We are all familiar with bak chang, but have you heard of bark zhang? That is leaf-wrapped dumplings… made for canines. Turns out, even pooches can enjoy the traditional Dragon Boat Festival treat, which is offered by home-based biz Somedays & Co. It also sells interesting seasonal food for furkids, like Mao Shan Wang cakes and mooncakes.

While bak chang for humans has glutinous rice stuffed with savoury goodies like pork belly, mushrooms and salted egg yolk, bark zhang is quite different. The doggo version doesn’t have glutinous rice, and is instead made with minced pork, quail eggs and other animal-friendly ingredients like pumpkin seeds and carrots.

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Beauty salon owner Mabel Ang, 39, started her dog treat sideline in Dec 2019. She tells 8days.sg that the brand was “born out of passion and commitment to make pet treats, because dogs are family”. She shares that dogs are extra special to her, as she met her husband while dog-walking. The couple now owns two dogs, a toy poodle named Monkey and a mini schnauzer called Pepper.

Mabel currently runs her salon full-time, so selling pet food is a side hustle for her. While her products are mainly made for dogs, customers can request for cat treats as well.

“Human-grade” dog treats

Mabel learnt how to make bak changs and cakes from her mother-in-law, whom she calls a “master in traditional bakes”. She had to tweak her mom-in-law’s recipes to make them dog-safe, which she says was not an easy feat. But she was determined to create dog-friendly spin-offs of popular food items like bak chang and cakes, as she wanted to include her pups for celebratory occasions when her family enjoys things like mooncakes or birthday cakes.

Mabel makes her dog treats at home in “small batches”, with pet-safe ingredients. She aims to keep them healthy by using quality ingredients. For instance, instead of using plain flour in her bakes, Mabel “grinds [her] own oat flour using whole oats”, and opts for “organic and unsweetened” peanut butter over the regular kind. 

Mabel goes as far as to say that the treats are “human-grade” and fit for pet owners to consume too. “We welcome our customers to try them”, she says, although she cautions that “it would taste bland” because of the natural ingredients (canines also cannot process a high amount of salt like human beings). 

Besides giving her new creations to her paw-fessional food tasters (her dogs Monkey and Pepper pictured above), Mabel taste-tests some of the pet treats herself as well.

Bark Zhang, $25.90 for five 

The Pets Classic Bark Zhang bundle comprises five 40g dumplings made with hand-minced pork, quail eggs, walnuts, oats, carrots and pumpkin seeds. There is also a Deluxe version ($26.90) with two 100g dumplings made with the same ingredients, but with additional salmon chunks.

Some other quirky snacks to look out for include a Blueberry Dream Pet Cookie ($12.90) and Pork Meat Cake ($15.90).

Singapore’s first MSW cake for dogs

Somedays & Co claims to be the first local biz to offer Mao Shan Wang Durian Dog Cakes ($39.90 for 3 to 3.5 inch petite, $68 for 4.5 inch regular). Mabel was inspired by her own pooches for the cake, as her dogs are very fond of the king of fruits. 

Proving that furkids sometimes get it better than human kids, the cakes are made with “the best grade Mao Shan Wang durians”, as she wants doggos to indulge in the best durians available. Which would explain the steep price for the cakes. They can also be customised with your pet’s name and age to make it a birthday cake.

They also sell customisable accessories

Besides cakes and treats, Mabel also designs Customisable Pet Bowls (from $35 for a medium bowl) and Personalised Pets Celebration Pawty Packs (from $60 for a petite pack), which consists of six bags of signature cookies with customised labels.

Shop Somedays & Co. on their website. More info via their Instagram and Facebook.

Photos: Somedays & Co.

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