By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES – When does a doggie treat gain national recognition?
When it is featured on national television by an icon like Martha Stewart.
Doggie-Drive-Thru owner, 'Baker' Maggie Patterson, has been in discussions with producers at the popular television show for the past two weeks.
A phone interview was scheduled for 2 p.m. today. The segment is to run on Stewart's 11 a.m. WNDU "Martha Stewart Living" program on March 30.
"To get two go-rounds at national publicity in one lifetime is unheard of. It's been 14 years since I had this kind of big-time media coverage," Patterson said.
At that time, Patterson and her doggie treats were on David Letterman. She has been shown on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet as well.
"There is some possibility that there will be a live feed. The producers were going to talk to the people at WNDU, but for now we know the phone interview with Martha is a go," she said.
Stewart's producers discovered Baker Maggie while googling for preservative-free dog treats. They plan to do another segment to feature Patterson's newest invention, the Thirsty Pet water bottle.
The new water bottle took two years and $40,000 to get it to market May 23, 2006.
Knowing nothing about injections molds and the manufacturing required, she learned quickly.
She is extremely proud of using all local production for the newest item in her line. The bottles themselves were manufactured at River Valley Plastics in Elkhart, Indiana. The carrying bag that is an accessory to the water bottle is made by JAC Custom Pouch Inc. in Dowagiac.
"We were talking about this week's segment. I sent samples of the Thirsty Pet water bottles to them along with the biscuits and Martha loved them. Now we will be doing a separate segment in the near future about the bottles," Patterson said.
To date, she has sold 1,000 of the bottles. She is setting aside another 150 to 300 bottles to be given to the audience when the show promoting them is shot.
"If they use my information on either their website or in the magazine, we will have to get into larger production right away," she said.
For now Patterson had a team working all weekend on creating a perfect www.thirstypetwaterbottle.com website so that all will be ready for the rush of customers she expects the shows will create.
This year marks the 18th year the Niles resident has been in business with her all natural doggie delectables. She carries natural and holistic Items for cats as well.
Doggie-Drive-Thru is located at 2369 S. Third St. in Niles.