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By Suzanne M Walsh
SCHOHARIE — Sara Davies-Griffin is the smiling face behind STELHERDAIZ dog treats, the fresh, all-natural, filler-free canine delights that have passed the human and canine taste-test with flying colors.
”I love my business…I absolutely love it!” says Sara, her face beaming during a recent interview on her lunchbreak at the Carrot Barn, her weekday workplace.
The Schoharie Valley Farms (aka, the “Carrot Barn”) is not only Sara’s weekday place of employment, it’s also the source of the locally-grown farm fresh food--something the Schoharie Valley Farms is noted for--where this successful business woman purchases the ingredients packed into in her unusually delicious baked doggie snacks.
Over lunch she shares with me, “Three years ago I couldn’t have imagined where I am today.” The story of those past three years creating a new career is worth sharing.
“This all started just as an idea.” she explains over lunch. “One day while working with my neighbor and mutual dog-loving good friend, Lois Goblet who owns Hessian Hill Canine Country and Care, Lois suggested I start making some really healthy dog snacks for use during dog training exercises and for dogs in general.”
“That’s all it took.” says Sara. “I doubted my ability at first.” She laughs as she remembers, “I was never a cookie baker, not even for my own kids when they were growing up; but with the absolutely-convinced-I-could-do-it support of both my husband and Lois, I got right on the internet and began scrolling for dog treat recipes. Before long, I began to think ‘—hmm-m… maybe I really CAN do this, and even do a much better job than what’s out there.”
Sara has been a dog lover all her life. “It’s uncanny. I can remember every dog I’ve met—even though I can’t always recall the name of every dog owner I’ve met. I’ve just always connected with and loved dogs, and I knew I could do something really special for them.”
That was the impetus of the creative end of her business. The business end of the business was helped along with support from Richard Ball, owner of Schoharie Valley Farms and also New York State’s longstanding and much-appreciated Commissioner of Agriculture.
“R.B. (Mr. Ball’s affectionate pseudonym) tutored me step-by-step through the whole what-it-would-take part of the business end to get my fresh-packaged dog snacks qualified for marketing in New York State.”
R.B. did more than that. Together with co-owner son Ethan Ball, they have a display area featuring what is now known as STELHERDAIZ Dog Treats in the Carrot Barn where Sara’s packaged treats are kept chilled in a small display fridge right where customers can check them out while enjoying the Carrot Barn’s café area.
“Because I use no preservatives,” Sara says, ‘all my dog treats are frozen immediately out of the oven in my home. And then I keep them under refrigeration en route until purchased by my customers, whether here at the Carrot Barn, or the Apple Barrel Home & Pantre in Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, or among the many New York regional fairs I sell from during weekends throughout the summer and up till November. Everything’s kept chilled from freezer to customer, so everybody is getting the freshest product possible.”
And are the STELHERDAIZ Dog Treats really “human taste-tested”?
“Yes!” Sara states emphatically. “The human taste-testing is 100% true for each one of the 20 recipes I’ve come up with so far”. This, she confirms, means her dog snacks have passed the quality, flavor and nutrition tests by being tasted and approved by herself, her close family members and friends and, of course, a variety of eager canines which today include her three Sheepadoodles. By the way, the interesting name STELHERDAIZ was inspired by Stella, Hershey and Daizee, Sara’s three well-loved canine companions.
Reflecting on this hard-to-believe human taste-testing claim, Sara smiles recalling, “Even one of my customers called on his way home from one of Middleburgh’s “Fourth Friday” street fairs to report that all the doggie treats he had just bought from me were gone already, because his kids in the backseat got hungry and ate them all!”
This is not all that surprising. Listening to Sara describe a sampling of her inventive, delicious-sounding country flavors like, “Blueberry Mozzarella”, “Spinach Cheddar”, “Apple Carrot”, “Strawberry Mozzarella”, “Maple Bacon”, “Honey Carrot”, “Sweet Potato” and even “Blueberry Pumpkin with Cinnamon”, was all beginning to make me want to taste-test these doggie delicacies myself.
Recognition of the superiority of Sara’s product has singled her out as selected for the “No. 1 Dog Treat Person” at the first-ever upcoming “New York State Canine Expo 2025”. This important premier event in the Empire State is dedicated to celebrating and advancing all things dog in the canine world at the Cobleskill Fair Grounds on September27 and 28.
If you’re a dog owner or, like me, a dog lover, the launch of this exciting Expo will provide opportunities to connect with World-class canine experts and trainers while enjoying multiple live Agility Demos and workshops. There will also be competitions to participate in, or just enjoy watching, in Herding categories, Dog Dock Diving and Barn Hunt among many more. Also scheduled is plenty of other fun, food and activities for kids.
The NYS Canine Expo is committed to positive reward-based compassionate training, and one of the features that will be keeping that commitment focused in the spotlight as a message all on its own will be the STELHERDAIZ Dog Treats, and the compassionate Sara Davies-Griffin herself.
To learn more, check out Stelherdaiz Dog Treats on Facebook, or phone Sara at 518-231-2041. More information about NYS Canine Expo 2025 can be found by emailing nyscanineexpo@sunshinefair.org or calling Lois Goblet at 518-365-4085.
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