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| "Will that woman EVER stop talking?" |
Yes, you read my title post correctly, this is a post about dog biscuits! If you have read my blog, you know that I am curious about just about everything and looks like that includes treats for dogs!
Okay, my friends...this is what I learned just this week...
In 1860, an American electrician by the name of James Spratt went to England to sell lightning rods.
While he was there, he noticed that the dogs at the docks of Liverpool were eating the hardtack, the dry biscuit that was a major food for sailors while at sea. This gave him the idea of creating the treats for dogs!
Spratt's Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes were a mix of grains, vegetables and the dried unsalted gelatinous parts of beef. They were expensive but that was fine by Mr. Spratt, he marketed them to England's country gentlemen. (Think Downton's Abbey type wealthy.) The dog cakes were a success! (Spratt's-the first company to have a billboard in London!)
It was the great inventor, Carleton Ellis who had the idea of making the dog biscuits into the shape of a bone. (He had 753 patents in his name, the most famous being margarine.) In 1907, he came up with the recipe for a milk based dog biscuit. His dog was not that interested until he baked it into the bone shape that we know today. Here is his quote about this...and if you know dogs, you might find this as amusing as I do... "I cannot tell whether my dog is interested in the bone-shaped biscuit because it fools him...or if he feels duty bound to fool his master by simulating an interest in it." In 1908, the bone shaped biscuits were marketed as Milk Bones.
In England, they are called Milky Bones. Are they more difficult to find there? My in-laws are finding it so just now. This was the reason that I researched dog biscuits this week! Hey, you never know what you will learn from me, right? HA!
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| "Stop typing and give me a dog biscuit already!" |
Anybody else remember the dog who loved his treats from the cartoon "Quick Draw McGraw"? (I LOVED that cartoon show!) His name was Snuffles and at the sight of a dog biscuit, he would hug himself, go straight up into the air and float gently down to the ground in supreme JOY!
NOTE: The first dog pictured in this post is PeTE from England (pronounced Petey but he INSISTS on spelling it that way, he OWNS my in-laws. The second dog is Bandy from here in Georgia, he OWNS my Dad and step-mother. Both dogs gave me permission to use their photos here, I only had to give them a few dog biscuits!
Did you know that February 23 is International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day! So sorry your in-laws are having trouble finding their dog's favorite brand. If you find them here, are you allowed to ship it to them?
ReplyDeleteOH! I should have done this post on Feb. 23rd!
DeleteWe don't get the same ones here. Luckily, my father-in-law looked a bit more, and he was able to find them! PeTE is one lucky dog!
I ADORED Snuffles the Dog when I was a little girl! Thanks for the clip!
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me think of my favourite line from the old sit-com "Cheers," spoken by Norm once when he walked in to take his usual seat at the bar -- "It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'm wearing Milk Bone shorts!"
"Cheers", ah that was a good show, isn't it? Funny but nothing mean about it at all. My kind of humor.
DeleteI loved my cartoons as a kid and I am surprised when I mention one of the characters and friends my age don't remember them! I bet you loved "Fractured Fairy Tales" too, that was so funny!
I remember The Quick Draw McGraw (or as Baba Looey would say "Queecks Draw which always sounded like Queeck Straw) dog. It was probably the best part of the cartoon.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes talk like Baba Looey. Drives my husband crazy!
DeleteI LOVED that show!!
Kay, you know that I am very much like you in that respect, being curious about nearly everything - I loved this info about dog biscuits and the people involved in their introduction, as well as the snippets of information such as who had the first billboard in London and who invented marge! Thank you :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this particular cartoon, it probably never aired in Germany, at least not during my cartoon-watching days.
Dear Meike,
DeleteI am very sorry that you have not had the pleasure of Quick Draw and all of the other characters. I dearly loved watching all of them, they were just perfect for me as a kid. I have very fond memories of all of them.
And yes, you know that you and I are very curious about everything! For you, it is from your great intelligence, for me...it is just my weird nature! LOL.
I remember Snuffles - thanks for that memory. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved him floating up in the air and gently floating back down, thought it was so funny, he would do it every time!
DeleteYou do come up with some original topics. I learned my something new again today from you. I never knew where dog biscuits originated. All the dogs I've ever been acquainted with love Milk Bones.
ReplyDeleteI hesitated to post this since...wait for it...I have never owned a dog! HA! Still, when I learn something I like to share it here even if it is about dog biscuits.
DeleteHi Kay -- There's a "Music and Words Award" for you over at my blog today (April 7)!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debra! You are so sweet! You have noticed how much I think about music!
DeleteCannot say I have ever heard of "Milky Bones" but Briagha loves "Gravy Bones" - try them - Noooo not you - your In-Laws dog!! Mind you, being a Retriever Briagha loves anything that will go in her mouth and down her throat and into her stomach!!
ReplyDeleteGravy Bones, I will ask my in-laws if they have given them to PeTE. I bet they have, he must have had every treat known in the United Kingdom! :-)
Deletegood post
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, but my cat says no dog biscuits please and she doesn't like cat snacks either.
ReplyDeleteHave you been moaning at the Braves with me?
Ah, cats, I know them well. They are so funny, they are the wild animals that will live in your home which you THINK is your home, but it is really THEIRS.
DeleteOh, and I forgot to say. YES, I have been moaning at the Braves. Whenever they win a game, we should have a parade! LOL.
DeleteThe cartoon was so cute! I've never heard of milky bones but then we've never had a dog. My daughter's friend has a dog grooming business and makes dog biscuits to sell - owners love to give their pets treats. X
ReplyDeleteYou should look up that Spratt name on Wikipedia and read how many biscuits were made in London. (I think the building is still standing beside the Thames.) You should tell your friend, he would be very impressed, I am sure!
DeleteI loved cartoons as a kid, loved them!
I forgot all about Quick Draw McGraw and Snuffles.
ReplyDeleteHope that brought back fond memories.
DeleteI really like the idea that a dog only eats bone shaped biscuits because they are trying to trick their owners. I could believe a cat would do it.
ReplyDeleteI know, I loved that quote! Cats do what they want to do, and if the owner likes it fine, if not...that's fine with them too! :-)
DeleteVery interesting post,Kay. My dog want eat dog biscuits, she prefers ours but she can't have them!
ReplyDeleteDogs always want what the humans are eating, always!
DeleteKay, I do the same thing Snuffles does when I see a great dessert. LOL. Your dogs look like they know how to relax. :) Blessings, xoxo,Susie
ReplyDeleteHa, me and you both, Susie! Yes, those dogs are pampered and happy, and very relaxed!
DeleteWell, I never would have guessed there would be so much history to find out about dog biscuits! Fascinating to read though, it shows there is always more to learn doesn't it. xx
ReplyDeleteI am pleased that so many read this post! I did wonder what people would think when they saw the title! :-)
DeleteAn interesting, enjoyable post that brought back memories for me of an amusing time when I was a kid. Our Mum and Nana arrived home from shopping one day excited with the new purchase they'd made...some new colourful biscuits they'd discovered on the supermarket's shelf...in the belief my older brother Graham and I would love them.
ReplyDeleteGraham and I never kicked up fusses about the food we were given. We ate what we were given, knowing Mum and Nana never, would never serve us rubbish. So there we were trying our hardest to bite into the colourful, shaped biscuits, trying to make noises of enjoyment (failing)...when suddenly Mum and Nana read the packaging! We were trying to munch our way through a packet of multi-coloured, bone-shaped dog biscuits!
The packet was immediately retrieved from our clutches and that moment became a standing joke within our little family unit for years. :)
That is a great story! I can see how any post on dog biscuits could perk up your ears! (HA, see, I am getting into your family jokes myself!!) Anything that happens that can make you laugh is always a good thing! :-D
DeleteThat is so funny! Our first family dog, Ferris, never would eat any treats..weird huh? Our dog now, Chubbs, loves them..especially Milk Bones. Someone at work said Milk Bones have some not so good for dog ingredients. I just laughed because Chubbs will eat deer poop for goodness sakes. I'm not monitoring his Milk Bones! One of my husband's patients came in yesterday with some homemade dog bisquits..in the shape of a bone..and Jack gave one to Chubbs. Chubbs just looked at it and left it lay...guess he enjoys the chemicals better than healthy stuff! (kind of like me and Diet Pepsi...)
ReplyDeleteI read the same thing after doing this post, that the milk products might not be the best thing for dogs. Just like humans, dogs might not always eat the most healthy things for them! You know the dog treats should be just that "treats" and not something that they have a lot of...just like your Diet Pepsis, just don't have TOO many! :-)
DeleteWell Kay I never cease learning things from your posts and this is yet another. I suppose as I was born in Liverpool I should have known the Spratts story.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you, Graham! Pleased to have you in my class! You might guess that I drove my teachers crazy, always asking questions and wanting more details and background information about everything!
DeleteI hope that the story is correct, that he was in Liverpool at the docks. That is what I read, but you know how it is, sometimes the details are wrong!