It's the time of the year when thoughts turn to pumpkin pies, turkey dressing, latkes and Christmas cookies.
Pet parents, take heart: Fluffy, Fido and Felix don't have to be left out of the festivities.
On Saturday, the Escondido Humane Society will offer a four-hour class on holiday baking for pets.
While cooking for animals has always been a part of children's programs, it's the society's first foray into a cooking class for adults, said Ina Shookhoff, director of education.
“We have had these for kids and they love it,” Shookhoff said. “I thought, why not offer the same for adults?”
Barbara November, a longtime society volunteer and owner of two dogs and a canine treat business, will teach the class.
November's interest in pet nutrition was sparked when she noticed her dog had a skin rash. After careful monitoring, she concluded it was triggered by the wheat in his diet.
The experience made her vigilant about watching what was going into the mouths of her animals.
“You won't believe some of the awful stuff in pet food, like leftover hulls from corn that have no nutritional value,” November said.
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What: Holiday Cooking for Your Pet
When: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Escondido Humane Society conference room, 3450 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido
Cost: $40
Registration: The deadline to register is tomorrow, at (760) 888-2261; children are welcome if accompanied by an adult.
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During her class, November will discuss healthy diets for pets and how to read labels on food packages. She also will offer information on allergens, such as wheat and soy, that can cause rashes and diarrhea and will talk about dry and wet foods, grain-based products and homemade raw diets. Members of the class then will bake holiday treats for their pets.
November, who lives in Poway, has plenty of experience in pet diets. She is the owner of Kobi, 12, a Siberian husky, and Kala, a 3-year-old malamute. November is a former employee and current volunteer at the Escondido Humane Society. She also runs K-9 Cookie Club, a home-based business that delivers cookies once a month to dog owners in the area as well as other parts of the country. Her cookies contain no preservatives, November said, and she eschews artificial color in favor of ingredients, such as blueberries and beets, to add color and flavor to her treats.
Society's interest in healthy eating has spilled over to pet owners' desire to feed nutritionally sound diets to their animals, November said.
“There's more interest than ever before,” she said.
November's Holiday Cooking for Your Pet is one of several classes offered at the Escondido Humane Society. Other classes include communicating with pets, how to start a pet-sitting business, acupuncture for animals and T Touch, a pet massage class.
“The massage relaxes the pet and helps with all sorts of issues,” said Shookhoff. “You could do it to a lizard. We had a lizard that had a big smile on its face.”
Along with educating grown-ups and children about animals, the classes are a source of revenue for the society, Shookhoff said.
“The shelter needs money desperately,” she said.
Triveni Sheshadri: (760) 752-6757 or
teiveni.sheshadri@uniontrib.com.
