Most dog owners know all too well the disgusting stench of dog breath, but we all deal with it because we love our fury friends. Even with regular cleanings and the use of cleaning toys and treats, nothing seems to completely get rid of the smell…until now.
Jude Tarr is the owner of the new dog food company aptly named Barking Brilliant, and she has developed a dog biscuit that will keep your dog’s teeth and breath in check. The company’s first dog treat is called Fabulous Fangs – Dogs Dental Delight, and is designed to be fed to your pet once a day.
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The biscuit includes natural ingredients like thyme and seaweed, which are both beneficial to dental health. The ingredients are all sourced in New Zealand, where Tarr lives. Tarr said that it was important to her to keep all the ingredients locally sourced because she was frustrated with the fact that New Zealand is a food producing nation, yet most of their food comes from other countries.
She also believes that using locally sourced ingredients makes her business stand out from others. All her biscuits are baked at a local facility, using pumpkin from Gisborne, seaweed from Port Underwood and the Akaroa coastline, and eggs from Hope. Tarr says that the seaweed in New Zealand is a huge resource that many companies are not taping into.
These dog biscuits are vegetarian, which may sound odd to dog owners at first, but canines are actually omnivores not carnivores. In the wild they would be scrounging for whatever they could find; plants included.
Although the biscuits are marketed for dogs, since they are made with all natural ingredients they can be eaten by humans and other animals as well, and they would even benefit their breath too. In fact, Tarr says that she taste tests one biscuit out of every batch for an added level of quality control.
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Tarr worked with animal herbalists and food technologists to get the recipe just right. They needed to get the correct quantities so the biscuits could be given daily without being detrimental to health of the dog.
Depending on the size of the dog, biscuits can be bought in two sizes. Dogs weighing less than twenty pounds get the smaller sized treat which cost $1.50 each, and dogs over 20 pounds get the larger treats which cost $3.00 each. The treats also come in packages of 7 so dog owners can buy a week’s supply at once.
She has done extensive research on the dog food market and realizes that the export market for pet foods is huge and she hopes to tap into that eventually. She would like to start by taking her product to the national level and then working up to international distribution.
