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Banu Pan, owner of Derpy Doggy, moves a tray of the Peanut Butter Num Nums treats into the oven in her kitchen in Guilford on April 7.

Banu Pan, owner of Derpy Doggy, gives her Icelandic sheep dog, Bonny, Sadie's Snacks treats at her home in Guilford on April 7 The treats are named for Pan's other Icelandic sheep dog, Sadie.

Sadie's Snacks treats on a tray for dehydration are photographed at Banu Pan's home in Guilford on April 7, 2022.

Banu Pan, owner of Derpy Doggy, adds ingredients for the Peanut Butter Num Nums treats in her kitchen in Guilford on April 7, 2022.

Banu Pan, owner of Derpy Doggy, mixes a batch of the Peanut Butter Num Nums treats in her kitchen in Guilford on April 7, 2022.

GUILFORD — The mere mention of dog treats gets everyone in the Pan household excited — humans and furry family members, alike.

Actually, these doggy delights have taken over their house. The kitchen island is nearly overflowing with 4-quart containers filled with ingredients to create handcrafted “simple, clean and crunchy” dog treats.

The business is a family affair. Banu Pan, along with her husband, Jeff Pan, is the co-founder of Derpy Doggy and their two children, 12-year-old Noah and 10-year-old Lila work alongside them.

The family’s two Icelandic Sheepdogs, Bonny and Sadie, are the taste-testers.

The Pan family began baking for their canine babies during the pandemic. It was during a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, “a town that loves dogs,” that the idea to offer these homemade treats outside their home materialized.

“The idea of a clean treat, clean eating, like we think about for humans, isn’t really around for dogs just yet,” Pan said. “So, that’s important.”

The logo for the business, created by Lila Pan, shows a pooch’s face that bears a strong resemblance to the family pets.

Noah Pan “helps me do the spreadsheets in terms of calculations, forecasting,” Pan about her husband’s role.

In July, Bonny will be 2 years old and Sadie will be 1 year old. They are the company’s biggest fans.

“They go crazy,” said Pan. “Then they become model citizens. They sit, they wag their tails. Then, once they get their treats, they start chomping and then start getting on top of me to get more.”

“They sit right here while I’m baking,” said Pan, pointing to the periphery of the family kitchen. “Sometimes when I’m taking them, out a few will fall out. They’ve eaten everything.”

The antics of these two puppies led to the creation of the company’s name, Derpy Doggy.

Pan’s children introduced her to the idea of canines being “derpy,” she said, “which is when your dog’s doing something silly or goofy and just kind of looking really silly.”

Looking at her two “derpy doggys,” sitting nearby, Pan said this perfectly describes them.

“They roll on their belly and their tongues are sticking out,” she said. “Sadie just has this grin that, it’s ridiculous. She has a little overbite, so…”

To obtain the small manufacturing license, Pan was required to submit all recipes to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

By mid-March, Derpy Doggy was registered with the state and ready to do business.

Last month, the product found a spot on the shelves of Niantic’s Paw Print Pantry.

“I like that they are locally made, supporting other woman owned businesses and limited ingredients,” wrote Jennifer Mohr, owner of the independent pet shop, in an email.

“I am always excited to be able to provide better quality products with less ingredients,” she said. “We don't have a lot of locally made treats, so that makes these more special.”

She said that her two dogs, Kensi, a 3-year-old Catahoula and Lily, a 13-year-old Chihuahua, “like all of them so far.”

Peanut Butter Num Nums have become a staple at Murphy’s Paw Rescue.

These tasty treats are donated to the Branford dog rescue operation, for the dogs awaiting their forever home.

“They are loving them,” said Nicole Gallagher, owner of Murphy’s Paw Rescue. “The treats are super low calorie, perfect for training, rewarding and earning trust.”

Peanut Butter Num Nums are made with garbanzo bean flour and powdered peanut butter and are offered in a smaller .79-ounce size and larger, 3-ounce size per treat.

“You have to keep treating them,” said Pan. “We wanted something that was healthy, low calories, because we want to give them a lot, because we like giving treats,”.

Derpy Doggy treats are sold on line at derpydoggy.com. The 4-ounce packages are $12.

Dog trainer Jade Giuggio uses them in her dog training business and also with her three dogs — Keira, an 8-year-old German Shepard; Timber, a 7-year-old Husky; and Hunter, a 11-year-old Shiba Inu.

“I tend to go through a lot of treats,” the Guilford resident said. “They definitely gobble them up. They’re a good size so I use them on our walks.”

She said when she first bought Derpy Doggy treats they were for Hunter, who has orthopedic issues, “so I really have to be careful about his weight.”

“Several of her treats are a 1-calorie or just about a 1-calorie per treat, which is perfect because they’re nice small, healthy size,” she added. “I can use a bunch with him, but not feel like I’m also potentially making him gain weight.”

In addition to Peanut Butter Num Nums, Derpy Doggy offers Sadie’s Snacks, vegan cheese treats that are made with nutritional yeast, with 1.5 calories; Bonny’s Bites, which are liver based and 10 calories each and Blueberry Blitz, blueberry and yogurt bites, 1 calorie each.

The Blueberry Blitzes are shaped into tiny dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus and Triceratops.

The difference between all these delights is that they are made with unique flours, including teff, an Ethiopian grain rich in fiber, protein and minerals; amaranth, a gluten free flour, with an earthy, nutty flavor; sorghum, a gluten free flour with a mild, sweet flavor, quinoa and garbanzo bean.

Pan said using these flours makes her company stand out.

“They are considered premium, gluten free, non-GMO flours,” she said. “They also have really interesting and deep flavor profiles and they’re also incredibly low calories, so most of the things I make have four or fewer ingredients, a couple of them have only two.”

The finished product, from start to finish, takes close to four hours, although most of this time the work is passive, said Pan.

Once the mixing of ingredients is complete, silicone molds are filled with the batter and the treats are baked for 90 minutes.

After cooling, the treats are placed in a dehydrator for two hours.

“To make sure there is really low moisture content,” said Pan.

“All dogs love crunchy because it’s good for their teeth, there’s no residue, there’s no chunky goop that stay on (teeth),” the 46-year-old Guilford resident added. “It’s not messy. It just goes right in their mouth. We don’t really have crumbs.”

When not in the kitchen creating Derpy Doggy treats, Pan is a professor at Brown University where she teaches entrepreneurship.

“I feel like this is backwards,” Pan said. “I learned about it, I teach it and now I’m doing it.”

Her husband, Jeff Pan, is an anesthesiologist at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Connie Scialabba, co-owner of Bonafide Pets in Clinton, is excited to have them in her store. It is the natural ingredients that caught her attention and appeal to her customers.

“Once you tell them (dog owners) and you talk to them they are very, very interested in finding out more things that you can feed your dog that’s going to improve their life,” she said. “So, that’s why I’m geared towards the natural stuff, the better brands, with none of the by-products.”

Guilford resident Liza Petra has been purchasing these treats for her 7-year-old rescue pug, Ozzie, who was diagnosed with a skin condition.

“I’ve got to take care of my little princess,” said Petra.

Purchasing from Derpy Doggy was a perfect choice.

“The idea that someone was actually making these treats in their home and it was all natural foods and no filler, it just felt like it fit right in,” she said.

The bonus for Petra is that Ozzie likes the Bonny’s Bites and Peanut Butter Num Nums.

“We just like to give her little treats when she comes in or comes in from a walk, but we don’t want her to fill up on this food,” Petra said.

“She’s a very good dog and she really needs to get her positive reinforcement that she’s a good girl,” she added.

Pan is already working on her newest flavor, Cosmic Carrot, made with garbanzo bean flour, carrot powder and ube, “which is purple sweet potatoes,” that is baked into purple star shapes, she said.

She envisions growing the business and moving out of the family kitchen into a commercial kitchen and sees no end to creating healthy doggy treats.

“I think there’s a lot more interest, right now, in feeding your dog clean treats, clean food that’s not been processed,” said Pan.

“There’s a real push, I think, to live by values that create a good environment for us, that leave the earth in a better place than we found it,” she said.

“So, I think it’s really, especially for millennials, they’re thinking about their dogs as their fur babies, so they’re really part of the family,” she added. “You don’t treat your family badly; you treat them well. That means giving them the best food.”

Derpy Doggy, derpydoggy.com; hello@derpydoggy.com; Facebook Derpy Doggy