Dogs can bring out the creative side in our humans, even young ones. Take Christian Liendo, for example. The entrepreneurial 16-year old is tapping into an emerging pet-perk: dog ice cream. Christian is enrolled in a program sponsored by Goldman Sachs and Prep for Prep, a nonprofit that identifies minority students and prepares them, during summers and weekends, for private schools. As part of the program, students compete for cash awards to scale up their entrepreneurial ideas. In his years in this program, Christian has come up with lots of cool ideas, but Blizzard Dog Ice Cream got him noticed by the New York Times. Christian got the idea while hanging out with is grandmom's dog, Max. Max was always super-interested in the ice cream served up by grandmom, but it did not agree with his stomach. Christian thought--why can we make ice cream that dogs can eat? He has been experimenting with both a soy base and lactose free milk. He tested several flavors, and was surprised to find that the dogs preferred carrot or ginger over human classics like carob (similar to chocolate, but safe for dogs) and vanilla.
Christian says he would like to see this as a product in regular ice cream stores, so that "dog owners won’t feel bad when they stop for a cone and their dogs whimper in longing." He should consider partnering with one of the many dog shops that carry gourmet goodies for dogs, as some already sell dog ice cream.
That reminds me...I need to tell my human that she forgot about the MuttLicks from the Doggie Style Bakery that are in our freezer!
It's easy to make 'frosty pups' or whatever you want to call them. Just mix peanut butter with plain yogurt and freeze in small dixie cups. We make them to use as fundraisers in our rescue events in summer. Most dogs love them!
ReplyDeleteShep loves his Frosty Paws, and there's nothing like them on a really hot day to cool a guy down!
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