He likes it! Hey Mikey, he likes it!

This is a bit unusual for my blog but here goes.  Those of you who know us know we have two dogs, Cider a 5-year-old border collie mix, though you'd never know it to look at him.  And Cabby, a little black lab.  Cabby will eat anything.  ANYTHING.  We haven't found a people food or dog treat she won't eat.  She loves sticks and anything dead she can find in the yard.

Cider on the other hand, has more refined tastes.  While dead things found along the walk can be tasty, he prefers dog food and meat.  Yep, just meat.  He'll eat bread, if and only if you butter it first.  He wouldn't even think of eating bread without butter!  No french fries for this kid either.  Meat.

Here's my picky eater!

Cider's picky tastes apply towards treats as well.  Sweet potatoes, yes.  Plain old biscuits, no.  When I took him to his obedience class I had to grill a steak and cut it up because it was the only thing that he would accept in training.  I tried cheese, hot dogs, sweet potato treats, that food in a log that the trainers swear by.  Nope, he was having none of it.  I couldn't get him to focus on me until I brought steak.  I'm not kidding!  Just ask Jeff at Canine Coach!  He's my witness.

So tonight I went to the Muddy Paws Cheesecake Fall Bazaar.  It was a great event for a great cause, well several causes actually.  For a donation of a new toy or bag of dog food you got free tastings of some yummy cheesecake and could wander through the bazaar.  The donations support STEP Emergency, The Pet Project and Perspective Kids.  There were some great vendors and I really wished I had brought more cash!

But I've digressed.  One of the vendors there was Barkley's.  They are a local manufacturer of dog treats.  They not only make the treats right here in Minnesota, they source their ingredients from right here in Minnesota too!  Barkley's had a few varieties of treats available, peanut butter and chicken and cheddar and duck confit.  It's actually made with duck confit! 

With all of the stuff in the news yet again about dogs dying from eating treats made in China, Dave and I are really looking for better sources of  treats for our dogs.  Have you tried to find a treat NOT made in China?  It's tricky, but not impossible!

So I thought if Cider doesn't like them Cabby will.  Or I could slather them in peanut butter and put them in his Kong.  He seems to be less picky when the treat comes out of his Kong covered in peanut butter.  I bought a bag of the Duck flavor.

Guess what?  He likes them!  Of course he had to sniff it and nibble it and make sure he really did like it but after he finally ate the first one I gave him another.  No question.  He likes them!  We'll be getting more!  At $5 for 4 ounces they won't be going in Kongs but for special treats!  And lucky for us they sell them at one of our favorite places, The Golden Fig!

Buy local!  If you have a dog and want quality treats, buy Barkley's!