Website... oh website....

Today I want to showcase my Paw-Fect Cracker treat. It's my spin on a ritz cracker for your pup. It's crunchy with a hint of saltiness (naturally occurring from the low-sodium chicken broth used in the recipe). It ha a little paw print on the cracker giving it a little character. It's $5 a bag and they are available for purchase through my website's store www.healthybitedogtreats.com. Get some today, I think your pooch will love them! (I think they are really tasty, and I tried them myself. Of couse my dog's loved them too...)

On another note, I am trying to take time out to do the whole marketing/web development and I have come to terms with the fact that it doesn't come naturally to me. I need to get my name out there and get more action on my website... but I just don't know how. Any suggestions?

For starters, I can't get my new website to appear when someone does an internet search. My blog comes up and my bigcartel hosted store comes up, but not my showit.com website. This is frustrating because my showit.com site has my home page, the about me page, etc. I know I keep ranting about these dang website issues, but I am frustrated that I can't seem to figure out the answer.. So I am asking around for help. If you can help me or know someone who is internet/web development smart, please send them my way. Email me at healthybitedogtreats@live.com...

Moving on... I am making another huge pet bed. I will post up pictures soon. It's a lot of work and will probably be really big when all is said and done. I am petitioning my fans for help though. I have gone through my house and raided all my rooms for unused pillows. I use the stuffing for the pet beds. If you have any random pillows that you're not using I would love to use the stuffing! :) I even used a pillow that I slept with but it just got old and worn down. I took the stuffing out and gave it some good fluffin and it worked great! :) I am wanting to get my fans and regular customers more involved too so I thought this pillow gifting idea would help. We shall see. ;)

Oh and this Thursday at the Redlands market night I will be bringing my new chicken jerky! It's like my beef liver jerky, only chicken.... yummmm....

I guess I better get back to my marketing research... let me know if you have any suggestions!

A new beginning...

Last night we had a great time at market night. For those of you who came out to support, thank you! :) People were happy to see new products available and pleased to finally get their hands on some freshly baked treats.


A highlight of my night was when someone asked me about my Sugar tag. This tag is a necklace honoring a dog whose story I began to follow not too long ago. She was a survivor of horrible things and unfortunately lost a battle with cancer. Ironically enough the elderly lady who approached me about the tag was asking me to sign a petition for the approval some cancer research. A small crowd gathered as I told Sugar's story and showed her picture as I spoke. People couldn't believe what she had gone through. It was a beautiful moment that I was allowed to be apart of all because of Sugar's legacy of love, trust and forgiveness. It was awesome. I have to thank Bark Photography for providing such a beautiful picture and necklace! You can get one too and read up about Sugar's battles and how she changed so many people's lives at Bark Photography or at Sugar's fan page on Facebook.Needless to say, thanks to Sugar, my night was off to a great start! Here is a pic of me with my beautiful Sugar Blue tag. :) My good friend Lola Cruz came out to help me and she has now become an asset to my team! She helps me cope with the crazy people that approach me and we get by with telling stories that keep us laughing. Thank Lola! I look forward to many more market nights with you! You are awesome! PS I am sure I would have lost my mind trying to figure out my display without you!
Some more special guests came out too. My parents came out and fed us with the best kettle corn on State St. and the freshest of strawberries. Khalid kept Lola and I entertained for the longest time too with his barking at random people about all the products at the table and how the treats were all natural and homemade. It was awesome. My mom even came after working 14 crazy hours as a junior high teacher.. in San Bernardino too! Thanks mom and Khalid, I love you! Without your support I wouldn't be where I am today at all! I know Ermes is grateful that even though he can't be there you guys are! :) (That's what happens when you have little kids).

Finally, I have to say that a very good friend of mine came with her daughter to hang out too. Kristen, I love you and I love Kylee! Thank you for coming out and being there! You are great! (PS see you and Lola tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM for our run).


We even got to see some cute dogs, one of which bought a shirt. Her name was Bella and she was so cute! She was so calm and looked fabulous in her new posh pup shirt.

Oh and don't forget to check out my new website. And if you know of anyone who can give me a hand with it email me at healthybitedogtreats@live.com! Talk to you soon!

Just some updates and ideas...

Well hey there everybody. I know it's been some time since my last post, but here I am. As you know, I was MIA from market night due to a car door incident. I am happy to announce that my car is fixed and that I am planning on being back at market night next Thursday, May 6. This, I pray, is going to be a sort of relaunch. I tried to take advantage of my time away to make my business more of what I have been dreaming it to be from the beginning. I took some time to do research and development, ordered samples of various items, and am still on the search to make a professional treat-chef name for myself.

I have come a long way since initially starting my business. I want to specialize in preservative free, all natural treats for dogs. I don't use flavorings, rather I use higher amounts or real meat. God gave me the dream of making my own pet beds and blankets too. (I eventually want to do doggie clothes, but one step at a time). I have developed some fantastic recipes and I have learned to sew. I love having these skill, but I felt like I wanted to provide more to my customers. So, I went to a wholesale distributor in Long Beach. They have pet supplies and I bought some really cute pet beds, harnesses, leashes, collars and some clothes. All the items are really reasonable and are affordable for customers. I can't wait to show everyone next Thursday.

Still, even after taking this leap of faith in my business, I have more I want to do. I guess that's the side effect of having a business you're passionate about. From the beginning I wanted my treats to be organic. After doing research I discovered this would be pretty expensive. I decided to start my biz on all natural, and preservative free knowing that with this I could at least get started. I still have the dream of having an organic line and I am seriously considering heading in that direction, albeit very slowly. So, I decided to introduce one chicken recipe to start. I haven't purchased the meat yet and I'm pretty sure I wont even have it to sell my first night back at market night, but at least my mind is made up on where to start. With that being said, the chicken is really the organic aspect of the treat. This was the obvious place to start for me given that certified organic farming has higher standards for how their slaughter animals are raised and what they are fed. It is a far more humane way for farm animals to live compared to the modern mass-produced farming. I feel as though I am rambling, but I think that's what a blog is all about, right?

Something I am even more excited about is a having a decent website. I have had a store where customers could purchase treats online, but it's not really bringing in any money. I'm not totally sure why, but I'm sure the fact that people assume they can just buy treats locally affects this. I also think that since it didn't say much about me that the site I had wasn't really geared towards new customers. With all that being said, I now have a much nicer website that I really like. I used Bark Pet Photography's website as my inspiration. Their website is beautiful and Kim Rogers takes some amazing pictures. Check out my website at http://www.healthybitedogtreats.showitsite.com/#/home/

If you have any suggestions for my website, blog, FB fan page, or just in general, I would love to hear them! :) I am always looking for feedback. I will try to post soon, even if it's just about what's going on in my ever-spinning mind.