Oat & Paw: Vegetarian dog treats, natural grooming products

Matthew Day

Staff

June 29, 2026

GREEN BAY – For some, green beans, sweet potatoes and carrots might sound like ingredients destined for the dinner table, but for Adriana Vander Leest, they serve another purpose.

Vander Leest said those simple vegetables can be transformed into healthy, all-natural treats for dogs – particularly those with limited diets – produced by her Green Bay-based company, Oat & Paw. 

“A lot of people have pets with underlying issues, whether it ends up being dietary or they have allergies,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many people[’s dogs have restrictions]. I didn’t know chicken allergy was such a big thing for dogs.” 

Vander Leest said Oat & Paw offers meat-free products for pups of all sensitivities, as well as dog-grooming products and other accessories for pet owners looking for simpler, gentler care options.

“Everything is handmade…,” she said. “Everything is as minimal as possible, upcycled or as good for the environment as we can make it, as well as good for the animals.” 

Vander Leest said Oat & Paw’s three lines of boutique products are crafted with the intention of providing pet solutions with simple ingredients owners can trust. 

“I don’t gate-keep my recipes,” she said. “Every single product I make, anybody out there could be making in their own home. I’m not in a science lab with crazy ingredients that are super expensive.” 

The concept, Vander Leest said, is intended to spare pet owners the time of having to research, source, create and test their own products.

As a married mother of two young children still in diapers, Adriana Vander Leest said she founded Oat & Paw out of her own need for convenience during a “super busy” season of life, wishing she had more trustworthy, simple products for her two beloved dogs.

“With [sharing] the ingredient list, that’s such a resonator for me,” she said. “I don’t like waste, and I don’t like not understanding [what’s in products].” 

Vander Leest said Oat & Paw aims to support and encourage pet owners focused on quality care for their animals. 

“If [pet owners] don’t care what’s going in or on their dog, they shouldn’t own a pet…,” she said. “It’s so easy to see with everything [my products] are made with that it’s good for [pets], and it’s not going to harm them.” 

Oat & Paw products are currently available at oatandpaw.com, and Vander Leest said she also vends at the Farmers’ Market on Broadway in Green Bay and the Town Haul Market in New Franken. 

Artisan treats 

Per its website, Oat & Paw currently sells the following dog treats: 

• Dehydrated organic sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots 
• Baked carrot and spinach biscuits 
• Baked sweet potato and spinach biscuits 
• Organic baked sweet potato skins and carrot skins 

Vander Leest said she’s often asked to explain the concept of vegetarian dog treats, and welcomes the opportunity to address them.

Though she personally maintains a vegetarian diet, she said she would never suggest it for dogs, as “they do need meat in their diet.” 

“But I don’t sell animal feed – I sell treats,” she said. “These are only meant to be about 10% of their diet per day.”  

Whereas dogs can gain energy and maintain/build muscle from the protein of their feed, Vander Leest said the meat-free Oat & Paw treats help to round out the animals’ health. 

“The vegetables and the ingredients in the biscuits, [for example] – they still do contain great nutrients – things that can help with their skin or internal digestion,” she said. “Honey, coconut oil, the rolled oats – they all serve another purpose.” 

Though she does not claim to be an expert, Vander Leest said like any treat, she suggests her products are used as part of “a good reward system.” 

“It’s meant to be a nice, high-value reward for dogs,” she said. “[I’m] definitely not recommending people skip meat for their pets. It’s just a nice little treat.” 

Vander Leest said all Oat & Paw products are lab-tested, and she is “100% licensed, 100% insured.” 

Perhaps the treats’ most important test, she said, is whether her own dogs enjoy them. 

“Yeah, my dogs are getting a little bit chunky because of how many treats they eat,” she laughed. 

Clean grooming 

For grooming products, Vander Leest said Oat & Paw currently offers the following items on its website:

• Deodorizing spray 
• Dry shampoo 
• Paw balm 
• Oat and goat milk shampoo bar 
• Triple-butter lavender-mint shampoo bar 
• Roasted oats shampoo bar 

Vander Leest said she has created these safe-to-use products in part to spare owners the high costs of professional dog-bathing services. 

“Personally, I cannot swallow that kind of payment, so I like to groom [my dogs] at home,” she said. 

Further, Vander Leest said her products offer undiluted value. 

“Just like liquid detergent, [liquid dog shampoos] are mostly water – you’re paying for all of this volume that doesn’t end up [adding] anything, and it wastes space and wastes packaging,” she said. 

Just like the treats, Vander Leest said Oat & Paw grooming products are made with minimal ingredients to serve specific purposes, while yielding some additional benefits.  

“All of the essential oils I use do serve some nice support things as well,” she said. “Like our cedarwood, in any of the scents, is a natural tick deterrent. It is not going to be 100% effective – I don’t ever claim people should not still give their dogs the medication they need monthly – but it supports.” 

Ambition unleashed 

Vander Leest said Oat & Paw was not her first experience developing pet treat concepts. 

While earning a degree in business management and entrepreneurship, she said she was tasked with creating plans for hypothetical businesses across various industries. 

However, when she developed a plan for a handmade dog treat company, Vander Leest said the start-up costs were surprisingly affordable.

“I ended up realizing I could do it,” she said. 

Thus, in 2017, Yummy Pup LLC was born, and she said the venture was “pretty successful” for several years, before life saw her temporarily relocated to another state, then returning to academia to expand her expertise into promotions and event management. 

With her new, hospitality-centered career in full swing, Vander Leest said she and her husband also started a family. 

While on maternity leave following the birth of her and her husband’s second daughter, she said she was delivered some unfortunate news: her position had been eliminated. 

Following the shock, disappointment and exploration of legal recourse, Vander Leest said she decided to move forward by looking back to Yummy Pup and reviving the venture. 

“Reopening it now, it kind of sparks that ignition again,” she said. “It just felt like the right time – now or never.” 

Though she considered her dog-treat recipes effective as ever, Vander Leest said the brand itself no longer felt fresh. 

“It was pretty bright and bold, but I noticed so many other businesses do that and go with the cutesy thing,” she said. “I wanted my business to be very minimalist, because everything is very straightforward – the ingredients are what they are, you’re going to understand what’s on the label for everything – so I wanted my business to feel more boutique and upscale and minimalist.” 

Opting for a black/white, “simplistic” look, Vander Leest said a new name was also in order. 

The “oat” part of the newly christened brand, she said, is a nod to one of the primary ingredients of her products. 

“And then ‘paw,’ instead of calling it anything straight dog-related, like Yummy Pup had been, I wanted it to be more general, in case I’m ever able to expand down the road to more than just dogs,” she said. 

Armed with improved marketing experience from recent years, Vander Leest said she launched Oat & Paw on June 1. 

Plans and paw-siblilities 

As she continues to expand Oat & Paw’s pawprint – with wholesale opportunities at local businesses in the works – Vander Leest said she is hard at work on adding pet accessories to her product line. 

Hand-crafted bandanas, she said, are currently in production, which the self-proclaimed “addict of thrift shopping” sews using upcycled materials primarily sourced from used clothing. 

Leashes and collars, Vander Leest said, “will be way farther down the road.” 

She said she is “definitely hoping to scale up” Oat & Paw in the coming years, with her sights set on having her wares someday sold in big-box stores and via online retail giants. 

Reflecting on her career, she said she poses one question to anyone considering taking a chance on pursuing an entrepreneurial dream: “What’s stopping you?” 

“I’m a huge believer in ‘things happen for a reason,’” she said, regarding her unexpected career change. “As bad as [a layoff] may feel when you’re going through it, we’re all where we are in life because of some things that might have been devastating. So, whatever – make the most of it.” 

Find Oat & Paw on social media for updates, and visit oatandpaw.com for more information.