Dog lovers can reward their pets with delicious and healthy dog treats By Lesan Gouge
Davis Dog Treats was started as a way for Kenneth Davis, an eighth grader at Seaside Neighborhood School, to earn extra money. After a news story about potentially harmful ingredients found in store-bought treats, Davis decided to make homemade treats for his beloved four-legged friends.
“I wanted our dogs to have healthy treats and found a recipe in a cookbook I bought at school,” he says. “We didn’t have all of the ingredients, so my mom helped me improvise and we came up with a basic recipe and added different flavors.”
Beef, chicken, cheese and peanut butter flavored treats were concocted in July of 2012 and eventually liver, maple bacon, bacon cheeseburger and even a breath buster featuring parsley and mint were added to the mix. Today, Davis has managed to create gluten-free treats for dogs with a wheat allergy and also offers a seafood sampler bag of cat crackers with flavors such as sardine, salmon and tuna.
Davis enjoys being at the Seaside Farmers Market, and especially enjoys the people. “I really enjoy meeting so many interesting people, and talking about their pets,” he says. “Although I love to talk about flying.” The extra money he earns will go towards a remote control plane, but not before 25 cents of each bag sold is donated to the SOS Animal Shelter in Enterprise, Fla. “I picked them because they are a no-kill shelter and they need a lot of stuff,” he adds.
Davis’ taste testers are comprised of his three dogs — Sassy, a Jack Russell terrier, a boxer named Rocky, and Peanut, a boxer-rat terrier mix. Davis encourages pet owners to know what ingredients are in the food or treats they are giving their pets. “All the ingredients in our treats are listed on the label and are something you can eat yourself,” he says. Hoping to someday expand his business and open a shop in Seaside, Davis has arranged to have his treats sold at Modica Market when the Seaside Farmers Market is closed.
Davis Dog Treats sells all natural gourmet treats for your pets. They specialize in dog treats with several different flavors available and an assortment of cat crackers too. Contact Kenneth at (850) 835-0323, davisdogtreats@gmail.com or find them on Facebook. The Seaside Farmers Market is open every Tuesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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