Our Barkery is named after Dugan, our loyal and loving family member for 15 years. She was a cute terrier puppy when she joined our family in 1991. We loved her little personality and always knew where we stood with her. If she was happy about something (usually going for a walk or getting a treat), Dugan would do a little “hoppy dog” dance. If she was mad at us for some reason, she would lay down with her back to us, give us “the look” then turn her head away and snort. When Dugan went over the Rainbow Bridge in May 2006, we vowed that, when we were ready to follow our dream of owning a dog related business, we would name it after her.
Since Dugan’s journey, 3 more dogs joined our family. We adopted Digby, a border terrier, from a rescue center in 2006; Prinnie an American Eskimo, from our local shelter in at the end of 2007 and Duncan, a terrier mix, also from our local shelter, in April 2009. Each, with their own unique personality, has enriched our lives in countless ways.
Duncan is our reason for choosing to hand make all natural treats with organic ingredients. He came to us itching and scratching and we thought that maybe it was from dirt and bug bites from the shelter, nothing a good bath wouldn't fix. Well, he continued to itch and scratch and a few days later he broke out with sores all around his mouth along with other nasty symptoms. We took him to the vet and learned that he had food allergies. Though there was dog food specifically for allergic dogs, we had a horrible time finding any treats he could safely eat. There was a whole host of foods that Duncan couldn't’t eat without starting the vicious itching and scratching cycle all over again. We discovered that there are many treats currently on the market that claim to be allergen free, but in reading the labels, we realized that they all had one or more items that our little dog couldn't eat. So we researched ingredients from which we could make dog treats that he and our other 2 dogs could enjoy and came up with some recipes that really worked. Now, when the mixer and cookie sheets come out, Prinnie, our Eskie, does little happy circles and our two terriers sit by the kitchen door licking their chops. All three of our canine family members can enjoy the same treats once again without Duncan having an allergic reaction. After talking with our vet and several friends and family, we were shocked to learn that dogs can suffer from food allergies just as do people and many of their human family members were experiencing the same frustrations as us in finding treats for these dogs. Thus, the idea for Dugan's Barkery.
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