to shelter animals. The store does so much for animal shelters, not just local ones, but one in Richmond as well. Next week, over 4,000 pounds of food coming in that is being split up between the shelters, said Wilbourne.
“Everytime someone shops here it allows us to do something like that,” said Wilbourne.
This photo story and timeline depicts the current location and three time expansion of the Nautical Dog including the Cat Cove, dog washing stations and the store’s holistic food, treat and supplement supply.