Sweet potato pie a la mode, cranberry cannoli and pumpkin spice ice cream aren’t just desserts for humans – at these dog bakeries, they’re specifically designed for canine friends.
Across the nation, dog bakeries are crafting intricate treats that look just as stunning as what you’d see in a bakery for humans, and they’re made with human-grade ingredients. So whether you’re celebrating your furry friend’s birthday, gotcha day or a well-behaved visit to the vet, check out these businesses offering paw-fect treats you might be tempted to snack on as well.
Mishka Dog Boutique – San Francisco, Calif.
It’s hard to wrap your head around the idea that these intricately designed, multi-colored cakes from Mishka Dog Boutique aren’t something in a high-end patisserie. Instead, they’re made with your choice of beef, chicken, lamb or turkey pâté (human-grade) and glazed with fresh, natural vegetable juices and agar-agar, which can help support joints.
“Any green is spinach, any orange is carrot, any red is beets, yellow is golden beets, white is coconut milk,” said Olia Rosenblatt, owner of Mishka Dog Boutique.
Mishka’s cakes do not use artificial colors, preservatives or fillers. And get this – they’re topped with real edible gold leaf. Talk about bougie.
They come in a variety of designs, including shapes such as hearts, bears, turkeys and pineapples, and are available for shipping anywhere within the continental United States. Smaller versions of the cakes, called “candies,” are available too.
While cake and candy is not healthy for humans, Mishka’s cakes are designed to be healthy for dogs. In fact, dog nutrition is what inspired Rosenblatt to start a dog boutique.
“My sensitive, sick puppy’s digestive system was really, really weak, and we didn’t expect she was gonna live more than three months,” Rosenblatt said. “But she did successfully for 17 years. And I’ve been able to learn from scratch everything about perfect dog nutrients.”
Rosenblatt grew up in Russia, coming to New York to learn English. As a birthday gift to herself, she took a vacation to San Francisco, where she met her future husband in the lobby of the hotel. The name Mishka, which means “baby bear” in Russian, is in reference to her husband.
“I told him, ‘You look big and tall, like a bear,’ and he asked me how (to say) ‘bear’ in Russian, and I said ‘Mishka,’” Rosenblatt said. “And he’s like, ‘Mishka. Mishka. What a fun word.’”
Rosenblatt opened the first location of Mishka in 2019 and her second in 2022. In addition to her year-round dog treats, she also releases seasonal cake designs, such as snowmen, snowflakes or Santas for the holidays.
She hopes to eventually launch cat-specific versions of her products and open shops in Los Angeles, New York and other major cities.
Mishka Dog Boutique, Instagram: @mishka_dog_cakes.
Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery – Waynesville, N.C.
Bakery on the bottom, bar on the top.
At this two-story business in Waynesville, N.C., shoppers can select from a variety of dog treats on the first floor, including intricately decorated cookies, and go to the second floor for a complimentary pup cup or purchase a dog seltzer or dog beer for their furry friend — while sipping on a human cocktail themselves.
Walter Cook, the original owner of Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery, founded the business in 2015 in Dillsboro, N.C. When Julie Moriarty moved to North Carolina from Northern Virginia, she had stopped by the bakery to buy a gift for her realtor.
“I remember walking out of it saying to my husband, ‘Now that’s about the only kind of retail I could ever do,’” she said.
The original owners were looking to sell, so Moriarty took over the business, quitting her full-time job after six months and managing the bakery full-time. Four years later, the bakery was so successful that she needed a larger space. So she moved the business to its current location, putting in a dog-friendly bar on the second floor.
Housemade decorated peanut butter and honey cookies come in shapes including gators, flamingos, beer mugs, flowers, trout, cows, bears, bison, pigs, fire hydrants and more. A partner bakery that uses human-grade ingredients makes bagged treats in flavors like banana bread, blueberry pancake, apple crisp à la mode and more.
The cocktail bar upstairs offers dog-friendly beverages, any of the treats available at the bakery below, human cocktails with punny names like “Moscow Mutt,” and other human options such as beer, wine and packaged snacks.
The bakery isn’t just for dogs. Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery also helps to find homes for cats in the area. Moriarty said her business paired 100 cats with new owners last year and currently has three kennels of cats awaiting adoption. Moriarty herself has seven rescue dogs.
“We try to really support our animal community, and then the community in general,” she said.
Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery, Instagram: @smoky_mountain_dog_bakery.
Grateful Dog Bakery – North Ridgeville, Ohio
Bake-to-order cakes, fresh cupcakes and even ice creams specifically designed for dogs are available at Grateful Dog Bakery.
“Our mission is to provide healthy options for dogs. We’re really happy and proud that we can do that, that people don’t have to affect their dog negatively to spoil them,” said Travis Raymond, the general manager of Grateful Dog Bakery.
The Ohio-based dog bakery is family-owned and operated and was founded by Jennifer Moore Baker and her late husband in 2006.
“CeleBARKtion Cakes” come in a variety of designs – including a bowl cake filled with freshly baked bone-shaped treats or a cake adored with three cake-filled tennis balls – and flavors, such as peanut butter, carob, chicken and garlic, beef and garlic, or strawberry-banana. Two frosting options are available: honey vanilla or carob.
“Carob looks and tastes similar to chocolate, but it doesn’t have theobromine in it, which is what’s toxic to dogs in chocolate,” Raymond said.
Peanut butter ice cream is available all year round, and new flavors are introduced seasonally. For summer, blueberry, peach and strawberry varieties are available, and in the fall, pumpkin spice ice cream is available as well.
In addition to ice cream, decorated treats are available at Grateful Dog Bakery, including top seller Nutter Butter Bones or Ginger the Squirrel, made with organic whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon and molasses.
Grateful Dog Bakery also offers treats made with oat flour, including pumpkin spelt treats and cranberry oat canollis, which Raymond said is good for smaller or older dogs since the texture is softer.
“(We) just want to provide healthy options for the dogs and spoil them rotten,” Raymond said.
Grateful Dog Bakery, Instagram: @gratefuldogbakery.
Three Dog Bakery – Mount Juliet, Tenn.
Dog-friendly cupcakes, mini bread loafs, cakes, cookies and brownies are available at Three Dog Bakery. All human-grade, the treats are made with ingredients such as wheat, chickpea flour, rice flour, honey, applesauce, carrots and blueberries.
“Everything is human-grade. We just don’t sweeten with white sugar. We don’t use butter,” said owner Lori Elam.
Elam has been making her own dog food for 15 years, and found that premade treats weren’t as healthy as she would like to feed her dogs.
“So I started making my own frostings, my own cakes, my own cookies, and I have a huge retail background, and I was like, ‘Well, I’ll just merge everything together and make a business out of it.’ So that’s what I did,” she said.
Three Dog Bakery offers a variety of cake designs, including bears, blocks of cheese, turtles, dinosaurs, Christmas wreaths and more. The bakery also offers gender reveal cakes and bone cakes, which come in either carob chip or peanut butter flavors and are iced with a low-fat, low-lactose yogurt frosting.
“I just love every day, because no matter if the dogs are sad or the humans are sad, we try to make sure that they leave with a smile on their face,” Elam said.
Three Dog Bakery, Instagram: @threedogbakerymtjuliet.
