Minnesota pup wins 'bark bracket' and lands on cans of Busch's Dog Brew

Perham couple's dog is the furry face of a new, alcohol-free animal beverage.

October 25, 2022 at 2:00PM
Minnesota pup Kira was chosen to be the face of Busch’s new turkey-flavored Dog Brew. (Anheuser-Busch/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Since 2020, Anheuser-Busch has been selling cans of an alcohol-free, pork-flavored bone broth it calls Dog Brew. (For the uninitiated, animal beverages are one more example of the booming pooch-pampering trend.)

Last spring, the company solicited pup pics on social media to find a pooch who would serve as the face for a new Dog Brew flavor. A 4-year-old rescue dog, Kira, owned by Dan and Ali Kenyon of Perham, Minn., garnered the most votes in an online "bark bracket." She now has her photo emblazoned on cans of turkey-flavored Dog Brew, available for $15 a four-pack.

The Kenyons celebrated Kira's win by giving her a can of the new brew — which she initially treated with suspicion. "We'd never given her anything like that before, besides water," Dan Keynon explained. "So when we poured it, she just sniffed it a little. But once she tasted it, she really liked it."

Despite his curiosity, Kenyon hasn't sampled the Dog Brew himself, heeding Busch's labeling that the turkey broth, infused with sweet potato, basil, peppermint, turmeric and ginger, isn't intended for human consumption. "It's good for dogs, but maybe the human palate wouldn't care for it," Kenyon surmised of the blend.

Kenyon said Kira has been enjoying the extra attention that modeling has brought and he hopes her fame will encourage others to adopt pets from animal shelters. "Rescue dogs are pretty darned great," he said. "There are plenty of dogs out there looking for a home."

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about the writer

Rachel Hutton

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Rachel Hutton writes lifestyle and human-interest stories for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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