LOCALLY MADE TREATS: Tail-wagging gourmet

Le Cordon Bleu graduates start food company of culinary creations for dogs in North Las Vegas

Jillian Plaster, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Las Vegas and co-founder of the Good Dog Food Company, makes a dish for her bulldog Trucker. Photos by Gary Thompson/View. Co-founder of Good Dog Food Company Jillian Plaster can't keep her bulldog Trucker from the product. A 5-pound container of dog food sells for $18.99 and will feed a 15-pound dog for a week. Plaster started Good Dog Food Company with her fiancé, Ian Kester, last year. Advertisement

Some professional chefs might dream of running the kitchen of a fine dining establishment in Paris, London or New York, but Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Las Vegas graduates Jillian Plaster and Ian Kester aren't looking to create culinary delights for patrons of the human variety.

The couple started the Good Dog Food Company, a business that specializes in the creation of organic, fresh, wet dog food, last year.

"We graduated and definitely knew that we wanted to start our own business," Plaster said. "We just weren't sure what at first."

Plaster said that while they were trying to decide a course of action, making nutritious, gourmet quality food for their English bulldogs, Trucker and Penelope, was second nature.

"Then it dawned on us," she said. "There are plenty of people out there who want to give their dogs the best quality food available. There's not a lot of organic, fresh foods out there. We had our business."

After a great deal of encouragement from family and friends, Plaster said that the pair rented an industrial kitchen at 2435 Losee Road, where they have spent countless hours devising and trying out different recipes, a few of which include dishes called Ginger's Chinese Take-Out and Duke's Beef Stew.

"My dogs are so important to me," Plaster said. "I felt bad putting out dry food for them, because I know they don't necessarily get all the nutrients that they need from it. So we started experimenting."

The couple concocted a variety of recipes with fresh and organic herbs, meats and vegetables.

"We had an actual doctor formulate the recipes using our ingredients of our choice to make sure that they would meet every nutritional need that a dog might have," Plaster said.

Plaster and Kester began packaging their first product, Trucker's Muttloaf, last May, and the response has been great, according to Plaster.

Trucker's Muttloaf is a mixture of ground meat, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and vegetables, mixed with a special powder, oats and brown rice.

Dog lover Abbey Crow said that she came across the brand while looking for an organically formulated food to give her puppy Lolly.

"It makes sense to feed a dog quality ingredients that you're eating," she said. "A lot of ingredients in commercial dog food aren't good. I found the Muttloaf, and Lolly seems to love it. I feel good about giving it to her. So we stuck with it."

Some of the more major lines of dog food contain nothing but empty calories, which may cost owners more in the long run, Plaster said.

"You have to feed your dog more," she said. "But our ingredients are so good that they meet all of the dogs' needs, and owners won't need to feed them as much," she said.

Plaster said that meat is the No. 1 ingredient in all of the company's recipes.

"We try to cook as little of it as possible," Plaster said. "But there is a lot of mixing. These are all things that could be done with ingredients in anyone's kitchen."

After being cooked, mixed and frozen, the food is then placed into two pouches that are vacuum-sealed and put into a 5-pound container.

The portion will serve a 15-pound dog for about a week, and costs $18.99. The cuisine is available at several Whole Foods stores across the valley.

For more information, visit www.gooddogfoodcompany.com.

Plaster said that she hopes the fare will eventually be available nationwide.

"We'd love to be able to get this product out to everyone who is interested," she said. "We have big plans. Things just take time."

Contact North Las Vegas and Downtown View reporter Amanda Llewellyn at allewellyn@viewnews.com or 380-4535.