Strait to Summit

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Strait to Summit

ethically sourced, seasonal treats from the farm to your dog.
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04/03/2022

hey friends

I have some sad news -

strait to summit will be winding down and closing our operations over the next couple months.

I'll be working through the stock of raw products I have ready to make in the freezer, and then that will be it for us.

unfortunately, worsening symptoms of my connective tissue disorder have forced me to make this extremely hard decision. I'm just not physically capable of continuing to do this work, even at a reduced capacity. I've tried really really hard for nearly 4 years, and I just can't keep doing irreparable damage to my body while looking at the constantly moving goalpost of "when I get X equipment it will be better/easier".

but do not worry, friends! I have a plan for you to enjoy all the strait to summit snackies forever:

as I work through the last of the product I have on hand I will be taking photos and videos, and writing down all of my recipes - broken down into smaller batches and using materials and equipment for the home kitchen. I started out experimenting at home, and it seems fitting to finish out by helping others do the same.

the Strait to Summit cookbook will be available to purchase as a digital download, and I'm also considering putting together a campaign for a physical copy of the book (let me know if you'd be interested in that pls - I'd need to sell at least 100 physical copies to make a custom print run).

the best part is the cookbook will allow our friends and followers from all over the world to try out our treats from the comfort of their own home.

thank you so much for your support over the years, I would have never been able to make it this far without all of you ❤.

select beef, lamb, pork, venison, and rabbit products will be restocked. salmon and water buffalo (excepting hides, I will be restocking those until April) what is currently on the site is all I have.

31/01/2022

new stuff / returning stock!

the restock is going live in a little over 2.5 hours here, and I figured I've give you a sneak peak.

some order limits are in place:

water buffalo hide rolls - 4

bunrritos - 3

whole quail - 1

duck necks - 1

bone in rabbit chews - 2

fur on rabbit head - 1

mutton + tripe medallions - 3

new items:

pork and spleen jerky

pork and spleen bites

lamb offal jerky

water buffalo + te**es bites

available items (by protein):

water buffalo - jerky, bites, water buffalo + te**es jerky/bites, water buffalo + spleen jerky/bites, hide rolls!

beef - beef + tripe medallions/bites, beef + pancreas jerky/bites, beef + spleen jerky/bites, beef + liver jerky, beef lung chips, beef jerky strips (plain), beef rib chews.

pork - pork + spleen jerky/bites, pork summit snacks, pork summit bars

lamb/mutton - mutton + tripe medallions, lamb offal jerky

salmon - medallions, bites

turkey - turkey liver sticks, turkey feet, turkey necks, turkey heads (new 4 piece pack size)

chicken - chicken liver sticks, chicken heads

rabbit - rabbit summit bars/snacks, bunrritos (1/4 and 1/2lb sizes), bone in rabbit chews (4pc front leg, 2pc rear leg, 6pc chunks), rabbit heads (2 pack)

pasture blend + north island blend are also in stock!

I padded my inventory for water buffalo hides a bit as the count was pre-dry and I can sometimes get a bit of variation in sizes, so I'll be dropping any leftover hide rolls next monday, and there will be another huge hide roll release in 3 weeks with either no limits or greatly increased limits 🥰.

24/01/2022

💡product spotlight 💡

offal jerkies! (beef offal jerky pictured)

offal jerkies are one of the many unique combination treat products we offer that are available in beef, pork and lamb flavours.

we start with a base recipe of heart, tongue, and kidney in a single protein and add in hanging tender and/or cheeks into the beef option.

and you ask, " but why combine them instead of offering 3 single ingredient treats?". the biggest and main reason is that I'm obsessive about offering products that not only dogs will love, but are also user-friendly for people to feed.

heart - we love it. lean, nutritious, and a fan favourite. but the high water content means that a full 160L dehydrator of our signature thin-sliced beef heart only amount to about 16-18 bags. that's not very efficient - for the time it takes to cut or for power usage for my 1600 watt dehydrators.

tongue - the higher fat content means that dogs go nuts for it, as they're hard wired to search out calorically-dense fats. but high fat comes with the trade off of being a higher calorie item for regular treating than I would prefer, and can often leave an unpleasant greasy residue on your fingers after feeding.

kidneys - another nutrient dense favourite, but they're small (which means you need a lot of em to make a few bags), and they have an extremely unpleasant urine odour when offered as a stand alone treat.

because of my commitment to only source from known and named farmers, I also just don't have enough to be able to offer each individual item in the quantities that folks want.

enter, offal jerky - lean heart and kidney balance out the fat from the tongue, and the lower kidney content means your dog can smell it, but you can't.

three ingredients that are good on their own, but combined together make a perfect treating experience for both you and your dog. 🥰

07/01/2022

portioning!

many health conscious pey owners want to ensure their treats and chews work into the overall caloric and nutrition requirements for their pets - but how does that work when a product is dehydrated?

most of our dehydrated products have a raw weight equal to 2-3x the weight on the package for chews, and 4-5x the weight for treats (dependent on the moisture content of the particular muscle meat or organ in the treat).

for our 50g treats, there is roughly 1/2 lb of raw meat in each package.

our 75g treats are equal to 3/4 lb of raw meat per package.

for chews-

because bone and hide contains much less moisture than muscle meat, our chews are equivalent of a raw weight of 2-3 times the dry weight.

poultry feet, and high bone content items like fur on lamb and venison trotters are a little over double for equivalent raw weight. so a medium sized turkey foot (50-75g) is around 100-150g raw.

our meatiest bone chews like turkey necks, spines, and ribs are equivalent to approximately 1/3rd the raw weight (so a 70-100g dried turkey neck is about 210-300g raw.

hides carry less moisture than muscle meat, but are packed with joint-boosting collagen. the raw weight on hide rolls is equal to 3 times the dried weight - many of our largest water buffalo hide rolls are in excess of 2 lbs while raw!

I've developed a quality assurance and testing system that allows me to ensure that each batch of our products are tracked and ensured they are fully dehydrated for best quality, safety, and shelf stability.

while I haven't proceeded with full nutrition analysis on our products (it's in excess of $500/item 😭), it is on the agenda, especially for our regular stock/wholesale products.

I'm working on revamping the FAQ and adding a blog for the site, which will mean that many of these types of posts will be much more readily available and easily searchable in the future ❤.

happy snacking!

[Image Description] - a grey muzzled, floppy eared dog wearing a red harness holds a dehydrates chicken foot in his mouth in an alpine meadow, with mountains and a cloudy blue sky in the back ground

04/12/2021

⚡FLASH SALE⚡

our fearless leader, inspiration, and all around good boy Eddie is 5 today (how 😭🥺).

to celebrate his accomplishments in the realms of taste testing (treats but also faces), bed hogging, and making extremely weird noises we are doing a flash sale!

buy any 5 items and get 1 item free! This discount can be applied as many times per order as you desire - so it's also 10 items get 2 free, or 15 items and get 3 free.

item limits have been removed, so go nuts, friends.

this discount applies automatically in your cart, and cannot be combined with other discount codes or coupons. discount will automatically apply to the lowest priced item in your cart.

you must have 6 items (or 12, or 18) in your cart for the discount to apply.

this discount is active until 11:59pm PST today only.

27/11/2021

restock alert!

next restock will be Monday, Nov 29th at 5:00pm pst. after that we'll be having a holiday restock on or around December 10th!

I have put up a countdown reminder in my story, as well as placed the time/date in my bio.

in general news:

I still feel like garbage and don't know what's wrong with me. production is still severely reduced right now, but am trying my best to coordinate an efficient schedule when I'm unable to be in the shop most of the time.

Eddie has been referred for a total hip replacement due to a traumatic hip injury he received last year shortly before his hospitalization. thankfully he has been referred to one of the best orthopedic surgeons in western canada and has his consult and measurement appointment for the hip implant on december 6th. thankfully we do have pet insurance which will cover the cost of the surgery itself, just not the travel costs as we will be going back and forth the vancouver a half dozen times over the next 6 months.

if anyone is interested, I may be able to sort out a "local pickup" option for lower mainland customers for days that we will be in the city to allow folks to save some shipping charges on smaller orders :).

thank you! I appreciate everyone that has stuck around ❤

12/08/2021

quick update folks-

content warning below for thing that may be ubcomfortable for folks in recovery from eating disorders, weightloss, food, and medical issues.

so I'm still sick. I'm doing my best to organize a work schedule with my employee and keep things running on schedule but life has been difficult tbh.

basically I'm having severe abdominal pain that's making it nearly impossible to eat. I'm averaging under 800 calories a day (and that's a good day, most days it's closer to 5-600). I've lost around 8lbs in the last 6 weeks, and if you know me you know that I don't really have 8lbs to lose.

long term deficits of that nature come with a whole host and cool and good side effects like cognitive issues, dizzy spells and exhaustion. mostly the exhaustion is what's getting me right now, hence why I've been fairly mia, along the fact that I can barely form thoughts more complex than taking caring of my immediate needs.

I'm being referred to internists, a general surgeon, and going it for a scope at some point, though I'm not sure when that will be. current consensus is that it's likely mechanical or neurologic in nature and probably side effect of my connective tissue disorder.

I appreciate your patience while I'm dealing with this, and I'm slowly chipping away at bagging items so hopefully I will be able to get subscription boxes out, and get a restock up soon.

also, if I don't respond to comments or messages please don't take it personally. I honestly just don't have the capacity to respond to everyone right now, but your thoughts and well wishes are greatly appreciated ❤❤.

pc-

07/07/2021

yeast.

maybe not the most business relevant post but I'm gonna do it anyway because I know lots of my customers struggle with allergies and yeast issues in their pups. this is something I do have a lot of experience in treating with Eddie, so I figured I'd share my knowledge and what I do, personally.

first thing - what is it?

yeast infections are caused by fungi of the genus Malassezia. these yeasts naturally occur on the skin of humans and animals. the issues come when they bloom and become overgrown, generally as a secondary infection due to disruption of the skin barrier (dermatitis, micro tears, skin being softened/wet for long periods).

Malassezial yeasts feed on fatty acids with a carbon chain length of C12-C24, which includes the natural skin oils produced by humans and animals.

do, how do we treat it?

for skin or foot infections, I personally prefer a treatment regimen of an anti-fungal shampoo containing at least 2% Chlorhexidine (either vet prescription or generic), or Ketaconazole (Nizoral). Daily for one week, then every 3 days for another week, and then once a week for another 6 weeks (as it takes roughly 8 weeks for the skin to grow out fully). thoroughly dry the area after treatment as a wet, damp area will promote yeast growth.

there are many non-prescription or naturally based topicals specifically targeted for yeast, but these are often highly astringent or acidic - containing vinegar, or alcohol-based ingredients like witch hazel. these things HURT when applied to broken skin, and I've stopped using them as I've found that Eddie puts out some very strong pain signals when applying them. even when scrubbing at scabby yeasts spots with shampoo he has never displayed pain, which is why I prefer to use the anti-fungal shampoo.

Coconut oil is a commonly recommended remedy due to it's natural anti-fungal properties, but I do NOT recommend it for skin yeast infections as coconut oil is over 90% C12 and up carbon chain fatty acids, which will feed Malassezial yeasts. however, isolated Capric or Caprylic acid can be used to soothe and moisture skin as these fatty acids have carbon chain lengths of 8 and 10, respectively.

continued below⬇

04/07/2021

our spring summer 2021 ambassadors are here!

we are so happy to welcome these amazing accounts to the team:

- use D&P to save 10% off regular orders.
kotlebova - use COOPER to save 10% off regular orders.

- use MERSEY to save 10% off regular orders.

- use PNWMUTTS to save 10% off regular orders.

- use SIBS to save 10% off regular orders.

- use BEARDS to save 10% off regular orders.

- use REESE to save 10% off regular orders.

if you weren't picked this round, please do not get discouraged - I had over 100 applications, so narrowing it down was incredibly difficult.

it sucks I have to say this - but guilt trippy messages will automatically get you disqualified from future searches. if you would like to ask why you didn't get picked, I am more than happy to answer, but please do so respectfully. trying to make me feel bad for not picking someone is not fair, and I will not allow it.

thank you! ❤

28/06/2021

quick update for everyone -

work has been cancelled due to the heat wave. it's just been not safe temps for humans inside the space (at least 3-4° hotter than outside, as the dehydrators are all running and I don't have ac in there). as well as being not safe temps for working with raw meat - it's just warming up far too quickly for cutting etc and we do not love an unsafe holding temp. so, production schedule is a little behind but do not fear, we shall make 👏 it 👏 work 👏.

ac units are sold out everywhere right now, but I'm hoping to grab one or two to keep the space a bit cooler for the rest of the summer. worst case scenario I build a few swamp coolers and freeze the water inside and rotate those out for super hot days.

the battery on my certified scale has also died - new one should be coming in Friday, so I will be getting to work on bagging over the weekend.

spring summer ambassadors will be announced shortly here as well.

we are rolling with the punches, and I'm hoping to be back at it soon, or whenever it's safe to leave my house, because I do not deal with the heat well 💀.

16/06/2021

"human grade"

what does "human grade" ingredients mean when we talk about pet food and treats?

legally, processors are able to send condemned or diseased carcasses for rendering into pet food, which is the basis for the inclusion of "human grade" in marketing materials for a variety of pet foods and treats. when we're talking about muscle meats or organs, it's a great way to signify that a company isn't using condemned meats in the products.

but a huge portion of items in my shop are not human grade, and that's something I'm ok with (and hopefully, you are too ;) ).

to be human grade, an item has to:

1- be slaughtered at a provincially or federally licensed abattoir.

2- pass carcass inspection by a qualified meat inspector.

3- be processed in such a way it is considered "fit for human consumption".

-green tripe is not human grade.

-fur on items are not human grade.

-chicken and turkey heads and feet are not human grade.

-I pull my hides out of a bucket with "INEDIBLE" painted on the side.

-my rabbits are on-farm processed, because there is nowhere to get them processed locally (technically there is, but you have to book weeks before the animals you want to process are even born and relies on things sticking to a plan which is.. unlikely on a farm).

there are changes coming to the meat inspection act that will allow farmers to slaughter up to 25,000lbs of meat on site without an inspector present. pending license and food safety plan approval, and completion of a slaughter hygiene course, farmers will be able to dispatch animals on site, without an inspector present and still be saleable as human food within 50km of the farm.

and honestly, I am so. frickin. excited. I can't wait to head out and help my farmers process some animals. I love being there for every step, and I love learning about slaughter and processing. I've read the entirety of the USDA Inspector's Manual multiple times, and I read through pdfs of post mortem disease signs (with photos!) for fun. I'm getting my shoulder injections in an hour, and once it's feeling better I can't wait to get back out there and help at the next (inspected) processing day at stonecroft.

22/05/2021

f r e s h n e s s

as many of you know, I've chosen to run strait to summit as a business that only offers pre-prepped and pre-packaged products. this is the most efficient way for me to operate, and I want to go a little in to why I've decided this is the right choice for my business, and does not impact the quality or freshness of our treats.

1. product availability and supply - even within batches of the same product, from the same animal, I can get variable weights on the finished product, at the same dry temp/dry time. A 40lb batch of a given product can have a spread of finishing weights of up to 6-8 bags. accidentally overselling a product is a possibility, and can create a scenario in which people end up waiting additional days or weeks while I try to get raw products back in stock. I don't like that, it's stressful.

2. packaging process - I design, print, and apply all of my own labels. the back and forth of packaging items to order is incredibly labour intensive, and it's much simpler for me to package an entire batch of products at once than pack 4 bags one day, and 8 the next. I've chosen an incredibly high quality packaging company that has tested their seals and packaging rigorously. sealed packages remain airtight for up to 2 years, but I've chosen a 1 year use/freeze by date. the addition of oxygen absorbing packets means products do not oxidize in the bag, and I have personally tested a package of treats that sat on the shelf for over 8 months that smells exactly the same as it did when it went into the bag. cellophane packaged products are more permeable, and as such have a shorter recommended use by date.

3. potential for products to be underdried - this one is two fold. I can say "nah, this needs another day", and leave a product in the dehydrator with no issues. my production schedule is mine to control, and if I'm running behind I'm not sitting on a ton of orders or people waiting on their treats that could make me feel rushed to pull out a given batch before I was confident it was ready.

continued in comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️

19/05/2021

it's here!! well, almost. you'll have to wait until the restock to get your hands on our new strait forward line.

what are they?

a way to get rid of 2:00am backyard trips after a training class because you accidentally fed your dog a whole bag of liver treats.

in the february restock I had a ton of different liver treats, and I really really REALLY hated having to write "we recommend feeding small amounts at first and increasing as tolerated, aa nutrient rich liver may cause stomach upset if fed in large quantities to unaccustomed dogs".

treating and training your dog shouldn't require a math degree to figure out how much of a given treat they can have, and as someone that has had to break out the hose for those unpickable 💩s on a number of occasions, having a spicy tummy isn't fun for our pups either.

so I got to work - figuring out the perfect ratio of organ to muscle meat that has a workable texture and all the high value taste that dogs love, but with less risk of causing upset tummies.

strait forward products will be available in both jerkies and bites, and this restock will have beef+spleen, and pork+liver in the jerkies and bites available (I haven't bagged or taken photos of the bites yet tho). if I get my butt in gear I should be able to offer beef+liver as well (ingredients for that are thawing right now, so hoping it will get in to the dehydrators tomorrow or friday).

the even better news is that these products will have a much greater availability that the solo offal treats. because I am sourcing direct from farms, the availability of high-quality, pastured, and grassfed/finished organ meats are relatively low (a few dozen pounds per month), whereas I can generally fairly easily source a whole or half animal for muscle meat (100-500 lbs) from any one of my amazing farmers. this means that not only are these simpler to feed, but I can also offer more bags of the strait forward products while still keeping the same stringent sourcing standards you expect from me.

I'm super excited for you all to try these new products out, and I hope you love them as much as I already do ❤❤.

and obvs, I am already brainstorming more unique flavours 😉.

15/05/2021

happy.. snackies saturday???? I don't know. just love this lil piebald tongue of

quick update - my bag order finally arrived on friday. I've got a few things to do at the space today, and then will be launching myself full force into packaging. I've been having issues with my supplier's site giving me an "this item does not ship to your location" error, so it's adding a bunch of extra time to getting my orders shipped out. they're hoping to get it fixed up for me soon tho!

the machine flesher is still on backorder, but it should arrive to the company next week at the latest, they're also refunding my shipping because of the delay which is incredibly nice of them. however, this does mean I'm still at least 10 days from getting a fresh batch in, as my broken hand fleshing beam has already been ritualistically burned (joke, but it's essentially unusable). I'll have a limited quantity for this restock, and then once the flesher arrives I will be working through all the backlog of hides I have in my freezer because they are srsly taking over like a third of my walk in.

restock date is tbd at this point but probably next weekend.

HOWEVER. I'm hoping to start doing weekly or bi-weekly restocks. after discussing with my accountant I need to put a pause on the subscription program due to the administrative costs associated with it. if you have an active subscription it will continue, but I am not renewing expired subscriptions or offering new subscription spots at this time. this may mean a change to the way subscriptions are run (ex- a "subscribe and save" options on regular stocking products, or changing box sizes/contents etc.) still working it out and will need to discuss any new ideas with my accountant to make sure it is a viable program to offer long term.

I also have a brand new product line I'll be introducing with this restock that I am super excited about and can't wait to show you all. I just need to settle on a dang name for it 🥲.

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Piper loves her Beef & Tripe Medallions! This good boy and girl are Piper and Ollie, the farm dogs at Glen Alwin. They very much appreciate the fruits of their labours 😉 ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Free shipping on orders over $100 and you receive 10% off your order when you use our ambassador codes. Sorry International friends, these treats are only available in Canada.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TUNDRA @tundra_theheeler ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ IVY @ivyinthewild ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ EASTON @eastonofthewild⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ FINESSE @adventuring.with.finesse⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ always free of fillers, antibiotics and hormones - our handcrafted treats are sure to be a hit in your home!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⇴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #handmade #artisan #dogtreats #ethicalmeat #rawfriendly #rawfeddog #canadiantreats #dogtreats #barfdiet #pmrdiet #preymodelraw #natural #healthy #slowfood #adventuredog #adventuredogsofficial #explorewithdogs #hikingwithdogs #dogsthathike #greatoutdogs #campingwithdogs #naturaltreats #canadanianmade #localfarm #muttsofinstagram #muttsofinsta #muttskickbutt

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