Crestline’s dog bakery (in the Alpine Mall, across from the Post Office) is a unique local treat. Owner and baker Miriam Wiegel makes fresh cookies, muffins and biscuits for dogs, using human-grade food ingredients. Flavors include cheese, bacon, pizza, liver, peanut butter, ginger and apple cinnamon. I can vouch that not only do my dogs love these bakery items, but yes, I have eaten them too. Tasty and high in fiber! Dogs are my babies; I have to make sure their treats are good, after all…

I asked Miriam to tell me her story - how the bakery started, what she sells and why she does this labor of love. Here are her words:

I started Cuby, Bakery for Dogs 4 years ago because of my picky German Shepherd dog. Like many German Shepherds, he is very finicky and always has been. As a puppy, he went through multiple training classes, most of them were positive reinforcement classes — treat/bait based. Finding a treat that would help motivate him was practically impossible. The treats he tended to like were mass produced, highly refined, full of chemicals, additives, & food color — YUCK!

Being pretty health conscious I felt horrible getting junk treats, so I started experimenting with homemade treats. As I started researching animal nutrition and quality treats for dogs, I noticed there was a gap in all natural, human-grade ingredients, additive-free treats. So I spent a year experimenting with flavors and came up with 6 that were pretty fool-proof and started my business. At the time, there wasn’t a commercial space to install a full kitchen so I leased a space & made a do-it-yourself cookie mix. Within a year, it became apparent that people didn’t have time to bake dog treats themselves and a space opened in the Alpine Mall, so I moved the business and started baking.

Now in the third year at the Alpine Mall, I have over 20 flavors of natural dog treats. I dehydrate them to extend the shelf life. Also offered are “soft” training treats (perishable), muffins, meatballs, and cakes. New recipes are always being tested.

Also at the bakery are homemade blankets for dogs, and dog breed books (thanks to Mountain Books). Any local artist is welcome to display their dog-related artwork or crafts for sale.

We offer many dog training opportunities, Tuesday evenings with dog behavioralist, Rick Belmonte ($10/owner & dog, 951-354-7297), Wednesday evenings we have a free dog Rally or Agility course set-up to play with your dog, Saturday mornings, there are group training classes with Christine Lee (909-337-2400). Additionally, the Comfort Pets trainer, Kathy Higgins, offers an obedience class on the 1st Tuesday & 3rd Thursday of every month ($15/owner & dog, 951-285-9064)

Stumble it!