Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Wagatha's & Fetchstix... the true story

Company Finds Market For Fetching Sticks

Tuesday, 11/10/09

Sarah Ashworth - Dorset, VT

VPR/Sarah Ashworth

(Host) Ask anyone to name one popular Vermont export and they'll probably answer maple syrup or cheese.

But there's a new addition to the list of Vermont-made products: sticks. That's right those little pieces of wood we throw to our dogs are being packaged and sold far and wide.

They're called Fetchstix and as VPR's Sarah Ashworth tells us, they're 100 percent pure Vermont stick.

(Ashworth) Every idea for a new product has a story behind it. In the case of Fetchstix the story involves three friends sitting around a sugar house in southern Vermont. While the sap boiled, they imbibed a potent concoction known locally as Mr. Phisters.

(Dibble) "Basically you take a ladle of the sap out of the boiling sap before it gets into syrup and you put it in a mug and you put a little Wild Turkey in there, and that kind of got the story going a little bit, and we just were fooling around, trying to get an idea for a dog toy actually, and this seemed like a good idea, and we thought, well, what about real sticks?"

VPR/Sarah Ashworth
Norman Levitz (left) Anna Dibble and Neil Reilly of Fetchstix
(Ashworth) That's one of the would-be entrepreneurs, Landgrove artist Anna Dibble. The other two are Dorset businessmen Norman Levitz and Neil Reilly. Levitz says the three knew it might be a bit presumptuous to charge people for a product that, literally, grows on trees.

(Levitz) "At some point in the process the pet rock came to mind, and we knew we had a winning idea."

(Laughter)

(Ashworth) Levitz and Dibble are longtime Vermont residents, but Reilly is a relatively new transplant from New York City, and as he says, he was sitting "out in the sticks" when he realized something Vermonters might not: sticks are a rare commodity in some places.

(Reilly) "Being a city person, and having a dog, I thought it was an ingenious idea, because when you're in the city you don't have a toy, you don't have access to sticks, you have rocks, and what do dogs love, they love sticks to chase, to chew."

(Ashworth) Mock them if you like, but consider this: The three friends have sold thousands of bundles of Vermont sticks in more than 30 states and Canada, and they're actually making a profit.

VPR/Sarah Ashworth
Part of the reason for their early success is that they had a solid infrastructure already in place. Dibble's husband runs a post and beam construction company, and Levitz and Reilly are co-owners of Wagatha's, an organic dog biscuit business. But, even so, Reilly says it's not exactly easy to sell sticks.

(Reilly) "The amazing thing is, there's actually a fair amount of work involved, we go to trade shows and people say: ‘sticks, how can you be selling sticks? I have a backyard full of sticks.' But they have to be sourced, they have to be cut, they have to be brought back, sanded, sized, and put together, so it's a real business."

(Sound of walking in woods, sticks cracking)

(Ashworth) And the business begins by finding the perfect saplings...and to do that you have to be able to see the sticks for the trees.

(Dibble) "This one over here looks pretty good to me, not his would be fine, that's about the right width."

(Reilly) "Well, we're looking for the kind of wood first, it has to be maple, and then it has to be the right dimension, you know, it has to be free of surface imperfections like cracks, and things of that nature."

(Ashworth) Many of the saplings are collected on Dibble's own property, or that of her friends and neighbors. The three owners say they're mindful of harvesting the wood in a sustainable way. Workers at Dibble's husband's company do most of the gathering, and then on rainy days when they can't build, they'll head to Dibble's basement and cut the saplings. And, that's exactly what worker Danny Wetherald is doing.

(Wetherald) "You make two different sizes, there's an 11-inch, if we want to cut an 8-inch, we slide the saw over, then after they're cut, we come over here to the sander, we sand the edges smooth, like this, and into the bin they go."

VPR/Sarah Ashworth
(Ashworth) But the three friends say a perfectly sized and sanded stick is just half the battle. You still need to develop good throwing technique. And that's why they've developed an illustrated instruction manual, designed by Dibble. It even includes her home phone number for technical assistance. And as Dibble and Levitz demonstrate, with her dog Pepper, the instructions really do start from the beginning.

(Levitz) "Remove one stick from bundle, grip stick firmly in left or right hand, I've got the right, now instruct dog to wait, ask dog to sit, if dog won't sit bribe with a pig's ear, swing arm back as far as it will go, bend your elbow, propel arm forward with great force, let go of the stick and yell, fetch!"

(Ashworth) The price for those instructions and three sticks is about ten-dollars. Levitz says he knows some may scoff at the figure, but he says they're only taking into account the raw materials. Not the cost of the harvesting or all that sawing and sanding, not to mention transportation and distribution costs.

The three owners say they know most of their stick buyers won't be Vermonters, though as Dibble says, they're definitely selling the Vermont brand.

(Dibble) "This product, I think, is pretty essential Vermont. And that's one of the reasons we thought it would be a good idea, it would be hard to do this in another state, I think, New Jersey sticks just don't have the same cache."

(Ashworth) That Vermont cache may mean something to a dog's owners, but it's a safe bet that a dog doesn't really care...as long as it's got a stick to fetch.

For VPR News, I'm Sarah Ashworth.

Check out the Fetchstix photo gallery

Related Links

© Copyright 2009, VPR

This is the online edition of VPR News. Text versions of VPR news stories may be updated and they may vary slightly from the broadcast version.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Eco-Friendly Dog Biscuits


Eco-Friendly Products for Dogs

We sniffed around the South for pup essentials that are good for Fido and the Earth. Dog-tested and owner-approved, our picks will keep your canine looking and feeling great.

Wagatha's Dog Biscuits
Photography Van Chaplin, Art Meripol / Styling Anne Turner Carroll,

Wagatha's Biscuits

Tuscan Tomato Biscuits: These treats (shown in green canister) contain flax seed, which has heart-healthy omega-3s.

Super Biscuits: Catherine Bres ofGeneration Dog says her pooch Cooper can’t get enough of these treats (shown in blue canister). Rich in vitamins and nutrients, they are designed for active dogs.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Thank You from 2 Dogs 2000 Miles

A WALK FROM AUSTIN TO BOSTON... A WALK FOR ALL THOSE TOUCHED BY CANCER... AND THE START OF OUR JOURNEY TO RID THE WORLD OF THIS DISEASE

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2009

Thank You!

There are many people to thank for the success of the Canine Cancer Caucus in DC this past September. Among them are: well, Hudson, Murphy, and Luke – of course! Our own Ginger Morgan (who should probably be Sainted after all this), Patti and Lydia Best,Diane Ward, Dee Bogetti, Kate Bland, of course Ashley Hughes, DVMand Chand Khanna, DVM, PhD who both presented talks at the gathering, The DC Parks Department and the people who helped plan the route (again and again), sponsors: HALO, Honest Kitchen, andWagatha's, Costco for providing the water, FOX and ABC who came out and did some great video for us of the event. We’d also like to thank the host families in the area, including: Diane Ward, Theresa Fairbanks, Barbara Arnold, Katie McAuliffe, Lydia and Pat Best, and Caren Smith. Thanks to Caren Smith and Barbare Arnold who also hosted Ginger while she was in the DC area. And thank you to all who traveled near and far to be part of the event! If I have forgotten anyone, it wasn’t intentional. (BTW, if I’ve spelled names wrong, I blame it totally on Ginger. If I got names right, I did it all by myself!) Seriously, a very genuine thank you to ALL who participated and made the event possible.

Also thanks go to Marguerite Marsh for her blog recapping the Canine Cancer Caucus. If you haven’t already surfed over to her blog, please check it out. Thanks too to Jerry’s people at Tripawds for also promoting the Canine Cancer Caucus and our 2010 calendar. If you don’t know about Tripawds, they’re anexcellent resource on all things tri-pawed. And extra-special thanks to my own personal friend and blogging buddy Bob the Bloginating Pit Bull Extra-Ordinary, who saturated the Internet with publicity about the Canine Cancer Caucus and the 2010 Calendar. If you haven’t yet readBob and Daisy’s Blog, please check it out. It’s quite wonderful!

There were many more sites that published information on the Caucus and the Calendar. To list them all here would take up pages. But a Google search will tell the whole story. Thanks to everyone in the blogosphere and cyberspace who helped us!



Thank you to Marguerite Marsh for all the great photos of the event.



Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wagatha's Pet Treat Review

Me and Bella

Wagatha's Pet Treat Review





So today I'm reviewing Wagatha's Pet Treats. So many different treats to choose from, and let me tell you, Bella and her brother and sister ate them up & begged for more! Wagatha's is an organic pet treat, made with delicious ingredients located in Vermont. Their mission is to celebrate the bond between people & dogs which i think is great. Bella has tried many a biscuit, but i might have to say this one might be her favorite.



Wagatha's comes in many delicious flavors. Bella's favorite was the Senior Biscuit, which i found odd because shes only 1 year old! The senior biscuit addresses anxiety, joint movement and digestion, all very important things for a pup.



Bella's 2nd favorite was the Breakfast Biscuit which is made w/maple oatmeal, bananas and apples, all of Bella's favorite things. I saved these for her for the morning time. Their treats also come in other flavors, such as Wheat Free, the "super biscuit" which is high in minerals and vitamins, Cranberry & Cheddar and also Tuscan Tomato & Herb. There was not one kind Bella did not like.






My mom fed these treats to her pup, Suzy and she is now begging me to buy some! We actually decided on purchasing the above picture which is the variety pack. Cute tins of each type of biscuit for the low rate of 45$!!!! Bella is VERY excited about these!!!

Go to Wagatha's today and try a tin. You and your pup will love it!!!!


Monday, July 13, 2009

Wagatha's Gives Back

THE

CONSUMMATE

CONSUMER

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2009

This blog's going to the dogs!

This blog isn't just dedicated things that us humans might appreciate. Oh no. This blog is dedicated to things that all creatures might appreciate. This time I'd like to discuss a little something that I love for my precious dog. Let's talk about Wagatha's organic dog biscuits.

The first time I bought Wagatha's for my little Ariel, I honestly bought them because I liked the name and the cute container they came in. I also liked the flavors they offer (Cranberry Cheddar, Breakfast Biscuit, Tuscan Tomato & Herb, and Original). They also offer a "Senior" option and a "Super Dog" option. Once I opened the canister, however, I found a whole new reason to be happy with my purchase. Inside every canister is a "certificate" of sorts which is worth 5 points. Once you have collected 50 points (or 10 canisters), you send the "certificates" to Wagatha's. At that time you can choose to either receive a free canister of dog treats for your dog, or you can have Wagatha's donate the amount of money that would have gone into your free canister of treats to a charity which Wagatha's supports. I love this option because not only does your pet get to have delicious, organic, healthy treats, but you also have the opportunity to help out a charity in the process. Wagatha's also makes a variety of accessories in addition to their dog biscuits. And all are environmentally friendly.

Check out www.wagathas.com for more info, and please consider supporting a company that not only provides healthy treat options for your pets, but also gives back.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wagatha's Product Review

STEPHANIE DE PASQUALE BARKS ABOUT LIFE WITH THREE COCKER SPANIELS.

MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009

Product review: Wagatha's organic dog treats


The dogs and I both loved Wagatha's organic dog treats. The biscuits are made in Vermont with organic, human-grade ingredients that you can recognize, pronounce and probably already have in your kitchen. So unlike many biscuits, they're actually soft and easy to break into smaller pieces.

They also smell really good. The
Breakfast Biscuit and Tuscan Tomato & Herb smelled so good I was tempted to try one myself. Even Lady, who is the pickiest eater I have ever met, really liked the treats.

Wagatha's organic dog treats are also priced reasonably in comparison to other organic treats at $8.95 for a 9 ounce tin or $7,95 when you buy three or more. Or if you have multiple dogs in the house, like me, and go through a lot of treats, Wagatha's also offers bulk packages to save money.

Friday, June 26, 2009

She Scribes; A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Friday, June 26, 2009

Wagatha's Gourmet Organic Treats


Cranberry Cheddar with a hint of mint...Tuscan Tomato and Herb...Breakfast biscuits... They sound yummy don't they? Can you believe these are DOG treats! Gourmet organic treats to be exact from a company called Wagatha's.

Wagatha's biscuits are made from healthy ingredients. They are 100% USDA Certified Organic
100% Human Grade Ingredients, certified Kosher, Baked and they use Virgin Oil Oil from Italy and Spain. The biscuits are made from whole wheat flour, easily digestible grains, extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, brown flax seed, eggs, non-dairy milk, garlic, honey and sea salt. Basically YOU could eat these biscuits too, although I think they might be a wee bit hard and dry for us humans to enjoy.

It goes without saying that Wagatha's puts a lot of heart into their biscuits. They care about what goes into your beloved four legged friend therefore they use only the best ingredients for their biscuits. They even have special biscuits to fulfill the needs of senior dogs and a "Super" biscuit that is jam packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

So how do they taste? Well I didn't actually taste them myself (although they sound so good I was tempted to nosh on one... hee hee). Our dogEspn is not always big on treats. He likes those "leather" type dog treats. He'll eat biscuits when he's in the mood. I'm NOT exaggerating when I say that my dog practically attacked me after he tried his first one. Not in a bad way, I just mean he was jumping all over me. He practically jumped in my lap! Now just the MENTION of the "cookie" (that's what we call it) excites him. Our Wagatha's biscuits are in small zip lock bags. All I need to do is shake one of the bags and he comes running. And he INHALES the biscuit too! WOW! I wonder if he even knows what he's eating.

The Wagatha's treats are the perfect size too. My dog is about 20 pounds. He's on the small/medium size range and these are PERFECT for him. These might be a wee bit small for large/huge dogs, but none the less, they are just as yummy. You might just have to give a larger dog 2-3 treats instead of one. Since these are HEALTHY dog treats you can feel at ease giving your dog more then one.

Wagatha's sells their biscuits in either 9 ounce round tins or 10 pound boxes. They are available online at www.Wagathas.com. You can even purchase the Fetchstix that I reviewed earlier on Wagatha's web site too (click here for the Fetchstix review).

To learn more about Wagatha's biscuits and to see all the other great dog treats and gifts they offer please visit them at www.Wagathas.com. You can also read the latest news and reviews on their blog.