MACON, GA. — Flexibility and creativity have been the keys to success for ArrKeicha Danzie ever since she started her natural, human-grade dog treats brand, Good Boy Goodies, in 2019. The brand was born out of her quest to find healthy treats to feed her Great Pyrenees/Poodle mix Mr. Chubb. After she couldn’t find the clean, filler-free treats she was looking for, she was forced to get creative and started making her own.

“Mr. Chubb is the love of my life, on four legs — as I reassure my husband,” Danzie said. “I wanted to find a treat that was not only good to him but also good for him. When I started looking closely at treats, so many of them had fillers in them — over time that can be detrimental to a dog. I really wanted to find something that was healthier for him, but those treats were very scarce.

“Then I thought, if I’m having an issue finding what I’m looking for, there have to be other pet parents have the same issue,” she said.

Through her love and devotion to her dogs, (left to right) Mr. Chubb and Tuxedo, ArrKeicha Danzie developed the idea for her pet treat brand, Good Boy Goodies. 

| Source: Good Boy Goodies

Danzie quickly learned that because of regulations in the state of Georgia requiring the use of a commercial-grade kitchen when producing pet treats for sale, she would have to seek out a bakery to partner with to make the treats she wanted to sell.

“I had to find a bakery that had the same values that I do and that understood my concerns about using fillers and unhealthy ingredients,” she said.

Soon after finding the perfect bakery partner, who she still works with today, Good Boy Goodies was officially founded and up and running by August 2019.

The treats, which come in flavors including Honey Glazed Sweet Paw-Tato, Blueberry Peanut Butter, Howling Peanut Butter Hearts and Pup-Tastic Cheesy Bacon Quinoa, are made from human-grade ingredients and are free from corn, wheat, soy and preservatives.

The pivot

Because of her extrovert qualities, Danzie wanted to find a way to sell her treats to pet parents face-to-face. Instead of starting by selling to retailers, she decided to target fairs, markets and festivals where she could meet customers, tell them about her product, and make the sale.

Unfortunately, in early 2020 (as we all recall) her plans were forced to change.

“Business was really revving up at the end of 2019, but then in the first quarter of 2020, it came to a complete stop,” she said. “We had to cancel more than 20 events in the first part of 2020. Then we had to pivot.”

The company immediately changed its face-to-face sales strategy and switched to e-commerce.

“I am not a tech savvy girl by any far stretch of the imagination — I'm a talker,” Danzie shared. “I’m an in-person, person. But I’ve had to learn to do things differently — I didn’t have a choice. But I think it’s made me a better business owner because of it.”

E-commerce sales were successful for the brand and provided the momentum to keep growing, expanding and developing more creative ways to sell product.

Customer convenience

By the end of 2022, as the world went back to “normal” and shoppers returned to stores, Danzie started focusing on getting her product into more pet specialty locations. Good Boy Goodies are now sold in more than 200 stores in 26 states. About 25% of the business remains in e-commerce, 50% is through wholesale distribution to pet specialty stores and 25% remains direct to consumer at fairs, markets and festivals.

And now, as of May 30, pet parents traveling through Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, can find Good Boy Goodies in a creative and convenient location — in a pet treat vending machine.

Traveling pet parents passing through Reagan National Airport can find Good Boy Goodies alongside a few toys in this vending machine in the concourse. 

| Source: Good Boy Goodies

After noticing the increasing number of dogs at airports and the lack of treats for them at the many airport retail stores, Danzie started to consider how to fill that void.

“Airports are required to have relief stations for pets, but there are no other amenities and products for them,” she said. “I thought about approaching one of the big retailers like Hudson News about selling my treats when I saw a vending machine selling makeup at an airport, and I thought, what about dog treats in a vending machine.”

Danzie says her dog treat vending machine is perfect for pet parents traveling with pets, as well as pet parents who want to bring home a treat to the pet waiting for them at home.

“Pets are part of the family — they are like kids to a lot of the younger pet parents these days who aren’t having any children,” she explained. “I thought a vending machine would be a really convenient way for people to treat their pets.”  

After joining the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) and attending their Airport Business Conference, Danzie was able to move ahead with making her idea a reality.

Next, she’s considering bringing the pet treat vending machine idea to interstate rest stops in Georgia and possibly looking for high-end, pet-friendly boutique hotels to sell her treats.

“Rest stops have dogs there all the time and yet there’s nothing there for them,” she said.

Discussions are underway with the Georgia Department of Transportation to see how to facilitate adding Good Boy Goodies vending machines to some rest stops.

Through all this, Danzie plans to continue to grow her Good Boy Goodies brand and get her healthy treats into the mouths of as many pups as possible to help live healthy, happy, long lives.

“If I can have my dogs, all dogs, live longer, that’s pure happiness to me,” she said.

Read more of our exclusive pet food and treat company profiles.