Gypsy’s favorite was the three-layer doggie pate, made
with ground beets, spinach and cheese.
Shadow was partial to the bone-shaped, "Pawty" cake,
decorated with paw prints and treats.
Gizmo was treated to Kelp Balls, Carob-dipped Crunchies,
Spinach Cornucopias and other goodies that met his taste requirements, as well as taking
into consideration the 39 allergies for which he gets shots.
But the one having the most fun at the doggie "Valentine
Pawty" table was Ann Morgan, who firmly believes that every dog should have its day
– and a celebration.
She knows that dogs are like members of the family for many
people, and that’s why she decided to create special treats and cater parties for
pups.
"I always wanted dogs to have something special on
holidays," she said. "Often, all the family members are there eating a big
dinner, but the pets get left out. How fair is that?"
Since she didn’t want them to be left out, Mrs. Morgan
started experimenting with recipes for pet treats until she had an assortment. Now, along
with pet-sitting and dog-walking, she has added pet parties and homemade
"Lollipups" and baskets of treats to her growing list of what she’ll do for
dogs.
Doggie Valentine’s party
She put together a Valentine’s party for dogs, along with
Valentine treats, and she has a joint birthday party booked April 26 for two dogs that
have birthdays a month apart. She’ll even provide the invitations – "Its
Pawty Time!" – along with part hats and take-home treat bags.
They will play doggie games, with the winner getting a treat.
Also, your dog can participate in a gift registry, so he or she can get items such as paw
mittens that he really needs.
She also joins in the tasting as the dogs make their way
around to various party "grazing stations," as she calls them.
"It’s not processed dog food", she explained,
as she savored a bit of the bone-shaped cake after cutting pieces for the dogs.
"It’s whole wheat, cream cheese and other ‘people ingredients.’ And
you wouldn’t believe how many of the Spinach and Cheese Cornucopias I ate while
preparing them."
"I’ve been around animals my whole life," said
the 38-year-old. While she was growing up near Houston, Texas, her family had a farm
nearby. "We had goats, doves, ducks, cows and everything else, and we always had
German Shepherds. I love German Shepherds; they’re wonderful dogs," she said.
No dog of her own
But right now, her personal menagerie doesn’t include a
dog.
"I grew up with dogs and have always had them, but we
couldn’t have one in our Chicago high-rise, so we had cats and fish," said Mrs.
Morgan. She and husband Chris moved cats Clawde and Sammie to Decatur from Chicago a
couple of years ago, and here they added Benny, a big yellow stray cat.
About the same time, they became the parents of Ian, now 5
months old, and postponed adding a dog to the family. "Benny is wonderful with
Ian," she said. "But I still want a dog and may get one soon."
Meanwhile, she makes do by lavishing affection on others’
dogs. For example, Charlie, "a neighbor’s big black dog with a wonderful
personality," serves as her taste-tester when she is creating dog treats. "He
loves to see me coming!"
He has waited patiently as she purees carrots to color dog
Halloween treats orange, grinds beets to achieve the right shade of red to mix with yogurt
and cottage cheese for doggie pate with out adding artificial coloring, and dips treats in
carob, which resembles chocolate, since chocolate isn’t good for dogs. The pate is
then gobbled up on homemade cheese and garlic crackers.
"Chocolate attacks their nervous systems and contains a
stimulate; it only takes 1 ounce of chocolate to kill a 10-pound dog," she noted.
"And dogs shouldn’t have table scraps all."
Makes up treat recipes
Mrs. Morgan has learned to improvise and mix up special
recipes, too. "I make treats for some pets with allergies to dairy, wheat, beef, and
other things," she said. "Give me your pet’s list of allergies and
I’ll make up something; I’ll leave out milk and eggs and use broth, for
example."
She has found a lot of recipes for pet treats and changes them
around to suit her needs. "But you won’t find recipes for Apple Cake Roll and
Apple-Cranberry Glaze," she said of her own creations for pets, fashioned from
ingredients such as apple and oatmeal.
"I never make people cookies," she said. "My
husband always asks why can’t I cook for him like I do for the dogs!"
Her current interests have nothing to do with her college
degree and earlier career but have grown out of her love for animals and desire to be of
help to others while being available for her son, who accompanies her on her pet errands
for her company, Animals In Sync
(The Errand Experts)
and the affiliated Hairy Dog Bakery.
She earned a B.S. degree in finance from DePaul University in
Chicago and worked in business analysis for Andersen Consulting, a division of Arthur
Andersen.
"I traveled all the time," she said. Even after her
husband moved to Decatur, she was only here about four days a month, and she herself had a
need for pet care and errand services. "Pet care is huge up North," she said.
She gave up her job to settle down in Decatur. "Here you
can have all the animals you want, and instead we had a baby."
She said she’s noticed that local residents "really
pamper their pets," so she decided to help meet their needs. "People in Decatur
are very self-reliant, but they love to eat, and they love their pets."
For now, her dog parties will be at the homes of the pets.
"When it comes to the pet parties, I want the table to look nice and to have really
nice things out there," said Mrs. Morgan, as she place heart-shaped cakes frosted in
pink and white on crystal cake plates.
Meanwhile, she is keeping in mind a bakery in Georgia
"where you bring your pets in for snacks, and there’s a party room in
back."
She doesn’t want to leave cats out, either. ‘I plan
to add cat treats later; I’m looking over some recipes for them now."
Dr. Norwood Bryan, who stocks the dog treats at this
veterinary clinic, said they are "good, homemade treats without preservatives that
pets seem to really enjoy." He noted that these are a sort of "gourmet treat for
pets," but they are not meant to take the place of their regular diets.
"People are finding so much satisfaction in their
animals, and they are wanting to do more for them now," he said. "They enjoy
handing treats to their pets and watching them enjoy them, and this is a good way to do
something extra without giving them a piece of fat off a steak at the table."
Bryan said nutritionists recommend that no more than 10
percent of a dog’s diet be from treats or supplements to the regular diet, because
dog food is nutritionally complete. "if you’re going to give them treats, make
sure it’s something health," and not fat or bones, which can cause problems, he
said.
"My animals absolutely love these treats," said his
receptionist, Ginger Sherrod. She had Mrs. Morgan make some small spinach and cheese
treats for use in dog-training classes and said they work very well. "They love the
Banana Buddies too," she said.
One problem with Mrs. Morgan’s dog goodies could be
keeping the rest of the family out of them. Ms Sherrod has had reports from her family
that they "taste like granola bars and croutons."
Mrs. Morgan donates treats to the Decatur Animal Shelter,
where they are sent home with dogs getting adopted. Her Hairy Dog Bakery menus are available there, and she donates a percentage of
her sales made through veterinary offices and sites such as Simple Delicious Bakery and
Groomingdale’s to Animal Shelter Friends, Inc., of which she is a member.
Her Christmas baskets of dog treats went over well, and now
she is working on Valentine’s cakes and carob-dipped "Lollipups." Cheesy
Carrot Muffins, Liver Treats, Cheese Chunks, Ranch Strips, Beef and Rice Munchies, Carob
Crunchies, Good Boy Bites, Apple Mini-Mutts, Breath Mints )peanut butter biscuits laced
with freshly chopped mint), edible greeting cards, and "Celebration Samplers".
"The dogs love her treats," said Glynda Short,
president of Animal Shelter Friends. "And I’ll tell you a secret: My husband
tried a couple of them after she told us it was all people food in those treats. Bobby had
the one with applesauce and molasses in it, and he said it was good except for the texture
– I think it has corn meal in it. But, when you read the ingredient list, it sounds
just like a cookie.
"People do tend to go overboard with their pets,"
said Mrs. Short. "They’re just like our children." |
