Visiting a Three Dog Bakery

I got a chance to visit a Three Dog Bakery last week - my second store that I have seen. When you are in the dog bakery businesses, it should be a requirement to go and pay some homage to the granddaddy's of the business - after all - they invented it.

I had a few take aways after leaving their store that makes me very excited to be a part of BigWag and glad I didn't opt to buy a franchise. The first thing that I noticed was that the store did not have very much in the way of other non-competing pet businesses, dog rescues, or shelters in their store. This gave me the impression they were not a very big part of the pet community in their city. Point number one is that I am glad I can direct BigWag to be a big part of the pet community - help rescues and shelters with events, help other pet businesses by posting business cards on our bulletin board - be a part of NWA, not just exist here.

The second thing that rang home was that their every day treats are not baked in their store - they are baked in a factory somewhere. It appears that all they do in the retail stores these days are cakes and pastries. I'm proud of the fact that all of our treats are baked in our store and are as fresh as possible. It gives us flexibility to do things like our promotional Stephen Colbert Claws that we are currently doing to help raise money for the Humane Society. (This also goes back to the community thing above). We're trying to get mentioned on his TV show. =)

They sell rawhide. This surprises me, with all of the bad things rawhide can do to your pet. For such a forward thinking, pet well being company, selling rawhide seems to conflict with their core message. We sell only natural chews - bully sticks, beef twists, shanks, bones, and ears. We also carry a line of dehydrated sweet potato chews, which I think are an awesome, nutritious alternative to the meat products. My dogs love these.

And lastly - we need a refrigerated display case. I've wanted one of these since we opened - they are just so expensive. I think I need to make this a higher priority. It makes a really nice presentation of the pastry type treats, and it would allow us to pre-bake a couple of barkday cakes and decorate them right there on the spot when people come into the store wanting a cake right away. We currently ask for 24 hours notice on cakes, but this would allow people to pick one up right away.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not necessarily knocking the Three Dog Bakery company - after all, they get all the credit for dog bakeries. I'm a big fan, read their books, and bought their treats. I just happen to think there is some room for improvement, and I think we are addressing some of those now - which makes me glad I am part of a place like BigWag where we can do those kinds of things.