Dog Cookie Recipe… Where Did It Come From?

Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Annvi in Barkin' Doggie Bloggie, Fun Tidbits

“Not Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Astor together could have raised money enough to buy a quarter share in my little dog”~ Ernest Thompson Secton

Whenever I tell anyone what my new gig is…baking doggie biscuits so that I can give one away for every one I sell… here’s how the conversation goes:

Friend/Dog Lover: Where do you get your dog treats from?

Me: We bake them.

Friend/Dog Lover: Whaaaaaat.  How do you know how to make those?  How did you come up with the recipe?

I didn’t realize how peculiar it sounds that someone who is accustomed to making her living while sitting in a cubicle could transition into awesome dog chef until I started getting all these questions about the recipes.  LOL.  Makes me laugh now that I think about it…but since I get asked this question all the time.  I thought I might as well do a blog entry on the topic especially since our opening is just around the corner!

Looking back at how my momma raised me, it makes complete sense that I would become advocate for all-natural, no preservatives doggie treat deliciousness.  My mom is a dietitian.  I grew up eating home cooked meals made from scratch every night that were 100% balanced.- the right amount of protein, carbs, sugars, fats, etc.  Lucky me, eh?  I definitely didn’t feel that way when she went through her soybean phase.  Soybeans in lasagna, sure, why not? And what about in stirfry and soup? Yums.  Mom was always up to date on healthy foods and tried her best to incorporate them as creatively as possible in all of our meals.  And she’ll be the first to tell you, did her kids ever have to go to the doctor? Nope. Or did they have acne? Nope.  Needless to say, when I got my own babies, Rocky and Zeus, I was all about researching human foods that were good for them.

Some people don’t believe in feeding their dogs human food because their dogs can’t handle it and/or this type of feeding can lead to begging.  However, I grew up in a household where variety was key to getting all your nutrients.  This is probably why I am all about feeding my pups wholesome foods plus I don’t like the idea that all they get is dry food. Besides, it is just fun.  HOWEVER, please do your research before you decide to give your dog human foods.  There are some foods that are intolerable to dogs. Check this MSNBC article out for some good/bad people foods.

Basically, when we decided we wanted to enter the pet treat industry, I had already had 1.5 years of research under my belt on good human foods for dogs.  I knew the ingredients that I liked and what worked for dogs.  For instance, Rocky is always getting into something he shouldn’t; and so, he was either constipated or had diarrhea almost every month.  (It took us about a year to remember not to leave any food on the counters and watch him like a hawk on our walks.)  I discovered that pure pumpkin really soothes dogs’ bellies and helps them with both constipation and diarrhea.  Needless to say, our pantry is always stocked with a can of pumpkin.  This is pretty much how we got all our ingredients.  Once we had the ingredients that were a must, we experimented and baked for a couple of months until we got the perfect treat for our cause. 

And that is how we got our dog biscuit recipes.

Cheers and Happy Barkin’!

Annvi and Tobiah

Tags: Dog Cookies, Dog Recipes, Dog Treats, Human Foods for Dogs, Ingredients, Mom, Pumpkin