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When Mary Ellen Oertel and her boyfriend, Ray Masnack, adopted an American Staffordshire terrier puppy last winter, they were concerned about what to feed her.
"I wanted her to eat more healthy, and a lot of what is on the market is really horrible," Oertel said.
Oertel, who served as executive chef at the Swiss Hotel and Restaurant in Sonoma for 12 years, cooks for her dog, Penny, daily. Typical fare includes poached chicken, organic brown rice and vegetables, and blue cheese burgers. "Why not?" said Oertel. "We eat fresh everyday. Why shouldn't she?"
Commercial dog treats are high in fat, she says, so she read cookbooks and consulted the Whole Dog Journal, then started playing around in the kitchen. Oertel created several flavors of dog biscuits, which friends encouraged her to sell.
This year, she got serious and founded Ma Snax Superior Treats with Masnack, who is also a professional chef, cooking for private clients.
The fledgling Sonoma company offers eight varieties of biscuits: peanut butter and honey; wheat-free peanut butter and honey; chicken and sunflower seed; wheat-free lamb and oatmeal; sweet potato and ginger; pumpkin and pumpkin seed; wheat-free carob and mint; and Parmesan cheese with oregano and garlic. A half-pound package sells for about $6.
The cookies are made with human-grade ingredients. "Once in a while, I'll pop one in my mouth," Oertel said. She bakes with Giusto's organic flours—oat, whole wheat, barley and brown rice—and organic ingredients are used whenever possible.
Instead of cheap hydrogenated shortenings, canola oil and organic eggs produced by cage-free chickens bind the biscuits. The chicken and lamb varieties are flav ored with homemade stock simmered from the bones of organically raised animals.
Unlike human treats, Ma Snax don't contain salt or sugar. Oertel sweetens the biscuits with unsulphured molasses and wildflower honey. "They smell great when they're baking," she said.
Penny's favorite is the peanut butter and honey. "She's definitely our muse," said Oertel, who has also made guinea pigs out of her friends' dogs. She said the breed of dog does not dictate the sales of certain flavors. Rather, it's based on the humans.
Oertel has noticed that sweet varieties tend to be purchased as gifts, while serious pet owners and feed stores lean toward the wheat-free versions. Canines aren't the only fans of Ma Sna—Cabaline Saddlery in Point Reyes Station carries the peanut butter, pumpkin and sweet potato flavors for horses.
Sue Simon, owner of Sonoma Dog Camp, a doggie day care center and doggie birthday party venue, is partial to the double pumpkin. "It's beautiful—you see the entire pumpkin seed baked in, and you get the crunch of the seed," she said. Simon cites the sweet potato-ginger and chicken-sunflower versions as the best sellers at Sonoma Dog Camp.
Oertel was a fine arts major at William Patterson University in New Jersey when her sister, a chef at the time, got her a part-time job at a restaurant. Oertel took to the culinary world so well, she didn't finish college.
After cooking in restaurants for 20 years, she burned out. "The restaurant industry is tough. It's for young people," she said. Oertel turned 40 this year and had an epiphany: "I always wanted to have my own business, be my own boss, and if I don't do it now, when would I do it?"
She left the Swiss Hotel and the 12-hour-day grind as a restaurant chef in March. To supplement her start-up income, she retains a few clients as a private chef. She generally cooks every night, whether she is baking Ma Snax or preparing dinner for private clients.
Even though her hours are still long, "it's different when it's for yourself. It's a lot more rewarding."
"She's a very energetic woman." said Hank Marioni, the owner of the Swiss Hotel and Restaurant, who remains good friends with Oertel. In fact, a photo of Marioni's yellow Labrador, Nala, graces some of the packages. Marioni said, "I don't believe in spoiling my dog, but Mary Ellen does," when she dog sits.
Starting the business has been an education for Oertel, who never worked in retail before. It was new for her to have to handle details such as packaging. She originally used bone-shaped cookie cutters, but found it to be more efficient to cut the cookies into squares.
Oertel bakes 25 to 90 pounds of dough each week, and the biscuits have a shelf life of two months, with vitamin E as a preservative. For quality control, Oertel keeps a sample from every batch.
Oertel and Masnack are searching for a larger production facility with retail space in the front so they can sell gifts that their friends make, such as crocheted dog sweaters and hand-painted dog collars. Oertel also plans to make "bake at home" dog biscuit kits that will be sold online.
As for sales, "I remember when I was a chef how much I disliked pushy salespeople," said Oertel, so she practices the low-key sales approach by dropping off samples with her business card. The product sold itself to Simon.
"They're the only dog treats we carry in bulk," said Simon, "We look for locally sourced, all-natural ingredients. We only carry snacks that we would eat ourselves."
Ma Snax Superior Treats are available in Sonoma at Sonoma Dog Camp, Sonoma Pet Center, Nonna's Eastside Market, Sonoma Market, Uniquely California and Arroyo Veterinary Hospital; at Glen Ellen Village Market; Walkies Professional Pet Care in Santa Rosa; Cabaline Saddlery in Point Reyes; and Dillon Beach Resort, Matt Lynch Winery, Rivertown Feed and Pet in Petaluma.
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