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Chef for dog? Arf!  

AMADO - Micki Voisard is on a mission to improve the health of pets and, if their owners benefit in the process, so much the better.

In her 1950s-era diner-style Amado store - the Dog Chefs of America Headquarters and Kitchen - Voisard teaches people to cook for their canine companions. The kitchen doubles as a set where Voisard and her husband, David Voisard, tape cooking segments for DVDs. They are in negotiations with a television network to create a cooking show.

"I try to get people to look at spending more time in their own kitchen preparing some fresh food for their dog and then maybe for themselves, too," Micki Voisard said.

She began cooking for dogs 20 years ago when the couple and others started an animal-rescue group in California. Many of the dogs had physical and behavioral problems. When Voisard began preparing special meals, "we noticed their behavior changing, and they were feeling better."

A decade ago, Voisard used the same basic principles she applies to her canine cuisine - nourishing meals made with fresh ingredients - when she had ovarian cancer.

"I healed myself through nutrition and alternative medicine," she said. "Nutrition works."

The Voisards - who have three dogs, Chickie, Carlos and Yogi - moved to Tubac two years ago and opened Dog Chefs in Amado late last year. They teach classes and sell pet-related housewares, clothing, artwork, DVDs and a book written by Micki and Yogi and illustrated by David: "Becoming the Chef Your Dog Thinks You Are: A Nourishing Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Your Soul" (Stray Dog Press, $14.95).

"These guys are all my testers," she said, pointing to canines napping in the Dog Chefs kitchen.

All are rescues. Chickie, 7, is a black Labrador and border collie mix Micki brought home after she learned the dog's owner was going to prison. Hefty Carlos, a 15-month-old blue Shar-Pei, was a sickly puppy from a breeder and his medical problems were helped with home cooking. And tan Shar-Pei Yogi, 5, a former shelter dog, still bears scars from a cougar attack last September. The large cat jumped over the fence into the Voisards' yard looking for a quick meal, but David scared it off before it could kill Yogi.

Tucsonan Marilynne Penttila took Voisard's class to learn how to cook for her two dogs, Samoyed Misha, 11, and terrier mix Mika, 2.

Since she's been preparing homemade meals for her dogs, "I think they're healthier, and I've noticed a big difference in their coats and the way the feel," Penttila said. "They just seem to enjoy the food more. I wouldn't say it's more expensive, because they end up eating the same things I do. They eat the vegetables and the meat and pretty much what I eat.

"When I take them for walks, they just seem a little more lively," Penttila added. "Their attitude is much better, and they look forward to eating. I get a lot of bones from the butcher that she (Micki) recommended, and their teeth are a lot whiter, too."

° Send suggestions for pet stories to reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or call 807-8431.