Everything has to start somewhere, right? Well, this is our somewhere. My BFF, Beth, and I have been throwing around this idea for years. Almost ever since we met, 5 years ago. We both worked for a non-profit organization and she got me involved in rescuing during our spare time. For well over a year, our lives consisted of working 9-6, then either going on home visits or doing puppy laundry (every rescue volunteer’s least-enjoyed activity), and on weekends, we set-up and helped out at adoption events. While based out of Alexandria, we went everywhere from Virginia Beach to Harper’s Ferry to Delaware to either rescue pups or visit them in their forever homes. And we loved it.
How could you not love this little one?
I still remember one particularly stinky drive back to Alexandria from Richmond after rescuing 3 pups from a kill shelter (scheduled to be put down the next day). The trio was not particularly interested in the car ride, but they were all about figuring out how to access the bag of puppy food in the back of the car. The most ambitious of the three kept trying to get as close to the windshield, from his safe perch on my lap, as pup-ly possible. And boy, were they the stinkiest pups you ever met. We gave the little fuzzballs two baths when we got home. The bath water was too dirty after the first one to tell if they were truly clean.
I could go on and on about our rescue stories. They range from heartwarming (holding basset pups when they were less than 7 days old and eventually getting to adopt them out at 8 weeks, and do the home visits to see how spoiled they were) to heartwrenching (finding out that, after several failed attempts to schedule a home visit, they hadn’t been able to care for our Chubb like they said they could and took him to a shelter, who put him down before we could save him — the worst when you had nursed him from babypup and thought you found him a good home).
Beth and I knew that this is what we wanted to do, but we needed to figure out how to be able to do it full-time. There was a common theme across everything we’d ever done: we wanted to spoil all the pups we came across. All of these pooches were innocents, much like young children. They rely on us for food, shelter and love. Give them an inkling of love, and they will shower you with adoration and be a lifetime best friend.
Beth loved this little girl so much, she gave her a fur-ever home! Meet Waffles, one our pup-sperations!
Fast forward a few years and you’d find Beth and I meeting up at a pup festival in southern New Jersey. We were no longer living in the same area, and relied on weekend visits and facebook/texting to stay connected. While walking around the festival, I saw multiple vendors with their own, homemade dog treats. Our little far-off dream just got a little brighter. With Beth’s pup-skills and my baking skills, we knew we could open our own Barkery and succeed. All we needed was a product and a philosophy. The latter part was easy: affordable, healthy and wholesome treats. Too often we saw dog treats in stores that were too expensive and filled with chemicals we couldn’t even try to pronounce. Our pups trusted us to give them food and treats that wouldn’t make them sick. Our only hope was to be able to afford the all-natural food that was best for them. So, why not make it ourselves? All-natural, simple ingredients.
Finally, we had our idea. We just needed a plan to execute and we needed the help of our rescue friend, Amanda. She is going to bring invaluable experience and skills to our amazing trio, including more test-pups! She is a small business, dog collar making, pup-lovin’, pittie momma! After meeting her, her hubbie, and her pitties, you will never believe another person that says these docile, adorable creatures could ever hurt anything.
I can proudly say that the newly-minted “The Spoiled Pooch” test kitchen is up and running! We started by making treats for Christmas presents for my pups’ friends. Two flavors and six batches later, we had adorable gifts for all of our furry friends.
Presentation makes perfect, right?
Today, the Spoiled Pooch test kitchen is trying out a new recipe. We’ve already mastered the Pumpkin PB bones and the Crunchy PB Oat treats (the aforementioned Christmas presents). Today’s newbie is PB Banana Oat. Early sniffs and tastes have resulted in happy test-pups (my furkids – Duke, Dart and Diesel), and they’ll get to taste the final product momentarily. That is, if they can sit still long enough to get one…. 🙂
My furkids: (from left) Diesel, Duke & Dart, waiting for their PB Banana Oat bones!
From our Spoiled Pooches to yours,
Nic
thespoiledpooch 