Tasty treats … Yvonne runs Mucky Pup, a Yarraville business that makes gourmet dog biscuits made from real meat. 65089 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Charlene Gatt
THIS Yarraville entrepreneur has turned her canine affections into a gourmet dog food brand.
Yvonne Sclater runs online business Mucky Pup, which sells dog biscuits made from real meat, fresh fruit and no preservatives.
The biscuits come in six different flavours, including Kangaroo Dogs, Banana Bones, Raspberry Carob Bears, Chicken Liver Chicks, Peanut Butter Apple Hearts and their number-one seller, Roast Chicken Stars.
The business was born when Ms Sclater was trying out different foods on her dog Roxy.
“It started as a creative outlet,” she said.
“My partner and I like cooking, and we noticed a big difference with Roxy when she was eating preservative-free food, because she was manic when we first got her from the RSPCA, so we started making her her own dog food.
“From that came the treats, and I got a bit crazy one day and made way too many, so I took them into the office to share with everyone else who had dogs and they really loved them, so I thought I’d see what else I could do with it.
“I’ve always been a bit entrepreneurial and trying different things.”
Ms Sclater, who bakes the biscuits from a commercial kitchen in Wheelers Hill, started selling them at the Flemington and Williamstown markets, and picked up a few retailers from there.
She now boasts over a dozen stockists and supplies the treats all over Australia through a burgeoning internet trade.
Ms Sclater is currently working on a new range and hopes to one day own her own factory in the West.
