As mentioned several times before, Melvin is allergic to just about everything. After finding the one food his body could process without giving him extreme itching, I set out to find a treat. Melvin, like most labs, is food motivated. I don’t think there is anything he wouldn’t do for the promise of food. I couldn’t bear the thought of him only having kibble for meals and treats, and worried that he’d tire of it eventually…and then what?

The treat experiment was both brutal and expensive. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we went through 100 different brands/types of treats in our endeavors. The one blessing was that the trials themselves were quick. Since he was already tolerating his food well, introducing only one treat at a time made it very easy to identify what was causing the almost immediate redness and itching. It took maybe two days for the reaction to surface and then a week for poor Melvin to get over the physical effects. As per usual, it was easy to feel like I was torturing him.I tried every treat that said: wheat, soy and corn free. Every treat that said: Hypoallergenic. I then passed each onto the neighborhood dogs who were blessed to tolerate them all.

Enter the wonderful Harry Barker into our lives. They have a Hypoallergenic treat that is pure perfection, it’s as if it was made for sweet Melvin. I order it in bulk and Melvin is reaction free! Harry Barker has the most wonderful dog and cat items, they are environmentally conscious and they pack a surprise gift in each shipment. I phone most orders in, while the website is super easy to navigate, I order in bulk so I always call to see what we can do about lessening the packaging. They know Melvin by name and remember our unique situation each time we call. It’s like chatting with an old friend.

Harry Barker, we love you!!!