Dog owners have always had an issue searching for healthy yet delicious food options for their pets. Torn between bland home-cooked meals and packaged items rife with preservatives, it is often difficult to find a balance. However, these bakeries based in Delhi and Gurugram provide an array of tasty and nutritious treats for your pups to devour. From caricature cakes, to cookies, and even beer, these ventures present an optimum meal for your furry friends so that they can indulge in appetising dishes time and again.
AN ARRAY OF FLAVOURS
Rashmi Prasad (47)—she began five years ago with a cake she baked for her German Shepherd Marco’s birthday—runs PawPie from her kitchen in Sohna Road, Gurugram. “I had taken the cake to the park and distributed it among the dogs there, and their parents came to ask me if I would bake cakes for their dogs as well,” recounts Prasad. Since dog bakeries were a fairly novel concept at the time, she decided to start this as a full-time venture. PawPie specialises in organic treats and cakes made without any preservatives. “Parents are always looking to experiment with [dog] treats. I have made these in a variety of flavours such as zucchini, carrot, and apple, to name a few. Our homemade fresh peanut butter treats are a big hit.” Along with this, Prasad also bakes half-and-half cakes for both pups and parents so that the entire family can join in the celebration. Prasad says, “The venture is extremely challenging, but I am grateful for the pet parents who push me to come up with interesting designs.” Saritha Janardhan, who has been ordering treats from PawPie since its inception, says, “I completely trust Rashmi. She is very particular about the ingredients used while creating a treat. This is exactly why I have continued to order from her.”
WHERE: Pawpie, Sohna Road, Gurugram
TASTY CARICATURE CAKES
Operating from her home kitchen in Gurugram, Apoorva Piplani (24) founded The Floof Pet Bakery in 2018. Passionate about baking, she would often make treats for her family, friends, and even their pets. Seeing how well these goodies were received, Piplani decided to combine her love for both dogs and baking in her food venture. “I keep in mind the suggestions given to me by the dog parents,” she says. Along with their signature caricature cakes, Floof also ships dog cookies pan India. Instead of using fondant, they create cakes and treats with ingredients such as sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, and Greek yogurt in order to maintain health and taste for the customers’ dogs. Ketki Sohal from Gurugram—proud parent to dogs Shiro and Chiko—says she has been ordering bespoke delicacies from Floof since Shiro’s second birthday. “My dogs thoroughly enjoy these cakes. Apoorva adjusts each ingredient according to my dogs’ preferences,” Sohal says.
WHERE: The Floof Pet Bakery, Sector 28, Gurugram
READY FOR ‘CHOW’ TIME
Nayani Tandon’s (34) home bakery Puppychino at Janakpuri delivers dog snacks and treats to pet parents across Delhi-NCR. Realising the dearth of a good canine bakery in the city, she began her venture to provide delicacies for dogs six years ago. Going beyond just cakes and desserts such as cupcakes, Tandon’s bakery also specialises in pizza, waffles, ice creams, and non-alcoholic dog beer. Along with customisable cakes made from gluten-free flour and crafting treats sans baking powder or soda, she also creates hampers for special occasions. “For Diwali, we made a special box with gujiya and laddoos,” Tandon says. All her bakes are made as per the dietary requirements of the dog and the designs shared by her customers. Susha, who has been buying treats from Puppychino for her dogs Nemo and Naggee for the past one-and-a-half years, mentions, “They have a range of goodies that my dogs love. In fact, their food is of good quality; my dogs don’t get any stomach issues after having it.”
WHERE: Puppychino, Janakpuri
CRAFTING TREATS FOR ALL
Run by Kishlay Kaushambee (29) from her small workshop kitchen in Jangpura, The Canine Company was started in June 2019 keeping in mind healthy treats for dogs and cats. Although she was always interested in baking, Kaushambee ventured into crafting these treats to celebrate the six-month anniversary of her rescue, an Indie dog named Star. Realising that this was a lucrative opportunity, she decided to open a full-time pet bakery. Her cakes and cupcakes—it can be customised according to the pets’ needs without compromising on ingredients—are only for delivery in Delhi-NCR. The Canine Company also specialises in gluten-free, healthy cookies and chicken jerky for cats and dogs. The frosting is made with unsweetened peanut butter, fresh yogurt, or mashed potatoes. Saurabh Kumar from Noida, who has a four-year-old German Shepherd named Murphy, says, “Murphy is finicky when it comes to food. However, he readily devours the cake and the jerky I order from here.”