When a beloved border collie named Cootie stopped eating and developed a skin rash, Wheatland resident Teresa Hoover got a crash course in high-stakes pet health.
With help from her veterinarian, she traced the problem back to her dog’s diet — and decided it had to change.
That helped her dog live a healthy and long life, but it also launched a business that’s become a lucrative retirement gig for Hoover. Although Cootie has long since died, she is still making an array of dog treats, many of which sound more like a chef’s tasting menu.
There are freeze-dried turkey meatballs for toothless seniors, chicken and fresh coconut crunch sticks, and pumpkin muffins, along with dozens of other experimental chews and oddities like dehydrated chicken feet.
Among her most popular items is a beef “jerky” that’s been formulated specifically for canines.
Jerky for humans, Hoover is quick to point out, is an enormously popular snack but completely inappropriate for dogs. It’s loaded with salt and often contains flavors such as onions and garlic, which are toxic to dogs and can damage their kidneys.
So, Hoover doesn’t call such treats jerky, even if that’s what it looks like. To her, they’re just plain chicken or beef, dehydrated to a dog-pleasing crunch, in sheets that only look like they’re jerky.
Grow Big Or Go Home
Regardless of what the treats are named, they proved enormously popular in the Florida retirement community where Hoover started her business before moving to Wyoming. Customers couldn’t get enough, and that soon had her experimenting with liver and other treats.
That’s when her business hit a bit of a turning point.
“It turns out dehydrated liver and stuff doesn’t smell so great,” she said, with a chuckle. That had her husband gently suggesting perhaps she just open a dedicated store.
A store, Hoover realized, would be way too expensive and eat away at profits.
“So, I just decided to make it bigger and grander, and just do everything over at my barn,” she said. “We already had the space, and there was an apartment over there. So we put in a kitchen and a bunch of dehydrators and a freeze dryer.”
In her Wheatland barn, Hoover now works alongside her dog Rip, one of three official taste testers.
The other two, Boomy and Lucy, are a little too rambunctious for trips to the barn. They tend to think chasing their horses is a little more enticing. So they have to wait their turn for treats — at least until they are a little more mature.
Doggy Delicacies Gone Wild
Hoover’s homegrown retirement gig wasn’t a one-off. It’s part of a surging trend of doggy delicacies gone wild.
Owners are no longer satisfied with simple rawhide twists and plain old Milk-Bones. They don’t want to just treat their dogs — they want to indulge them.
The shift isn’t just cultural and cute for social media. It’s become a thriving business model across the United States, totaling $11.25 billion in pet treats projected for 2026, according to the American Pet Products Association, up from $10.5 billion in 2025.
Market analysts have projected 7 to 12% annual growth for dog treats, with the fastest gains in the “natural” segment — minimally processed, limited-ingredient products, much like the ones Hoover is churning out.
Hoover isn’t alone in Wyoming with this hobby business. The Cowboy State already has scores of dog-treat businesses, many selling in 307 Made and Food Freedom stores across the state.
There’s Unleashed Dog Bakery and Spoiled Snoots, in Casper, for example, and Wyo Woof Bakery in Cheyenne.
Paws Treats in Sheridan offers mix-and-bake-at-home treats. Absaroka Backcountry Dog Chews in Cody offers premium organic deer and elk antlers for dog chews. Laramie’s Doggie, Bag Please has homemade peanut butter banana waffles, dog bones and cookies, and that’s just a few of the many.
New dog-treat businesses seem to pop up all the time, including Brittany Batchelor’s B’s Treats, which started out as a fundraiser for her son’s class.
“Like I was just having so much fun with it,” she told Cowboy State Daily in a previous interview. “So I decided to just keep going with it.”
Someday, she believes, the side hustle could become her main gig, but for now it’s just a fun way to earn extra pocket change.
Chicken From China
What galvanized many pet owners was the 2012 China chicken scare.
That was the moment when Hoover recalls noticing the fine print on packages of pet food and dog treats.
“Back then, you went to all these big-box stores and all they had was chicken from China,” she said. “Like everyone was feeding that, and then we started getting all these recalls and stuff.”
The Food and Drug Administration at the time logged more than 900 complaints from pet owners, who reported vomiting, diarrhea, kidney problems, and even sudden collapse for pets that had consumed jerky-style chicken products from China.
Health scares like that have created a huge market for boutique pet treats and celebrity-endorsed diets, which owners sometimes embrace with near-religious fervor, Wheatland veterinarian Lance Berry has told Cowboy State Daily in previous interviews. He sometimes faces a battle convincing pet owners what they’ve seen online from their favorite social-media influencer might not be good for their pet.
“They’re giving their dogs diseases from these foods,” he said. “And I have found myself in some pretty — I don’t want to say heated — arguments, but where people are like, ‘Well you’re bought and paid for by big pet food'.”
Among the diets Berry would caution against are grain-free.
“There’s been nutritional study after nutritional study that’s shown that it’s important for your dog to have a well-balanced diet,” he said. “And they need some of the stuff that’s in there … but it’s hard to fight with those commercials when people see them over and over again.”
Dogs, he added, are not just omnivores, they’re “opportunivores,” meaning they will eat just about anything — even if it’s not good for them.
Grapes that roll around on the ground are fun to chase, for example, and taste oh so sweet. But they can cause kidney damage. Chocolate, too, is popular with dogs but can cause vomiting and diarrhea, as well as muscle tremors and seizures, or even death at high doses.
“Rugs, socks,” Berry added, with a chuckle. “We’ve had to cut a lot of rugs and socks out of dogs.”
Perks Of Being One’s Own Boss
Hoover has been careful not to build her treats around social-media fads. She likes simple and clean recipes built around multiple, reputable sources.
“Everything has to be heated to 165 degrees,” she said. “That removes bacteria and stuff, and ensures it’s shelf-stable.”
From her simple, research-first approach have come some of her strangest — and most popular — creations. Like the “Monster Chew,” a 6-inch beef trachea stuffed tight with dehydrated tripe.
It might look like some funky Halloween prop, but dogs go crazy for it, she said, and owners buy them as fast as she can make them.
Pig ears get a similar treatment. While they’re still soft and flexible, she wraps them around rolls of tripe, then dehydrates it until it’s a crunchy cone that looks like a pierogi made just for dogs.
The creativity fuels her passion. Hoover is not only making significant pocket change but also staying busy, happy and healthy in retirement.
“It’s nice working for yourself,” Hoover said. “Because if you want to do it, you can do it. Nobody’s telling you no.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
