Now dogs Have a Food Truck of Their Own With Bow-Wow Chow

Austin’s food truck scene isn’t just for humans anymore. Bow-Wow Chow, a mobile food truck for dogs, officially opens for business on July 28 at Auditorium Shores, 920 W. Riverside Drive. The truck — which has been making trial runs around town since June — features baked treats for canines.

Folks in canine-loving Austin might not often think "This town needs something just for dogs." But that’s what went through Lara Enzor’s mind one day last fall when she was passing through one of the city’s many food trailer courts. She saw trucks offering tacos, Indian food and various culinary mashups for humans and nothing for our four-legged friends. That spark of a thought became Bow-Wow Chow, Enzor’s food truck that caters just to dogs, which Enzor says is a first for Austin’s mobile food scene.

"It’s kind of like an ice cream truck for dogs," says Enzor, who encourages owners to let their dogs come right up to the counter window for their treats, which come in minimal to no packaging to lessen the environmental impact. A single treat — all natural, preservative free and locally made in Austin — with a bottle of water is $1, three treats are $2 and the best-selling six-pack is $3. The Elvis special ($2) comes with one peanut butter treat, one banana treat and a water. Enzor also is offering a limited number of VIP leash tags for $10. Good through the end of the year, the tag can be used to get a treat when you don’t have any cash in your pockets.

"If the dog’s happy, the employee’s happy and everybody’s smiling," says Enzor, who already has a proven entrepreneurial record, having worked for several large pharmaceutical companies before opening her own business monitoring pharmaceutical trials.

Enzor, who grew up in Abilene and has a biology and chemistry background and degree, trusted her gut as she turned thought into action. In December, she found a former snow cone truck for sale in Florida on eBay and Craigslist, and she bought it sight unseen because she trusted the sound of the owner’s voice on the other end of the phone. Despite having 100,000 miles on it, the truck "is a pleasure to drive and purrs like a kitten," Enzor says.

She didn’t have to do much to the interior, which was already outfitted with sink, storage and even a freezer (she’s working with Groovy Dog to add ice cream to the menu). She sold most of the snow cone equipment — she kept the commercial hot dog machine, a hit at a recent party — and with the help of Full Moon Design, she had the exterior tricked out to reflect the new business. Her inspiration? Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine. Yes, she wants people to smile and laugh when they see the truck parked or driving down the road.

Two of the dogs on the truck’s cheery and colorful design were inspired by Enzor’s own 15-year-old fox terrier, Dottie, and Penny, a 3-ish miniature pinscher adopted from Austin Pets Alive. Rescue groups also are part of Enzor’s business plan, which is built on community and giving back. A portion of every sale goes to APA, and she plans to rotate the beneficiary group by month. Interested rescue groups can contact Enzor through her website (http://bow-wowchow.com), on which she also wants people to post photos or videos of their dogs at the truck.

So far, Enzor and her two employees have had the truck at Norwood Estate dog park on Saturday mornings and at dog meetups and other special events. "We’ve been so well-received," she says, "and we have some regular customers already."

Bow-Wow Chow had its official launch party at Auditorium Shores yesterday, on Saturday July 28th, after negotiations with the city, Enzor was granted a one-week permit to park at the popular dog-gathering spot.  Enzor plans to have the truck there from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day that week. Then she’ll see where the truck will go next.

"Wherever there’s a gathering of dogs, we would like to bring the party to them," Enzor says.

h/t to the Statesman

Related: 

Food Truck Caters to Austin Dogs

For those that want to bake their own biscuits:

Gourmet Doggie Biscuits

For those of you who have always been curious as to how to make dog treats at home for your pet here is a basic recipe to get you started. With all the dog food & treat recalls that have caused severe conditions and even death; it is nice to know what is going into your pet. It is also a great gift for your pet friends!!

I N G R E D I E N T S

3 1/2 cup all-purpose (or unbleached) flour
2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup skim milk powder
1 tablespoon (or 1 package) dry yeast
3 1/2 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth (about 2- 15oz cans)

1 egg beaten with about 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)

I N S T R U C T I O N S

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease cookie sheets.

Mix together all dry ingredients.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min. Then stir in flour mixture until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky you can add more flour.

Roll resulting dough out 1/4″ thick. Cut dog biscuit shapes from dough. Put scraps back in bowl and re-roll out until all dough is used.

Brush biscuits with egg wash.

Bake on greased cookie sheets at 300 degrees for 45 min.

Then turn off oven and leave in overnight to finish hardening.

Makes 60 medium-sized biscuits**

Storing Dog Treats
In general you should store dog treats the same way you would homemade people cookies. That being said, there are two main variables that determine storage time – the amount and type of fat in the recipe and your local weather conditions. If your recipe uses fats such as butter, or meat bits or juices then it will be more prone to rancidity than a recipe that uses some vegetable oil or shortening. Your treats may mold or spoil much faster in humid or very hot climates.

Refrigeration and Freezing – Refrigeration will prolong the life of more fragile dog treats. Make sure to store in a tightly sealed container or zip lock bag. You can also freeze most treats in zip lock freezer bags. Allow to thaw completely before use.

Below are a couple “Goodie” questions from the ASPCA Poison Control Center Hotline Answered by Their CVT’s and Drs.

I have a Great Dane and a Weimie, and as strange as it may sound, they love gummy bears—stale gummy bears to boot. I end up using them as bribes sometimes, but never overindulge. They never get more than one a day. We have new puppies at our house who are five months old and only weigh about 30 pounds. They accidentally got one of the gummies the other night. Can the little bit of sugar and gelatin in the gummies hurt the pups?
—Laura

Your question is not as strange as you think. I have a young daughter who likes gummy bears, and my five dogs are always fixated on her when she eats them! To answer your question, as long as the gummies are not sweetened with xylitol (which can cause seizures and liver failure in dogs), and they are not consuming more than a couple here and there, gummies are not likely to pose a poisoning risk. Of course, these chewy goodies could potentially pose a choking hazard, so do be sure to supervise your dogs and puppies when offering them the occasional gummy.

As a side note, we did manage a case where a dog became very ill and died from eating more than a pound of gummies—so please do be sure to keep these treats your dogs treasure in a secure cabinet above the counter so they do not help themselves.
—Dana Farbman, CVT

Last year, I was shopping at a pet store, and I saw some holiday treats for dogs that contained ginger and cinnamon, things I wouldn’t feel comfortable feeding them. I also saw they’re coming out with chocolate treats for dogs—are they safe since they are made for dogs? Thanks.
—Theresa

In small amounts, these treats are likely to be safe (even chocolate). Some “chocolate” dog treats actually contain carob, which is safe. If these treats make you uncomfortable, I would stick to “traditional” pet treats.
—Dr. Eric Dunayer

JOMP

Technorati Tags: doggy roach coach,doggie food truck,Austin Texas,Texas,dog fun,cooking for your dogs,cooking for your pets,dog biscuit recipe,doggie safe treats,Doggies,dogs,ginger,gourmet dog biscuit recipe,Gourmet Doggie Biscuits,Gummie Bears,healthy eating for pets,homemade dog biscuits,baked canine treats,homemade doggie biscuits,liver failure in dogs,no chocolate for dogs,no xylitol for pets,pet food recalls,pet treats,Pets,traditional dog snacks,no-no foods for dogs

Pupcakes!

A while back I had saved recipes for pupcakes (cupcakes for dogs) and tonight I finally did it! Yesterday, I celebrated the two-year anniversary of the date that I brought my dog Ellie home so I thought this would be a good excuse to make the pupcakes. They were super quick and easy too!

Recipe from BakeSpace:

2 ripe bananas
2 cups water
1 egg
1/2 tsp double strength vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray cupcakes or mini cupcake pan with olive oil. (I greased them with butter)
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add all ingredients except peanut butter and mix with a pastry blender until well combined. Add peanut butter and continue stirring until well blended.
*I just put everything into my Kitchenaid mixer and let it do all the work for me.
3. Fill cupcake tin 3/4 full. If using mini muffin tin, bake for 15 minutes. For regular-sized muffins, bake for 25 minutes.

For the frosting, I just mixed together plain yogurt and some peanut butter. There was no exact measurements, but it was probably about 2 cups of frosting and 1/2 cup of peanut butter.

It passed the taste test because Ellie inhaled it!

If you need a quick snack to share with your special friend and don’t have time to bake… regular carrot cake or cheese, in small quantities, or a ginger snap cookie will also work! if you have a dog who tends to get car sick the ginger snap cookies often help with that too!!

h/t to What the Cupcake?

Related:

The New Breed of Baker

Pet Parties – The Latest Craze

For these moms, a dog-day afternoon

Gourmet Doggie Biscuits and Some Holiday Snacking Tips

For those of you who have always been curious as to how to make dog treats at home for your pet here is a basic recipe to get you started. With all the dog food & treat recalls that have caused severe conditions and even death; it is nice to know what is going into your pet.  It is also a great gift for your pet friends!!

 

I N G R E D I E N T S

3 1/2 cup all-purpose (or unbleached) flour
2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal 
1/2 cup skim milk powder 
1 tablespoon (or 1 package) dry yeast 
3 1/2 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth (about 2- 15oz cans)

1 egg beaten with about 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)

 

I N S T R U C T I O N S

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease cookie sheets.

Mix together all dry ingredients.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min. Then stir in flour mixture until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky you can add more flour.

Roll resulting dough out 1/4″ thick. Cut dog biscuit shapes from dough. Put scraps back in bowl and re-roll out until all dough is used.

Brush biscuits with egg wash.

Bake on greased cookie sheets at 300 degrees for 45 min.

Then turn off oven and leave in overnight to finish hardening.

Makes 60 medium-sized biscuits**

 

Storing Dog Treats 
In general you should store dog treats the same way you would homemade people cookies. That being said, there are two main variables that determine storage time – the amount and type of fat in the recipe and your local weather conditions. If your recipe uses fats such as butter, or meat bits or juices then it will be more prone to rancidity than a recipe that uses some vegetable oil or shortening. Your treats may mold or spoil much faster in humid or very hot climates.

Refrigeration and Freezing – Refrigeration will prolong the life of more fragile dog treats. Make sure to store in a tightly sealed container or zip lock bag. You can also freeze most treats in zip lock freezer bags. Allow to thaw completely before use.

 

Below are a couple “Goodie” questions from the ASPCA Poison Control Center Hotline Answered by Their CVT’s and Drs.

I have a Great Dane and a Weimie, and as strange as it may sound, they love gummy bears—stale gummy bears to boot. I end up using them as bribes sometimes, but never overindulge. They never get more than one a day. We have new puppies at our house who are five months old and only weigh about 30 pounds. They accidentally got one of the gummies the other night. Can the little bit of sugar and gelatin in the gummies hurt the pups?
—Laura

Your question is not as strange as you think. I have a young daughter who likes gummy bears, and my five dogs are always fixated on her when she eats them! To answer your question, as long as the gummies are not sweetened with xylitol (which can cause seizures and liver failure in dogs), and they are not consuming more than a couple here and there, gummies are not likely to pose a poisoning risk. Of course, these chewy goodies could potentially pose a choking hazard, so do be sure to supervise your dogs and puppies when offering them the occasional gummy.

As a side note, we did manage a case where a dog became very ill and died from eating more than a pound of gummies—so please do be sure to keep these treats your dogs treasure in a secure cabinet above the counter so they do not help themselves.
—Dana Farbman, CVT

Last year, I was shopping at a pet store, and I saw some holiday treats for dogs that contained ginger and cinnamon, things I wouldn’t feel comfortable feeding them. I also saw they’re coming out with chocolate treats for dogs—are they safe since they are made for dogs? Thanks.
—Theresa

In small amounts, these treats are likely to be safe (even chocolate). Some “chocolate” dog treats actually contain carob, which is safe. If these treats make you uncomfortable, I would stick to “traditional” pet treats.
—Dr. Eric Dunayer

These are great Christmas Gifts for your four-legged friends.