Food isn’t hard to find at any given farmers market. But unlike the fare most vendors sell, Nancy Martinez’s is for the dogs.
Her business, Gentleman Blue All-Natural Dog Treats, makes single-ingredient dog-treats at her home north of Mancos.
“Everything I sell has just one ingredient in it,” she said. “Whatever the meat is, that’s what’s in it.”
Martinez said her family has four Boston terriers, one of which, Gentleman Blue, gave the business its name and the mascot on its packaging.
Martinez said she started making dog treats for her dogs less than two years ago. Her husband, a hunter, brought home some deer that wouldn’t make a good roast for human consumption, but appealed to the dogs after she dehydrated it. From there, Martinez began making dog treats for other members of her family and expanded her operation into a business in April 2023. She can’t sell meat obtained through hunting, so the treats conform to standard meat varieties, such as beef, chicken and pork.
She currently sells the treats at farmers markets and events such as county fairs and Mancos Days. She also sells them online and said she can ship them anywhere in the United States. She hopes to expand to Telluride and Grand Junction in the future.
In addition to jerky and freeze-dried meat, she sells break-apart treats, which are ground up and formed into strips before dehydration.
“It makes it breakable, so people can carry a couple of them in their pocket when they’re on a walk with their dog, break it into pieces, and give dogs treats as they go,” she said.
Martinez also sells toppers, treats that are ground up and dehydrated so that they can be added to food to encourage picky dogs to eat it.
As a business, Gentleman Blue gives back a portion of its proceeds to various charities, listed on its website, she said. The main charity it donates to is the Colorado Pet Pantry, which goes to food banks and locations throughout Colorado when people obtain for food for themselves, and distributes free food for dogs and cats.
“People that might otherwise have to give those dogs up or turn them into a shelter or rehome them because they can’t feed them, Colorado Pet Pantry supports them,” Martinez said. “They’re our biggie because we love what they do.”
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
