We ask a lot from our dogs. They’re our walking buddies, adventure partners, couch companions, emotional support systems, and sometimes our very enthusiastic alarm clocks. They don’t ask for much in return but a good treat is definitely a perfect reward.

That relationship between people and their dogs is at the heart of Saint Rocco’s Treats, a family-owned company making fresh-baked treats in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Their philosophy can be summed up as for the dogs. From the ingredients they choose to the time they put into making each batch, Saint Rocco’s believes that if something isn’t worthy of our dogs, it isn’t worth making. But the story behind those treats actually started long before the first bag of Saint Rocco’s hit the shelf.

One Kitchen, Endless Treats

Saint Rocco’s was founded in 2020 by brothers Kaleb and Kolby who are 3rd generation dog treat lovers. Their father and grandfather both had experience in the dog treat industry, giving Kaleb and Kolby a good foundation of knowledge to build upon. They began developing recipes right in their family kitchen in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

As Saint Rocco’s puts it:

“We decided to embrace our family passion and make dog treats we were proud of: Premium Ingredients, Clean Recipes, and Fresh-Baked in Mama’s kitchen.”

They spent months developing and perfecting their recipes to make a high quality dog treat that was carefully crafted and loved by dogs. What began in a family kitchen has grown into a team of more than 30 people, but Saint Rocco’s still makes its treats in Bucks County using the small-batch approach that helped start the company. Treats are made daily, and the company says that they have no more than about a week of inventory on hand at a time. This means that every time we order Saint Rocco’s treats for the store we are getting a fresh batch for our customers.

Saint Roccos are treats dogs get really excited about.

Who Is Saint Rocco?

There’s a reason behind the name, too!

Saint Rocco is known as the patron saint of dogs who devoted himself to caring for people suffering from illness. Eventually, Rocco became sick himself. When others could no longer care for him, a dog found Rocco and stayed by his side. The loyal dog licked his wounds and brought him bread each day until he recovered. The two remained companions afterward.

For Saint Rocco’s Treats, the story represents the unconditional loyalty and love dogs show us, as well as our responsibility to return some of that love.

This shaped their dog forward, standard Saint Rocco’s says it uses when deciding what goes into its products and how they’re made.

How Saint Rocco’s makes their treats

When you look at a piece of Saint Rocco’s jerky and you might notice it doesn’t look or feel quite like the typical dog jerky, it’s softer and has a strong aroma. Their cheeseburger jerky actually smells like it’s fresh off the grill. 

Saint Rocco’s uses a 48-hour process to turn whole proteins and a handful of additional ingredients into its soft, aromatic jerky treats. All of their treats are produced with limited ingredients in small batches.

It starts with the protein. Whole chicken breast, pork, beef, salmon, or cod is ground before being combined with ingredients like potato flour, coconut glycerin, paprika, turmeric, and salt. The ingredients are mixed then hand-formed into meat loaves. The loaves are oven-baked until they reach an internal temperature of 170°F. After baking, they first air cool and then are transferred to a large cooler to cool for an additional 12 hours. The long cooling period gives the loaves a texture that allows them to be deli-sliced.

Each loaf is sliced into individual treat bars, which are placed onto dehydrator screens. The treat bars will spend another 7–9 hours dehydrating, with temperature, humidity, and airflow adjusted per recipe. Then are they ready to be packaged!

It’s a lot of work for a dog treat, but that slow process helps create a treat that is soft, smelly, easy to break apart, but most importantly a treat dogs love. 

Limited Ingredient Treats

A lengthy production process doesn't mean a lengthy ingredient list.

Saint Rocco’s standard treat recipes consist of about 70% animal protein. They don’t use artificial colors or flavors, chemical or synthetic preservatives, protein meals, or meat by-products.

Depending on the recipe, you will find locally sourced (accross PA, NJ, DW, or NY) or wild-caught (sustainably caught in the ocean)  proteins including:

  • Beef 
  • Chicken 
  • Alaskan Salmon 
  • Alaskan Cod
  • Pork

Saint Roccos also uses other ingredients to maintain their texture and aroma such as:

  • Potato Flour acts as a binder, helping everything stay together.
  • Coconut Glycerin helps maintain the soft, flexible of the jerky. 
  • Paprika, Turmeric & Sea Salt make up Saint Rocco’s simple seasoning blend, contributing flavor, aroma, and shelf stability.

The result is a straightforward and limited recipe where you can easily recognize the purpose of the ingredients inside the bag and feel confident giving it to your dog. Saint Rocco’s limited ingredient panel also makes their jerky a great option for dogs with sensitive stomachs! 

You'll also see Saint Rocco’s describe its ingredients as human-grade quality, with whole-food ingredients sourced from human-grade certified suppliers.

One treat. Lots of rewards.

Saint Rocco’s isn’t just a great jerky treat; their soft, breakable texture also makes them a great option for training. Since you may give dozens of treats during a training session, the best training treats should be easy to portion, quick to eat, and exciting enough to keep your dog’s attention. When choosing training rewards like Saint Rocco’s, remember to choose something small, soft, and smelly.

Dogs have roughly 300 million olfactory receptors, compared with around 6 million in humans! That extraordinary sense of smell is why an aromatic treat can be especially exciting! 

Saint Rocco’s makes a great training treat option since it follows all 3 of the S’s. Unopened Saint Rocco’s treats have a shelf life of up to 12 months. Once you open the bag, the company recommends using the treats within 30 days. However, if you can’t get through a whole bag Saint Rocco’s recommends freezing them! 

For the Dogs

Our dogs offer us companionship, loyalty, and an impressive amount of unconditional love. Saint Rocco’s built its company around the idea that the things we give them in return should reflect how much that relationship means to us.

For Kaleb and Kolby, that meant developing recipes made with recognizable ingredients, baking in small batches, and creating something most dogs will happily devour.

For the month of August Saint Rocco’s treats will be 20% off at Rumford Pet. Try them to see which flavor earns you pup’s stamp of approval!