*Our Story*
Would you believe it all started with a suggestion from a friend? Natives of Newark, Ohio, Todd & Cathey Pangborn love to entertain, and when a good friend suggested they create a wood-fired pizza oven within the creation of their new deck, the Happy Dog Pizza dream began.
*The Early Days*
The couple spent the better part of their pizza-making-hobby-days in their backyard on their
new deck with family and friends, and their dog, Sydney, who was always by Todd’s side when making pizzas. She would sit at his feet for hours while he cooked, happy as can be, so they decided to nickname their hobby, Happy Dog Pizza, not knowing it would eventually be a name many would be familiar with. Todd & Cathey then started to do a little more with their wood-fired pizza hobby and began to give back to the community and offer pizza parties at their own home as part of local charity auctions. As their pizza parties began to be a hit with many, the idea of starting to offer their unique pizza combinations to others became a reality with a simple internet search.
*The Search*
For years, they’d search the internet for the perfect wood-fired pizza experience on wheels but had no luck because they could not agree upon the right design for their dream. Something that nobody else had. And then, on a Sunday, Todd just happened to stumble upon a one-of-a-kind pizza food truck …a fire truck! Cathey took a look and agreed, it was the one - and it was in New Jersey! So on a Tuesday, Todd drove from Ohio up to New Jersey to check it out. He found out this pizza fire food truck had a big history behind it. The owner was a New Jersey police chief and made the wood-fired pizza truck for his daughter, who had a non-profit organization to raise money for injured firefighters. Todd fell in love with the truck right away, and drove it back home to Ohio, and was cooking up some wood-fired pizzas in their driveway that Saturday – with their happy dog, Sydney, right by his side.
*The Reality*
Five days is all it took for their dream to come true and it all started with a suggestion from a friend. The one-of-a-kind fire truck with a built-in wood-fired pizza oven travels around offering a hand-crafted menu with the most delicious pizza combinations around, and firefighters receive a FREE pizza in tribute to the history of the truck. Happy Dog Pizza can be found at festivals, events, and local businesses. They are also very popular in the catering industry, taking the stress out of planning and doing it all for you! Follow our Events tab on our page to see where we are, and contact us for more information on catering for your next party.
