Three Dog Bakery’s newest location brings doggie cookies, birthday cakes to Bar K
August 23, 2021 | Channa Steinmetz
A partnership between a Kansas City-bred, all-natural dog treat brand and one of the metro’s hottest spots for four-legged meetups is a natural pairing, said David Hensley, noting both businesses are centered around the goal of bringing joy to people and their pets.
“We’ve been working with Three Dog Bakery for a while now to provide doggie cookies and dog birthday cakes for some of our events, so it made a lot of sense to have a Three Dog Bakery retail spot right here at Bar K,” said Hensley, who co-founded the popular dog bar with Leib Dodell in 2016. “Any time you can align with a company that shares a passion and has such a great reputation is going to be very exciting.”
Click here to see why Bar K was named one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021.
Founded more than 30 years ago as a maker of high-quality dog treats, Three Dog Bakery is headquartered in Kansas City with 45 retail bakery franchises.
Three Dog Bakery’s Bar K location — which can be found in a 20-foot shipping container next to Petfinder Park — is completely one-of-a-kind, said Ally Homa, who serves as the marketing director for Three Dog Bakery.
“The biggest difference with this location is that Bar K allows us the opportunity to host birthday parties with their space,” Homa explained. “The way we partner with them is that we provide things like the birthday cake, the party hats, and then you can choose à la carte add ons such as bar kuterie boards, pupcakes and our lickety split treats.”
Click here to check out the birthday packages offered by Bar K and Three Dog Bakery.
Three Dog Bakery hosted a grand opening Aug. 1 to mark “Dogust” — the designated month to celebrate birthdays for rescue dogs since a majority of owners do not know their actual birth dates.
“North Shore Animal League started this tradition that [August] 1st is the universal birthday of dogs in shelters that don’t have an official birthday,” Homa noted. “So we thought it would be really fun to do a fundraiser for shelters in our communities — not just in Kansas City but in our entire chain of stores. Each of those stores also donated a large bone cake to a local rescue shelter, so that they could have a little party for all their rescue pups.”
Throughout the month, Three Dog Bakery locations are selling pet bandanas for $5 with the proceeds going to local rescue shelters. From sales at the Bar K location, donations will be sent to Melissa’s Second Chances in Shawnee and Lucky 13 Rescue in Kansas City.
Three Dog Bakery at Bar K is open 5 p.m. to 8 p.m Monday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Outside of the bakery’s operating hours, dog treats and cakes are available for purchase at the Bar K restaurant, Hensley added.
“Most of our members were already big fans of Three Dog Bakery and the feedback has just been really positive,” Hensley said. “… We’re starting [the partnership] here in Kansas City, and as we expand, we are talking about the possibility of incorporating Three Dog into future locations.”
Click here to read more about Bar K’s expansion into St. Louis and other markets.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business

2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
How this founder’s hobby (plus a little trouble) became Oak Park retail incubator’s biggest success story
“Big Chunky Blankets” — soft as a baby’s cheek and custom knitted in any color of the rainbow — folded into the foundation of what would become Maryann Nzioki Hult’s resilient, nearly pandemic-proof foray into entrepreneurship. They put local Tabu Knits on the online map of must-have-items, and then became the seed of two Johnson…
Big win for UMKC: Unlocking top tier research status gives KC new competitive edge
A new milestone for the University of Missouri-Kansas City — achieving status as Kansas City’s first Carnegie R1 research institution — is expected to help boost the region’s ability to start, grow and scale more startups, leaders said this week, emphasizing the role university-led research plays in innovation across industries and communities. “It’s absolutely massive…
KC Bier Co building new 30,000-square-foot urban beer garden; founder brewing a space for all
A Kansas City-built, German-style brewery is expanding to Lenexa — bringing an authentic Bavarian beer garden experience to Johnson County, said founder Steve Holle. Developed in partnership with West Star Development, the new KC Bier Co. venue will feature a large outdoor space, an indoor restaurant, private event areas, and a stage for live music…
Founder Problems: Podcast captures the ‘messy middle’ you don’t see on entrepreneurs’ highlight reels
A new Kansas City-based podcast is skipping over the fairy tale stories of founding a startup; instead diving straight into the messy parts, the hosts shared. Founder Problems — hosted by local entrepreneurs Sarah Schumacher, Zach Oshinbanjo, and Lee Zuvanich — is embracing the aspects of starting and running a business that no one wants…




