Dogs probably don’t need pumpkin spice lattes. But thanks to one enterprising company, they will be getting them just in time for fall.
Starbucks’ mythical Pumpkin Spice Latte, which will be gracing stores in the coming weeks, is a sweetly spiced lightning rod for human coffee drinkers. Now imagine how much more viscous the rhetoric would turn if we opened the debate up to other species and their feelings about whether drinking PSLs is a delightful autumn rite of passage or a symbol of shameful basic consumerism. Well, hold onto your pups. You don’t have to imagine. It’s already happened. Just when you thought the world couldn’t contain even one more pumpkin-flavored product, The Honest Kitchen has created a pumpkin spice latte for dogs that they’re launching in October.
Now, before you rush to judgment … no, just kidding, go ahead and judge. It’s a pumpkin spice latte for dogs. The company is billing the holiday treat as “a nourishing blend of goat’s milk, pumpkin and aromatic spices,” and each canister includes enough product for 10 doggie lattes. Our first question is how are dogs supposed to drink these: do we fill up their water bowls with pumpkiny goodness? Do we see how they do with plastic coffee lids? They don’t have opposable thumbs so it seems problematic.
So yes, the fact that this is a thing that exists is ridiculous but also, of course, genius on the part of Honest Kitchen. Because people (i.e. me) will write about it and laugh about it and send links about it to their dog- and PSL-loving friends. They likely will even order a canister or two (hey, $11.99 is pretty cheap considering a single grande human PSL will set you back around $4.25 to $4.75). So, yes, we’re laughing, but the purveyors of premium coffee drinks for dogs will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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And who’s to say our dogs aren’t secretly huge pumpkin spice latte fans? Fido might appreciate curling up with a steamy bowl of fall in liquid form just as much as their owns. They just need a pair of paw-sized Ugg boots to complete the look and they’ll be set.