This all started when one of our rescue Labs, Maddie, developed a food allergy. Maddie literally could not keep food down. After a visit to the vet and a prescription for some incredibly high priced dog food, I read the label for the contents and thought, “ Hey!  I can make this at home a lot better and certainly less cost.”  So I did!

I handmade her food in bulk and froze individual portions for months until I found a packaged food that had all of the same qualities and wholesome ingredients that my homemade food had. Chicken and rice based food is what worked. Chicken based food is the only thing that didn’t make her sick. It worked and worked very well. While I was making her food, I also decided to try making her treats. All the other dogs got to have treats what about Maddie?

I did some research and found that most, if not all, store bought treats had a ton of preservatives, unneeded grains, (filler) animal parts…most unknown, and all kinds of other additives. Don’t get me started on the Chinese chicken jerky recall! I researched chicken treat recipes and decided to try dehydrating chicken to make chicken jerky. All pure — high in protein and most important — NO ADDITIVES! It was time consuming from a labor standpoint so I started making huge batches that would keep the dogs in treats for at least 3 weeks. I started testing the shelf life and the taste (tastes like chicken ☺) and making enough for all our rescue dogs (we have three, my son has one, my daughter and her husband have two, plus our neighbors). I had plenty to share!

Then I started researching baking dog biscuits because I received a biscuit kit for Christmas. It was really bland and full of who knows what. I decided to create my own recipes — and — after months and months of testing, I started sending my treats out to who I fondly call my focus group. They went to Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah, and California. The reviews were encouraging! We had close to 30 dogs from all over the country, plus our local focus group with 10 of our furriest friendz. The pics, the videos, and the reviews were touching to say the least!

We received an unanimous “TWO PAWS UP”!!!!!