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Anne, Jenna, Rachel and Sally (clockwise) hard at work on their weekly baking day.
Anne, Jenna, Rachel and Sally (clockwise) hard at work on their weekly baking day.
MANSFIELD – The perfect rows of Bacon Cheddar-licious dog treats that lined baking trays in Sally Stigall’s kitchen looked like the product of a sophisticated machine.
In reality, the treats were the handiwork of Sally’s daughter, Jenna, and Anne Worbleski – a pair of friends with disabilities who have a love for all things dogs, coffee shops and card games.
Anne and Jenna preparing trays of treats to be baked.
Jenna and Anne ready to sell.
All of the treats are dehydrated and can last up to six months with out being refrigerated.
Anne, Jenna, Rachel and Sally (clockwise) hard at work on their weekly baking day.
Anne and Jenna preparing trays of treats to be baked.
Jenna and Anne ready to sell.
All of the treats are dehydrated and can last up to six months with out being refrigerated.
Anne, Jenna, Rachel and Sally (clockwise) hard at work on their weekly baking day.
Jenna and Anne make up two members of the five-person team behind Simply Good Dog Barkery – a local, online-only all-natural dog and cat treat business.
“Our goal started with two young ladies with disabilities,” Sally said.
“Our hope is that we can continue to give individuals with disabilities the opportunity to come learn and work with us as we grow.”
Sally inherited Simply Good Dog Barkery from Nancy Leach in February of 2021. Leach was retiring from Lucy’s Pet Emporium in Bellville, but made sure her treat recipes had the chance to live on through Sally and her crew.
In addition to Jenna and Anne, Sally also has the help of her friend, Rachel Schneider. Sally and Rachel became friends over a decade ago through their daughters, who are not only BFFs, but call themselves “LLFs,” life long friends.
Jenna was in second grade, ready to go home for Christmas break, when her teacher told her that another student “like her” with Cerebral Palsy would be joining the class after the break.
Beyond excited to meet her new friend, Jenna stood eagerly at the front door of the school with her walker and leg braces waiting for Rachel’s daughter, Brittany.
In between rolling out sheets of dough, Sally dabbed her tear-filled eyes as she retold the story.
“From that moment on, they were best friends,” Sally said.
“Brittany is living in Bowling Green now because she's getting ready to go back to college, but when they talk to each other, they don't miss a beat.”
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Jenna and Anne’s friendship also started years ago after Sally and Anne’s mom, Cindy, coincidentally met.
Cindy was part of the business for about a year until she died from cancer this past January.
The group of ladies laughed as they reminisced about “crazy” Cindy, but also said how much they miss her presence both in and outside of the business.
With years of friendship to back it up, Rachel said the group feels like a close-knit, little family.
Their little family has been busy ever since inheriting the business and have gone to countless festivals and farmer’s markets over the past year.
Rachel said she and Jenna always look forward to meeting customers and their four-legged friends.
“Jenna and I don't know a stranger,” Rachel said. “We like to get out there, we like to pet the dogs, pick them up, and it just makes our day.”
On the other hand, Sally and Anne said they prefer the behind-the-scenes parts of running the business. Anne’s favorite part, the baking, happens every Monday in Sally’s kitchen.
In addition to Bacon Cheddar-licious, there are four other flavors including Cha Cha Chicken Biscuit, peanut butter flavored Paw Paw Patties, peanut butter pumpkin Barkin’ Good Biscottis and Bow Wow Blueberry Biscuits.
While the treats do come from a “barkery,” the girls, and their newest employee, Joel Glover, have a little something special for cats as well.
“We do not discriminate, we also make tuna cat crackers,” Jenna giggled as she recited her favorite tagline.
Customers can feel good knowing that 10% of all sales proceeds, including that from the cat crackers, goes to pet rescue organizations. Most recently, Sally donated to Rescued Rollers in Galion – an organization that finds homes for animals with disabilities.
Although the summer months are coming to an end, the team shows no signs of slowing down. The girls have been busy preparing for Alpaca Days in Ontario this weekend, and hope they can meet their long-time goal of completely selling out of treats.
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