Moving Forward

It's been 10 years since I first started feeding raw meat to my severely malnourished and abused rescue dog Annie. I watched in amazement as her body swiftly healed, her fur grew plush and her expression turned from fear and distrust to sweetness and affection. It took almost 6 months of research and experimentation to find just the right combination of ingredients to provide all the nutrition that her body might need, in an easily digestible and tasty recipe that she'd devour with delight. Watching her grow into a healthy, lovely, and confident companion gave me the impetus to start DogTown Lounge in the hopes that other pets might benefit from what I've learned.



Over the last 5 years, this business has also grown. I'm so grateful to everyone who has tried these products and seen for themselves how healthy their pets are when fed a species-appropriate diet. The Dried Chicken Fingers that were created as an attention-getting treat for Fletcher Lou, have turned into a favorite with so many customers that demand has exceeded the capacity of the original Dryalata™ dehydrator. Now it's time to grow a little more.

The next step forward is a long-time dream of mine, to create a DogTown Lounge Mobile Pet Food & Snack truck, to make these healthy products available beyond the time and location limitations of our local farmers markets. Like an ice cream truck for pets. Many farmers markets require vendors to only sell items they've produced, so I'm unable to offer other high-quality products that I didn't create. For example - hand-knitted dog sweaters, intriguing cat toys, safe and comfortable small pet carriers, well-made head collars, or sturdy, multi-function leashes. Freedom to bring healthy food and useful products directly to your neighborhood will mean far more flexibility for customers whose schedules keep them from the markets. Using twitter and text messaging to tailor location and hours to best serve those customers will also reduce the time spent outside in bad weather, which in turn will free up more hours for production.

Expanding availability means producing more, faster, so a new, larger Dryalata is already in an early construction stage. The frame has been provided by the good folks over at Gusti Restaurant Equipment, and the hunt is on for the rest of the parts. More freezer space for greater storage capacity is also in the planning stages, as well as increased electrical support both of those improvements.

Growth requires investment, so I've started a GoFundMe crowd-funding page, hoping that my customers and friends will spare a few dollars to help move these plans forward. Please take a look and click the donate button.

There are some rewards for various donation levels, and I'm looking for more ways to thank those who donate larger amounts. DogTown Lounge could not have come this far without you, and your support is sincerely appreciated. Thank you!