Yummy! I’m loving it!
The idea of a dog bakery probably sounds a bit far-fetched for non-pet parents. “However, for anyone who has or has had a pet at some point in their lives, will associate with our underlying belief – our pets spoil us by making us feel like the most important people in the world… Let’s spoil them too!” as Yadika Sharma of The Spoilt Brat puts it.
What’s in a name?
What better name for a dog bakery than the name of the pet himself! “We named the bakery after our black Labrador named ‘Rocky’. In fact, Rocky’s picture is in our bakery logo too. We offer a range of treats from birthday cakes to cookies and much more for dogs, just like any other bakery for humans,” told Dheeksha Rabindra of Rocky Dog Bakery.
While, The Spoilt Brat – barkery ‘n’ more – is a bakery that creates all-natural, wholesome, oven-baked biscuits, treats and cakes for dogs. “My Australian Cocker Spaniel Sir Maximus Shah – the original spoilt brat, who is truly the most pampered individual in our house, was the inspiration behind the start of this venture,” told Yadika.
As per Aneesha Rai of DAWGZ Store Bakery,’ “Our brand name is DAWGZ. This name was inspired by one of our dogs, Prince, who could understand that we would be speaking about him whenever we used the word ‘dog’. So, everyone in the family started to spell it out as D.O.G. to confuse him. Soon he understood that too so we had to tweak it a bit more to make it D.A.W.G. That’s how this name came to be.”
While Aditi Limaye Kamat of Home Chef shared, “My partner and I run Home Chef, a cafe and catering service, along with ‘the cake studio’ through which we make designer hand-crafted cakes, desserts, chocolates and more.”
The inspiration…
Most pet parents would have their own stories to share about how their pets sniff out cakes or cookies. “Well, Rocky was no different! He not only loved but was crazy about bakery treats. Very often he would take a walk all by himself to the nearby bakery without our knowledge. His friendly approach, ever hyper with an insatiate appetite and his constant desire to be pampered won many friends including the bakery staff and got plenty of bakery treats. Eventually this led us to explore ways to substitute bakery products with our homemade recipes. Now, we want to share the healthy eating habits to all the dog lovers and cater to bakery needs of dogs. The idea took shape early August 2010 after sufficient research on dog nutrition and consulting vets and nutritionists,” told Dheeksha as a matter of fact.
For Aditi too, the inspiration came from his pet dog. “Our love for pets made us make some doggie loving cakes for my pet dog’s birthday and this is how our journey began into pet cakes.”
And Bubbles’ lack of desire to eat made Aneesha discover the pleasures of baking. “Actually I started baking much before I actually did my grooming or even opened the store. Bubbles, my basset, once fell ill and wouldn’t eat anything. That got me really worried. That’s the first time I baked nutritious treats for her. She loved them and lapped them up. Later my vet started recommending his patients’ pet parents to me to bake some for their ailing pets while they re-cooperated. When I opened the store was when I actually launched the bakery under the brand,” told Aneesha.
The variety…
“Along with the major ingredients that go into baking like flours, eggs, fruits and veggies, we also include ingredients like flax seeds that helps prevent dry itchy skin, heels cracked paws and prevents constipation. Parsley and mint which are natural breath fresheners and helps dogs with arthritis. Cinnamon could be given to diabetic dogs that helps regulate blood sugar level. There are many more natural ingredients like above that could be used for natural healing through the treats which tingles their taste buds as well,” told Dheeksha.
DAWGZ Store Bakery offers a whole range of treats including Training Tit-bits, pup-cakes, granola bars, doggie desserts, so on. “While deciding on a recipe, the nutrition content, the palatability, the purpose of the treat, for example, are they for training, to help fight fleas, etc, all are kept in mind. We also think of the presentation factor. All these are additionally fortified with essential vitamins and minerals to make them very nutritious. We do gluten-free treats too. We don’t use any preservatives and hence we make these fresh to order. All treats are made from human grade ingredients and we encourage our pet parents to join the party and enjoy them with their babies. Our best seller is our Liver Snap Biscuits & Cakes,” told Aneesha.
“We also keep certain dog allergies in mind and use relevant substitutes for the same. For example, dogs are not allowed chocolates, so we use an imported ingredient called carob which is a chocolate substitute and as such can be consumed by dogs. Since many dogs today have food allergies or health restrictions, we also customise our goodies to ensure they get what their diet requires. So, we have a line of gluten-free biscuits as well as biscuits enriched with multivitamins. The idea is to make their treats nutritious and tasty,” added Yadika of The Spoilt Brat Barkery, Mumbai.
While Rocky Dog Bakery offers a variety of birthday cakes, both veg and non-veg (choice of meat) with different frosting (yoghurt, carob, banana and cinnamon, spinach and beet), cupcakes and muffins with pets’ favourite veggie or fruit (carrot, banana, pumpkin, cherry), short eats like pretzels, cinnabun swirls, apple drops, blueberry nibbles, variety of cookies like peanut butter and oat, parsley and flaxseed. “All the above treats are customised for the pets keeping their allergies, likes, and needs in mind as some dogs are lactose intolerant. And our bestsellers include peanut butter, oat cookies and pretzels in short eats and chicken and vegetable cake and carrot honey cake in cakes,” added Dheeksha.
“We bake cup cakes (mini/regular) which are a hit for pet birthday parties. We make these in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties and they are 100 percent sugar/maida/chocolate free,” told Aditi as a matter of fact.
The Spoilt Brat’s most popular ‘barkery’ products are the Bow-wow Brownies, Apple Cinnamon Lollipups, Ginger Honey Treats, Garlic Cheese Pleasers, Sunflower Cookies, Cheesy Carrot Biscuits and Pup-eroni Pizzas. “And of course, our monthly Season’s Specials are always a sell-out,” added Yadika.
Message to all furry angels…
“Have a blast. Enjoy them and let me know what would you like to have next,” told Aneesha happily. While Dheeksha added, “This is for all the rockstar pets – eat healthy, stay healthy because healthy dogs are happy dogs.”
“We know you love us unconditionally, and we hope you know you mean the world to us too! Let your parents know that even though you are pampered and spoilt rotten, you will behave like an angel as long as you get rewarded by your favourite treats,” concluded Yadika.