Meet Edmonton Maker: Keri Montilla of Hungry Mutts

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with Keri Montilla, owner and operator of Hungry Mutts. If you haven’t heard of Hungry Mutts yet, they are family-owned and operated, local Edmonton dog treat company, that offers high value treats for dogs. Keri and her husband, James, have a beautiful daughter, Aubrey. They have two handsome dogs, Morris and Wesley, that kind of helped kick start the beginnings of their journey with Hungry Mutts.

Join us while we pick her brain about her company in the video below or read more below about how they operate

Why did you start making treats?

Keri first started making treats for her pup Morris due to his allergies. The first three months of having Morris home consisted of weekly trips to the veterinarian. Keri and her family noticed that Morris developed a ‘Dorito’ like odour and was experiencing frequent ear/yeast infections. This lead to a lot of research into what was affecting Morris, eventually Keri learned that Morris had an intolerance to starches. Keri had some difficulty finding treats that were compatible with Morris, so she started making her own. 

What kind of treats does Hungry Mutts offer? 

Hungry Mutts specializes in meat protein-based treats, trying to reduce the number of starches in their products. Which means they use mainly meat and organs of different proteins and limit the number of ingredients in their products. 

 

 

Can you walk us through your process (Generally)? 

Keri emphasized that they have done a lot of research and try to source as much as they can locally. Spices are more difficult to source locally, but Keri has sourced all meats and organs by local butchers and farmers. Hungry Mutts processes all treats in-house, they grind the meat for their jerky products and smoke everything in-house. Hungry Mutts smokes it’s products to reduce water content as a method of preservation. Smoking eliminates the need for chemical preservatives in their treats, helps keep most treats limited to one ingredient, and extends the shelf life.

 

What are your biggest challenges?

Currently, Keri is looking at ways to improve packaging in hopes of extending the shelf of their products. Especially since Hungry Mutts doesn’t use preservatives in their products, longer shelf life can be a little tricky to achieve. Making smaller batches helps extends shelf life but can be time-consuming and tough to keep up with demand at times. 

 

What products do you offer?

Hungry Mutts has all of their products available on their website. They currently offer beef stripes, liver chunks, duck hearts, chicken hearts, pork strips, pork ears, snuffle mats, and chicken broth. 

 

Where can people find you?

Website: https://hungrymutts.ca/
Instagram – @HungryMuttsYeg
Facebook – @HungryMutts

 

We thank Keri for taking the time to tell us all about her journey with Hungry Mutts. We cannot believe what a difference it has made with our dog, Koda, who is reactive on leash. These treats are so helpful with keeping his attention during our walks, and he loves them as a reward! For anyone who would like to give Hungry Mutts a try, you can use Koda’s discount code ‘Koda10‘ to save 10% on your purchase!!!