In 2020, Crystal DeLanney’s family adopted a labradoodle puppy from Pet Finder. The little fellow had been part of a puppy mill, and as Crystal stared at his sad face in the online photo, she knew he needed her. Crystal named him Georgie and brought him home…the same day she and her husband had gotten new carpeting. Crystal shrugs. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
It had been five years since Crystal shared her heart like that. Five long years since Crystal’s last dog had died, and it took every day of that half-decade to heal the void that was left. From the beginning, it was a case of who rescued whom. Crystal was doing accounting work from home, and she’d been feeling isolated and unfulfilled. Georgie helped, staying by her side, making her get up frequently when he needed belly rubs, walks, or snacks.
If you consider genetics, Crystal didn’t belong in the numbers game. Her grandparents had owned a bakery in Idaho, and her parents once owned a restaurant in Oregon named Bonnie and Clyde’s. Crystal, who’d grown up in Charleston, Arkansas, with her parents and two brothers, thought of herself as a good Southern cook. She was a meat, potatoes, and gravy enthusiast, but she was not a baker.
Dog-gone-it, though, sweet Georgie deserved the best, so Crystal researched his nutritional needs, and along with the search came the idea of opening a dog bakery.
“I had an inheritance from my mom,” Crystal says. “I didn’t want to squander it. I also didn’t want to leave Georgie at home because we’d spent so much time together. I posed the idea of a dog bakery to my husband and two kids—I could take Georgie to work with me.” Crystal laughs. “They thought I was absolutely insane. Dogs want people-food, they innately do. I wanted dogs to feel like they were getting what Mom and Dad have, but healthy for them.”
In August 2020, Crystal opened Doods and Dames Dog Bakery out of her house and soon moved to a brick-and-mortar location in Fort Smith. “We were unprecedented. There’s never been a dog bakery in the River Valley. There are mom-and-pop shops that operate from homes but never a stand-alone dog bakery. They [the City of Fort Smith] didn’t really know how to zone us.”
By then, her recipes had been tested by her husband, two kids, and Georgie. She’d created each one through trial and error, everything from doggie ice cream with goat or almond milk, birthday cakes with mashed potato frosting, pizzas made with rye dough, and donuts made with carob. She used eight kinds of flour, some gluten-free, to deal with different dog allergies or concerns. She used turmeric in some recipes, which is good for inflammation. She also created a cookie with chamomile that has a calming effect. Ginger became standard in certain treats and hemp protein powder in others. Her oil of choice was always olive oil. Crystal didn’t use eggs; instead, she relied on organic, unsweetened applesauce.
Doods and Dames Dog Bakery is now located at 802 Fort Street in Barling. You can’t miss it. High above the building is a sixteen-foot sign that reads simply, Dog Bakery. At night, the sign lights up. Crystal laughs. “My husband’s really proud of the business; he wanted the sign to be big.”
Last year, Crystal baked 600 custom doggie birthday cakes. Her most memorable confection is a Cinderella-themed cake she made, with five layers, that weighed forty pounds. To her furry customers, she’s Auntie Crystal, the magical woman who makes them birthday cakes once a year and yummy treats the rest of the time.
One of the things that makes Doods and Dames so successful is that they realize who they’re working for. “We deal with the human customers, but it’s our job to serve the dogs. This is their place. They come here, and they feel special. We want them to feel like, ‘We’re shopping for me today!’”
As Crystal says this, the front door opens, and one of her little pals, Gizmo, comes in. He’s a regular, and as he races to Crystal, his tail wags hard enough to cause a breeze.
Along with the shelves of freshly baked treats, there are eight take-home mini meals, including Chicken Stir Fry and Pupsgetty, that look like something you’d pick up from a deli. Crystal has one customer who lives out of state and stops by when she can. She stocks up and then freezes the meals once she gets home.
The mini meals evolved because Crystal’s two dogs—she’s also adopted a Pyrador, named Frank, from a shelter in Sallisaw—had gotten tired of their kibble. “And Georgie was allergic to chicken, like a lot of dogs, so I worked around that. These are really tasty, and they think they’re eating Mom and Dad’s food because they watch me heat it up.” They now have the mini meals along with their kibble, and the combination keeps them smiling.
Doods and Dames also offers a Raw Bar. While the fare (duck heads, pig snouts, etc.) is not necessarily appealing to humans, the dogs love it. Crystal reminds her clientele that dogs are, by nature, predators.
When Crystal started, she thought her customer base would be higher-end shoppers. “Our clients are middle-class, blue-collar, hardworking, wonderful people. Many come in once a week and spend a few dollars on their dog. Some come in and spend a dollar. I love it, because they’re making their dog happy.”
“I’ve made so many amazing friends doing this,” Crystal says, her green eyes bright. “The cakes do it for me. I love that I can be a small part of a family’s celebration. For them to trust me with making that day special, it’s just beyond. They’ll send me pictures, and I’ll see the dog, and I can tell they are thinking, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but this is the greatest day of my life!’”
“It’s made me value animals more, but more than that, it’s made me value people who love their pets. The people who come in here love their animals, and it’s so sweet to see that side of them. This is the greatest thing I think I could ever have done with my life.”
Crystal adds that the best thing about dogs is that they want you to know they love you as much as they want to be loved. All they ask in return is shelter, a walk, and a treat now and then. Crystal has the treats covered. The rest is up to you. And the rewards—just ask Crystal—are endless.
Doods and Dames Dog Bakery
802 Fort Street, Barling, Arkansas
479.763.1357
doodsanddames.com
WORDS Marla Cantrell
IMAGES Jade Graves Photography and courtesy Doods and Dames Dog Bakery
