In 1999 Sam Peterson was born. He was the smallest of his Labrador retriever litter. Like so many small packages, he grew to be the largest. All the more to train! I thought. What was the incentive? No matter the training treats he always wanted our goodies, especially our homemade chocolate chip cookies. But Sam couldnt have them as chocolate is toxic to dogs. Unable to share our cookies, my husband (a former soux chef) and I, with the advice and guidelines from our vet created our own dog friendly version of our favorite cookie using carob instead of chocolate. Healthy, tasty, and good for all of us! Treats we could share! Although Sam was satisfied with just the CarobChip snacks, we needed variety. We then created CranOat, GarlicCheese, and Virginia BBQ. Too much for our family, I took them to work to share with co-workers. While eating them during a meeting, it was decided I should sell them and continue the sharing! I started peddling Sams tasty treats at our local city market on Saturdays. Customers came to find us the next week bringing stories of the incredible power they seemed to immediately posses over their four legged friends with their new Sammy Snacks. Now that treats were covered it was on to the food. Still on my quest to provide Sam only the best, I began reading the labels. So many brands, so many labels! What was the balance they all mentioned? How could I tell if it was balanced? What was that smell? I just wanted someone to give me an honest overview of dog food. The only thing I was getting was a sales pitch. I was confused by the fact the pet store could set me up with the perfect formula yet they had so many choices. If this was the perfect choice, why the need for all the others? After spending six months researching, comparing, and learning the practices of the industry, I realized I had information that I could share with people on a similar quest-the best for their pet. But if only I could find the best answer. Perhaps I could come up with my own food formula. In pursuit of finding the perfect balance of quality ingredients, I discovered two men in California who were ahead of me. They had just the formula I was looking for: human grade ingredients, naturally preserved, and free of chemicals, by-products, artificial flavors, colors, corn, wheat, and other unnecessary items. Having found the perfect formulas--and the founders of the recipes willing to share--I introduced Sams Best, our one and only brand of dog food. Now that we had created and found the perfect answers, we needed more room and help. Help was my first concern. At Sammy Snacks it is our goal not to just make decisions, but to make choices with positive impacts. We were becoming employers. This was a huge step in what was our little company. So I asked myself, who needed more than just a job? Who needed to be in the work force? Who could we share our dreams with? I found Mary Bridle, the Vocational Director at Virginia NeuroCare. VaNC is a non-profit organization providing rehabilitation to individuals with brain injury, stroke, anoxia, brain cancer and other neurological diseases. Currently over 70% of our staff has participated in the VaNC center. With this partnership we are able to share our dreams and successes, making a real difference in both the lives of those at Sammy Snacks and those we serve. Out of the house and in a larger space, we can now share our library weve created along with our notes, findings, resources, and our partners. We have partnered with Service Dogs of Virginia, a non-profit organization that raises and trains working dogs. These dogs work to aid those who are disabled and wheel chair bound. Sammy Snacks provides, and in most cases sponsors, these dogs through their training years. Sammy Snacks continues to provide a healthy balanced diet to these dogs once they are placed. Sharing the common goal of placing unwanted pets to loving homes, we partner with Caring for Creatures (a non-profit sanctuary), Animal Connections, Charlottesville SPCA, and the Fluvanna SPCA. Were also the exclusive provider of snacks for All Things Pawssible, a training center and daycare for dogs. We are proud to share with you all that we are and all that we aspire to be. Since we started, our family has grown to include not only Sam but our wonderful 3 year old rescue, Avery (a beautiful yellow Labrador). As our family has grown, so has our company. In addition to food and treats, we also carry our favorite toys and accessories that weve found to be tried and true. But even as the company and the family grows, I remain true to my original endeavor-to provide quality with integrity. Its that simple desire that defines and drives Sammy Snacks. And its that desire that lies behind our success.

Address: Sam Peterson, 2130 Barracks Road Charlottesville, VA 22903
Website: http://www.sammysnacks.com/