Another Ocean Beach business has gone to the dogs and the dogs are lovin’ it.
The latest scoop coming out of the Light House Ice Cream shop, 5059 Newport Ave., is Frosty Paws, an ice cream treat made especially for man’s best friend.
“Ocean Beach is a very dog friendly town and most of our customers have a dog, so we thought it was only right that we have an ice cream for them, as well as their owners,” said Carol Ladiges, owner of Lighthouse Ice Cream.
Regular, dairy-based ice cream is not only bad for dogs ” it can be lethal. The alternative at Lighthouse Ice Cream is a new sugar-free treat from Purina.
“Dogs absolutely love this product,” Ladiges said. “It’s soy-based, there is absolutely no sugar and it has some animal fat, which is good for dogs. So now dogs can have a cold ice cream treat along with their owners.”
Frosty Paws is sold in individual containers, so it can be eaten on the spot or put it in a doggie bag and taken home for an after dinner treat. Ladiges and her husband, Richard, have been serving ice cream to more than four generations of Obecians.
“Its fun to see our customers come in with their dogs and share ice cream together,” Ladiges said. “We have a little Sheltie that comes in and she will sit with her paws on her owner’s legs while being feed Frosty Paws in a spoon. Others like to eat if out of the plate, while some, like Sir Winston (English Bulldog), love to scarf it right out of the cup.”
Customers who have tasted the original flavor liken the frozen treat to something vanilla, said shop manager Janice Mitchell.
“There’s nothing wrong with it if you look at the ingredients,” she said. “It wouldn’t make you ill.”
That’s because it forsakes the usual oddball ingredients found in pet food. Lighthouse has been selling the hit flavor for about nine months, at $1.50 per cup.
For years, the owners have lined the walls with photographs of their customers, but now they’ve started a new mural featuring their four-legged customers.
In addition to Frosty Paws, the Lighthouse features Bud’s premium ice cream, for humans, from San Francisco, in addition to sugar-free ice cream for diabetics, nonfat frozen yogurt and soy ice cream for vegans, along with Oasis fruit bars and home-made ice cream bars.