Hungry Howie's dog treats

Hungry Howie’s is turning National Pet Day into a pizza order with a side of dog treats, and the unusual part is that the pet item is rolling out at all of its more than 500 stores in 19 states starting April 11, not just at a few test locations. The chain is pairing its food with treats from Happy Howie’s, a Michigan dog treat brand, so the promotion is built as one order for two species instead of the usual “people food only” limited-time deal. The menu is being called “secret” because customers have to unlock it online, in the Hungry Howie’s app, or by scanning a QR code in stores, rather than seeing it listed like a standard pizza special on the main board. There are three offers, and the cheapest is the Pup & Roll Combo: a $5 Pepperoni Howie Roll plus one packet of Happy Howie’s dog treats, available online only with the code PUPNROLL. The bigger bundle is the Bone Appétit Pack Party, which includes a large one-topping pizza, Howie Bread with dipping sauce, and one packet of dog treats for $15 with the code BONEPARTY. The third option skips the pizza entirely and works like an add-on: $5 buys two packets of dog treats with the code BARKBACK, which gives the company a way to sell the pet piece even to customers who already know what food they want. National Pet Day itself falls on April 11 every year, and the observance was founded in 2006 by Colleen Paige to celebrate pets while also drawing attention to animals waiting in shelters and rescues. (nationalpetday.co/) That holiday background explains why a pizza chain would bother with dog treats at all: the promotion is timed to a day that already asks people to think about pets as family members, so the company can plug a dog product into a regular dinner purchase without inventing a new occasion. (nationalpetday.co/) Hungry Howie’s is also leaning on its home-state identity here, because the company is based in Madison Heights, Michigan, and Happy Howie’s is another Michigan name, which turns a one-day marketing gimmick into a local-brand collaboration with national reach. The promotion starts Friday, April 11, and runs only while supplies last, so the “secret menu” angle is really a short window tied to a single holiday weekend rather than a permanent pet-friendly shift in how the chain operates.