Canine customers of all shapes and breeds drool in front of the eclair case, as they anticipate wolfing down the perfectly decorated, morsel-sized treats at the Three Dog Bakery in Chicago.

Official baker and decorator, Gina Aulisio, said she expects business to be booming over Christmas, as pet owners pour in to buy dog treats for their four-legged friends.

Aulisio, who used to work in a dermatology clinic, took a course offered by the franchise to learn the secrets of the trade, and has been baking and decorating dog treats since the store opened in May.

Some of her specialties for the season are large Stocking Cookies, which can also be personalized with your dog's name, as well as Santa Hat Pupcakes, which are painstakingly adorned to look like three dimensional Santa Claus hats.

"They are all made with natural ingredients like yogurt powder, honey and apple sauce,'' Aulisio said about the pastries.

Safe and nutritious

The bakery's chocolate Ruffles are made with a chocolate substitute called carob.

"It's safe for dogs because it's low in fat and doesn't contain caffeine,'' Aulisio said. She also explained that the coloring is made with beet powder for pink, spinach for green, tumeric for yellow and tomato for orange icing.

Aulisio said the ingredients and the recipes are all approved by the franchise, though the decorations can vary from store to store around the United States.

Customers and their dogs appear to appreciate the treats and often come back for more.

Brandi Lamb, an apprentice screen printer from Arizona, said she tries a different pastry every time she visits the bakery to see what her dogs, Ruebi Jeane and Lilah LeBouff, enjoy most.

"I have two little Chihuahua mixes and they're my babies,'' she said. "I get the spearmint [treats] for them for Christmas and I'm getting them for my mom too,'' Lamb said. "She's got four dogs in Arizona.''

Though her dog Ruebi Jeane is very picky and normal dog food upsets her stomach, Lamb said the soft treats at the bakery don't make her sick. Also, the spearmint treats appear to be a good investment for the dogs as well as the owners.

"They make their breath so much better,'' Lamb said. "The little one has terrible breath and they hate getting their teeth brushed.''

Holiday gift ideas for pets

The bakery offers gift baskets and "gift boxers'' for the holidays that range in price from the simple $20 boxes to the luxurious $60 baskets bursting with treats. The priciest items contain holiday cookies, stuffed reindeer, a little Christmas tree, mini-treats, a gingerbread man and spearmint bones.

"So far we've sold a few,'' Aulisio said about the gift baskets. "But over the holidays they'll really sell.''

The way the pastries are displayed seems to play an important role in the sales. Mary Margaret Sweeney, Aulisio's assistant, said she rearranges the pastry trays and restocks quite often.

"People are the ones buying it with their eyes,'' she said about the treats. "So we want it to look good, even if they're not the ones eating it.''

Good for people, too

Though the pastries are geared toward the dogs, some of the treats can be mouth-watering for people, too.

Aulisio and Sweeney confessed that they occasionally snack on a "Lick `n Crunch'' cookie or two during work. The dog treats, which are produced in the Girl Scout cookie factory, can be peanut butter or vanilla flavored.

"They're actually better for you than a regular cookie,'' Gina said.

Contrary to some expectations, the dog cookies don't taste horrible to people. Their sugary sweetness could be compared to something similar to an Oreo cookie with vanilla cake frosting.

Christmas baking for your dog

Why not bake your own treats for your pets this holiday? The following recipe for Fresh Mint Biscuits helps keep dogs' breath fresh.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
• 1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 large egg

Special equipment: a pastry or bench scraper; a dog-biscuit cookie cutter (Available at sweetc.com.)

Preparation

Pulse flours, cornmeal, oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size butter lumps. Add 1 cup water and pulse until a coarse, dense dough forms.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in parsley and mint until well distributed. Gather, then halve dough with scraper. Form into 2 balls and flatten each into a 6-inch disk.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large baking sheets.

Roll out 1 disk of dough into a round (1/3 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, wrap in plastic and chill until firm.) Cut out as many biscuits as possible and arrange about 1/4 inch apart on 1 baking sheet.

Gather scraps and reroll, then cut out more biscuits. Repeat with remaining dough, using other baking sheet.

Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush biscuits with egg wash and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until tops are golden brown, about 35 minutes total. Turn off oven and dry biscuits in oven overnight.

Cooks' note: Biscuits keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature one month.

Reviewed by Dr. Andrew M. Streiber, DVM

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