MECHELE R. DILLARD

WRITER & SELLER OF NATURAL, HEALTHY DOG TREATS

MOVING BEYOND THE BOX
with Mechele R. Dillard
October 29, 2009

I’m the proud owner/operator/baker for Bubba & Bucky’s All-Natural Dog Treats—who ever would have thought it? Me, a long-time cat lover, setting up and running a Web site with information for dog lovers, as well as a store for natural, healthy dog treats.

Stranger things have happened, I guess.

About a year or so ago, Mark and I started looking at what we were eating, and we realized that almost everything in our pantry had high fructose corn syrup, MSG, partially-hydrogenated oils, or a combination of the three. We did a sweep of the place, and started buying products with none of these contaminants—not an easy task in this day and age, I’ll tell you.

Our drive to remove unhealthy chemicals, compounds and preservatives from our foods extended to what Bubba and Bucky were eating. Their regular food was fine—we were making their main meals ourselves, and they were eating a great natural kibble (Lassie Brand). But, as we looked at their treats, we realized the dog bones they loved had BHA and BHT—two nasty preservatives we absolutely did not want our dogs eating. I looked around for a good treat to replace them, and Mark brought some different things home, but the truth was that the healthier they were, the less likely Bubba and Bucky were to like them. Some of them were so “natural,” they were literally green, even—ick! No wonder they refused to eat them—I would have, too.

If they weren’t too yucky-tasting, they were too expensive. Bubba and Bucky loved their treats, and 20 treats for $14.99 was just ridiculous, regardless of their taste.

Finally, I decided to make treats on my own. I started with a base recipe, and I worked on it, worked on it, and worked on it. Time and time again, the dogs rejected them. Finally, however, I hit upon Cornbread Crunchers—a treat I developed after realizing how much our dogs, especially Bucky, loved cornbread—a yummy treat for them, a mess around the entire house for me. I worked, tweaked and, finally, I had a treat that was good for them that they loved even more than the treats we had taken away months earlier.

After giving away a number of bags to friends and family, and realizing how much everyone’s dogs seemed to love them, I decided to market them. I began on eBay and now I have a site that is up-and-running at www.naturalhealthydogtreats.com. The treats are yummy, they are affordable, and I am excited to be able to share them with dogs everywhere.

And, hey, this is how good they are: I personally eat a dog treat out of every batch to make sure they are as yummy as they should be. And, why not? Bubba & Bucky’s All-Natural Dog Treats are made with people-grade ingredients and no BHT, BHA, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, partially-hydrogenated oils, or any other yucky things that no dogs or humans should put into their bodies.

Check them out—you and your doggy will be ever-so-happy you did!

www.naturalhealthydogtreats.com