In the world of comedy, George and Gracie still bring a nostalgic grin to faces that recalled the vaudeville skits, roasts and movies that made up almost a century-long career for the devoted husband, who kept his beloved wife's memory alive long after her death.

Their animal namesakes in Simcoe County, a horse and dog respectively, have worked to make their audiences happy since appearing on the packaging of healthy treats now being manufactured and distributed by Janet Fletcher, owner of George & Gracie's Wholesome Biscuits for Dogs and Horses.

"They might not know my story," says Fletcher of her potential customers, "but they know George Burns and they smile - it's a happy connection."

An Irish Wolfhound breeder for 26 years, Fletcher began concocting her own dog food and cookies in 1980. Gracie was the last of the line. George, on the other hand, continues to munch happily in pasture after being adopted from the race track.

She originally began researching dog food recipes to keep her dogs healthy.

"I had these giant dogs I was trying to raise properly and it wasn't uncommon for giant breeds to have bone problems and health problems because the food available didn't have the required nutrients for the breed," she explains.

Today, there is a lot of choice and many books available, she says, but at the time she sought the direction of Juliette de Bairacli Levy, a world-renowned herbalist and pioneer of holistic animal care who bred Afghan hounds and published her recipes.

"My fridge was more full of dog food than human food," she laughs, of the prepared meals consisting primarily of cooked brown rice, meat and veggies and fruit.

An apple a day for dogs, too?

"Sure, it's great for them," she adds, suggesting produce might well have been part of their everyday diet. "If you think of dogs as wild creatures, their access to grain would not have been great."

So the biscuits produced by her new company are "the end result of fooling around with recipes through the years."

A training and development expert with the Ontario teacher's pension plan for 17 years, she decided to back away from the commute in 2005.

"You move up here for the lifestyle," she says, "and you get to the point where you say it's not worth the commute."

While living off her severance package, she kept busy by making and selling dog biscuits at the summer farmers' market in Creemore. Later, when she couldn't find a suitable job in her field, she examined her options and decided to follow an old dream of self-employment.

With some direction and support from the government-sponsored Self Employment Assistance Program, she got to work turning the hobby into a business. Her basement was converted into a commercial kitchen and she worked with a designer to refine the look of her packaging.

Meanwhile she began to recruit retail and wholesale customers.

The dog biscuits are available in two sizes, a half-pound bag (approximately 20 biscuits) and a full pound. They come in five flavours: chewy cheese, carob chip, harvest blend and sunflower crunchies.

 "All ingredients are human grade," says Fletcher, who grates the cheddar by hand, "and all natural."

The larger horse treats, also appropriate for dogs, are called George's Passion. Fletcher makes these available in one-pound bags (25 treats) and three-kilogram bucket.

"We tested all our horse treats on him," says Fletcher of her horse George. "When he tastes them, he smiles like Mr. Ed."

An early challenge was extending the shelf life without adding preservatives. She's looking for a  three months minimum.

"I've been working with the Guelph Food Technology Centre at the University of Guelph to extend the shelf life naturally," she explains. "We started in February double-baking and so far it's working great.

"I actually received a grant from the Canadian Dairy Counsel to help pay for the R&D."

In addition to ongoing quality control, she's also working on new recipes without grains and another without sugar, to serve gluten-intolerant and diabetic dogs.

Gift boxes and custom shapes are available in advance by request.

George & Gracie's Wholesome Biscuits are available at Global Pet Foods across South Simcoe, the farmers' markets in Creemore and Barrie, and a growing number of other retailers.

For more information, call Fletcher at 705-424-1656.