“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace.” Milan Kundera
On March 2, 2020—only a year ago, and mere days before our lives changed drastically due to a global pandemic—Big Spoon Roasters launched Wag Butter – Peanut Butter for Dogs, a peanut butter crafted specifically with dogs in mind.
As dog lovers who consider our dogs family members, we’d been working on the Wag Butter concept for years. Why shouldn’t dogs also have the highest quality food possible? While our other nut butters are low-sugar foods, they also offer our signature flavor profile of roastiness with balanced sweetness and just enough large-flake sea salt. We made Wag Butter with the same fresh-roasted high-oleic peanuts and small-batch craft we use in all of our peanut butters, but without salt or any source of sweetness whatsoever.
The launch was timed to coincide with the springtime urge to be outdoors frolicking with our furry friends. None of us yet understood the extent to which the pandemic would affect our families, communities, and businesses. We certainly didn’t foresee how the pandemic would have such a dramatic effect on the lives of dogs.
When stay-at-home orders set in shortly after the launch, many people suddenly had much more time with their dogs. Dog adoptions increased by 40% and dog foster care went up by 70%, according to the ASPCA. Animal shelters were emptying. It was amazing that so many people stepped up and offered to save these animals. Or was it the animals that saved people? As many of us sought joy and some sense of normalcy, animals responded with love, companionship, and gratitude. It’s not complex physics: a cooperative, loving relationship with another being can help give meaning to one’s life.
We’ve been blown away by the enthusiastic response to Wag Butter (thank you), and hope that our peanut butter for dogs can play some tiny role in fusing the bonds between dogs and their humans. This week, we expanded the Wag Butter line to include two new recipes – Banana Flax and Pumpkin Spice. It feels like our work with dogs is just beginning.