Like with a man, it seems, the way to a dog’s heart is through its stomach.
No one knows that better than Kris Rotonda and Denise Fernandez, a couple who came up with the idea for the Doggy Cooking Network and founded the online dating service YouMustLoveDogsDating.com, where pooch-loving singles can connect with similarly minded potential mates.
Their Doggy Cooking Network on YouTube taps into the huge popularity of cooking shows to show pet owners how to dish up fresh, homemade alternatives to commercial dog food. It has struck a chord, as serving safe, wholesome food has become increasingly important to pet owners.
Some animal lovers have emphasized the role of home-cooked canine cuisine following complaints about tainted food sickening and even killing pets. The United States Food and Drug Administration has received reports that dog and cat treats made in China killed 1,000 dogs and have made more than 4,800 pets sick since 2007.
Although the agency has not been able to prove that the treats are causing illnesses, worried pet owners can find easy alternative meals in Rotonda and Fernandez’s cooking shows.
They show how to use simple ingredients such as chicken, rice and eggs to make, for example, frozen-yogurt bars and sweet bean rice and meatloaf birthday cake – they even incorporate food trends such as organic and gluten-free snacks.
“The idea is simple. Food brings families together,” Fernandez says. “Only people who are really devoted to their dogs are going to cook for them.”
Fernandez and Rotonda, who started their show about four months ago, are not professional chefs, but have tested the dishes on their four dogs. Viewers cook along with the couple as they chat and joke during the four-minute cooking segments that are posted once a week on YouTube, with plans to increase their output.
One of their viewers is Mary Montufar of Mountain View, California, who adapts the show’s recipes for her 11-year-old Maltese mix, Phoebe. They have helped combat the dog’s extensive allergies – she had tried all kinds of store-bought food, but none of it stopped the dog’s scratching and discomfort.
“It’s all fresh food, so there’s nothing you would be afraid to eat yourself,” Montufar said.
