Business Page: Search For Healthy Dog Treats Leads To Wicked Good Biscuits

 Sometimes when you can't find what you want in the store, you have to make it yourself. That's what happened to Donna Handren, owner of Wicked Good Biscuits, when she went shopping for dog treats for her newly adopted German Shepherd puppy Aja in the winter of 2023. 

 "I was looking for the least amount of ingredients in the biscuits, all being healthy and with no preservatives. But I couldn't understand the content of most store products," Handren recalled. "I couldn't pronounce some of the ingredients," she said, and she remembered a friend's experience buying a treat that made her pup sick.

 She decided to experiment at home with a few simple ingredients, starting with all natural peanut butter, flax seed meal and whole wheat flour. 

 "I experimented with the least amount of peanut butter that they would like,” she said. “It's not necessary to have a lot and I wanted the biscuit to be good but healthy.”

 The consistency of the biscuits dough was stiffer than cookie dough. "I worked to try to get a consistency that they would like. It was a lot to figure out...I'm still working on it!" 

 In 2024 she joined a dog treat business group online, registering her flavors and sharing tips and recipes. Knowing she wanted to pursue this business goal, she also obtained Serve Safe Management Kitchen certification. 

 Aja and other friends' pups who sampled the treats enjoyed them, and once the biscuits were "dog approved," Handren was excited to share. The first stop was the Bass River Farmers Market last June. The response was good and she began to see repeat dog customers and was happy to share her "less than perfect" broken samples with them.

 An early challenge was shelf life. Without preservatives of any kind, "the first biscuits didn't last more than three or four days," she recalled. It was from a dog treat bakers' group that she learned about the advantages of dehydration. After being dehydrated, the biscuits are crunchy, not soft, and "they have a much longer shelf life, at least six months," she said. "With any treat, you want it to be fresh."

 Handren works full time as a home health aide while running her business. "I stay motivated to share biscuits locally to many pups, and as they become repeat customers it becomes even easier," she said.

 Her recipes now include a pumpkin biscuit as well as a blueberry one. When customers request gluten free, she can modify the recipe to include oat flour instead of whole wheat.

 Wicked Good Biscuits are available in many shapes. 

 "The most popular is the shark," Handren said with a smile. "But we have turkeys, squirrels, whales, seashells, rabbits." There is also an advent calendar for Christmas with a different treat for each of the 24 days before the holiday. That's not all. "I can make custom treats and I've even done a wedding!" Handren said. Christmas time is big in the dog treat business. "Grandparents buy for their 'grand-dogs!'" she said. 

 She still uses her home kitchen to do all the baking and would love to have access to a commercial kitchen to increase her production. 

 "I bake until two or three some mornings," she said, adding there are lots of early mornings and late nights. "It's fun and a lot of work," she said, "especially with my other work!" All treats are certified yearly by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.

 During the summer, Handren is a fixture at the Bass River Farmers Market. Wicked Good Biscuits are currently available at Gatherings at Homes, Captain Baker Donuts, Glass Jar Market, Chillers in Chatham and Derby Field Kennels in Harwich. Throughout the year you can see her and her treats at events like the Cranberry Festival, Seaside Festival, Love, Live, Local, Chatham Octoberfest and more. She is on Instagram at #WickedGoodBiscuits and can also be reached at wickedgoodbiscuits@yahoo.com

 Handren has always been a dog lover. 

 "I want dogs to live as long as they can and be healthy," she said. "And I want the treats to be affordable for Cape Codders and visitors. I've learned a lot, step by step...not planning but motivated by dogs liking them. People want to support local and that is also extremely nice."