Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | All About Pets The Berkshire Eagle | BerkshireEagle.com 20
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The Berkshire Dog, a family recipe for healthy dog treats Lanesborough, Pittsfield-made products good enough for humans but made for pups BY NOAH HOFFENBERG Eagle sponsored content editor PITTSFIELD — What’s good for Milo is
good for your dog, and even you, too. The Berkshire Dog, a maker of all natural and organic dog products, is a local business borne of necessity. Back in 2017, Kalee Tart, Milo’s owner, sought counsel from her mother, Debra, on how best to settle the upset stomach of her 8-year-old black Labrador. “We wanted to give him all natural and organic food and treats to help him. From there, the idea of The Berkshire Dog grew,” recalls Kalee Tart in a recent interview with The Eagle. Now of Hatfield, Tart grew up in the city of Pittsfield. The women say their family didn’t want to buy off-the-shelf products with uncertain ingredients anymore. “We thought, ‘We eat very healthy as a family, so why not do the same for our pets?’” says Debra Tart. Moreover, they decided to do it themselves. The co-owned business has been growing ever since, with their products now found in some 40 regional grocery stores. Debra Tart lives and runs the business in the city. She says, right around the time Milo wasn’t feeling well, she was hearing a lot of bad news regarding the pet food industry and pesticides, and artificial preservatives and coloring. “They can just about put anything into a dog treat, and that really scared me, and Kalee felt the same way,” says Debra Tart. “When you look at the dog treats in the supermarket, the colors, the reds, it's all artificial dyes. People don’t want to feed it to their children, but they don’t think twice about feeding it to their pets.“
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of bigger batches. The Berkshire Dog also serves individual customers from its website, and offers free delivery in Berkshire County. Its handmade items include Berkshire Barkscotti, with blueberries, unsweetened applesauce, bacon, honey, cinnamon and diatomaceous earth among its ingredients. Or Ruff Day Relief, which, on top of whole food elements, has organic, full-spectrum cannabidiol, or CDB, oil; CBD is reported to have some anti-inflammatory, antianxiety and other beneficial properties.
The Berkshire Dog, a maker of all natural and organic dog products, is a local business borne of necessity, say coowners Debra and Kalee Tart. Daughter sought counsel from mother on how best to settle the upset stomach of Milo, her 8-year-old black Labrador. “We wanted to give him all natural and organic food and treats to help him. From there, the idea of The Berkshire Dog grew,” recalls Kalee Tart.
Peer pet tested and approved The Berkshire Dog conducted its own beta testing with more than two dozen dog breeds, for three to four months each, with pet parents receiving a new sample batch of treats weekly. They filled out forms to gauge dog excitement level with the treat; how long it lasted; whether they ate it immediately or hid it for later; as well as which were the fan favorites. “It was very helpful. Right away, we were able to figure out that bacon and peanut butter are the No. 1 flavors. Pretty amazing, though, is that one of our really popular flavors is lavender. Who would think that a dog would actually like lavender?” says Debra Tart. “It’s amazing when you really start to pay attention to the dog’s likes and dislikes, what they find to be very pleasurable.” One flavor not on the menu: “Black beans. That was one that the dogs were not too crazy about.” The Tarts grow a lot of their own fruits and vegetables that go into the products, such as their own peppermint.
Dogs: They are what they eat
Find them at your local market
Tart notes that what dogs eat has a direct effect on their overall health. “Everything, right down to their coat, their skin, their digestive system, is affected by what goes in. The more we learned and educated ourselves, the better off Milo was, and now our customers’ pets are, too,” says Debra Tart. What started as a stovetop exercise is now a wholesale operation with some 30 different flavors across several product lines. Just the other day, Tart received a brand new 60-quart mixer that will help with production
Nowadays, you can find The Berkshire Dog products at organic markets, like Berkshire Food Co-op in Great Barrington; Atkins Farms Country Market in Amherst; Guido’s Fresh Marketplace in Pittsfield and Great Barrington; and The Old Creamery Co-op in Cummington, but also at purveyors small, like Sangar General Store in Windsor, and large, such as Big Y, with supermarkets across the region. Debra Tart says she and Kalee have been trying to whittle down the flavors to make choosing easier for store buy-
ers, but The Berkshire Dog still will keep up the full array on its website. “Every time I pull a flavor off the menu, people call and say, ‘What are you doing? That was my dog’s favorite,’” notes Tart. Special orders are easy for the company, too, in case your dog is finicky or has dietary restrictions. “Because we do everything custom made, it’s not a big deal to whip up a batch of someone’s favorite dog treat,” says Tart. “If a dog has an allergy to dairy or wheat, or any item, we can formulate a treat specifically for that dog’s needs and likes.”
A family affair There are two part-timers who help the small business, but it’s truly a family affair, the women note, with Debra’s niece, Jennifer Rhinemiller, helping with social media; her mother, “Nanny” Pat Arseneau, also assisting in the kitchen; son, Kevin, building displays for retail stores; and dad, retired Pittsfield Fire Department Deputy Chief Ray Tart, doing deliveries. “We’re all a part of it, and it’s a great time to be together. It brought us even more together as a family,” says Kalee Tart. Kalee Tart, a former school teacher, works part-time with her mother and also as a nanny; her goal is to eventually work at the bakery full time.
Certified pet nutritionist Debra Tart’s knowledge about pet food stems from being a certified
pet nutritionist, which she earned through an online course and related testing. “It really broadened my knowledge of what’s important for the dogs to have,” says Tart. Her most basic advice: “Keep them away from salt, sugar, artificial, preservatives, colorings. All natural, all the way.” From poor quality store-bought kibble to table scraps, there are many foods that are just plain unhealthy for dogs. “Their stomachs can tolerate it, but it shortens their life and mobility. It really does matter what you feed our dogs,” says Tart. Through her study, Tart learned to scrutinize the labels on dog food and treats. One thing you can’t unlearn about meat byproducts: “In many countries, that can mean roadkill. There’s such little regulation on these treats.” Turmeric root, Tart learned, is beneficial for humans and pets, as is cinnamon, and so are some of the same joint supplements that people take. “We do a hip and joint product, which I formulated for a neighbor’s dog, a 12-year-old yellow Lab that couldn't get up and down the stairs anymore. She gave this treat to her dog, three times a day. Within the first week, it started to climb the stairs again, and in and out of the car, and just running around like a puppy,” recalls Tart. “We tried it with a few other dogs. When they get these ingredients on a regular basis, the improvement in mobility is incredible.”
