Bow-WOW! New Orleans Has Canine Bakery? Lucky Dogs!

Pawlines, anyone? Perhaps a ciao-wow pizza?

For pet owners who want the top treatment for their precious pooches, Three Dog Bakery is the place. The shop in the French Quarter gladly handles dog parties, weddings or even just a yappy hour.

“Business is good. We’ve had a tremendous response,” said Anne Rogers, 32, who opened the bakery in March with her mother, Jane Rogers, 54.

Trays of doggie delicacies with names like mutt muffins are displayed in wicker baskets trimmed with ribbons and dried flowers, all out of dog’s reach.

The goodies are all low-fat, made from a wheat flour dough baked with garlic, peanut butter or honey cinnamon. Some are dipped in unsweetened carob or sprinkled with spices and cheese.

If it sounds good, there’s a reason: The bakery employs a full-time pastry chef. Lapping it up are Anne’s golden retriever, Gratzi, the maitre d’og, and Jane’s West Highland white terrier, Lacie, the executive treat taster.

The Rogerses got the idea for their store from a magazine article about Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff, who opened the original Three Dog Bakery in Kansas City, Mo., in 1990. The men own nine other bakeries in the United States and one in London.

The New Orleans bakery is the only one that holds pooch parties.

Zetta and Bob Hearin are planning a “south of the border” birthday bash for their Tibetan terrier, Shagi. The $500 fiesta will include miniature sombreros for Shagi and his six guests, a Mexican buffet for the dogs--and for the people--and a live Mariachi duo.

“We’re very excited,” Zetta said. “One of the guest dogs is getting her nails done and bows put in her hair.”

Don’t be so sure that everything is about the dogs. Is, for example, the bakery’s Friday evening gathering, called “Pooches Without Partners,” a thinly veiled singles club for owners?

“Well,” Jane concedes, “the whole name of it is ‘Pooches That Have Parents Without Partners,’ but that’s too long to print.”

Steve Foster, who held a $50 soiree for his miniature poodle, Sprite, and seven other lucky dogs had his own opinion on the bakery’s concept.

“People say, ‘Well, what a silly thing to do for your dog,’ he said. “But, really, it’s for the people.”