Many owners like giving their dogs a cookie or two, or even three, but when Melissa Bryant doles out cookies to her three Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, “Hinckley,” “Macallan,” and “Bristol,” it means business.
For the past 10 years, Bryant and her husband Jon have operated the Mountain Dog Cookie Bakery, their home-based business in Scarborough, Maine. They bake custom celebration cookies for dogs.
When the male Swissies aren’t on the job as cookie tasters, they’re busy participating in performance sports. 6-year-old Hinckley GCHB CH. Shadetree’s Every Sailor’s Dream CGC TKN is working on his therapy dog certification and carting and has dabbled in AKC Rally. “Hinckley stacks himself during Rally because he thinks people are clapping for him like they did in conformation, so out of 15 attempts, he’s only passed one leg out of the three we need for a title,” Bryant says.
3-year-old Macallan GCH CH Wildest Dream It’s 5’O Clock Somewhere RN, CGCU STR TKN VHMA is training in carting, preparing for his therapy dog certification, and enjoying AKC Rally. “Macallan is still working on making those turns with the cart,” Bryant says. “He loves Rally, and we attend class once a week and practice 20 to 25 minutes a day because he loves to work.”
11-month-old Bristol Suma’s Not All Treasure Is Silver and Gold STR is working on his AKC Trick Dog title.
A Sweet Side Job
“The dogs work as quality control analysts, and they take their job of sampling every batch of cookies seriously,” says Melissa Bryant. Other than getting goodies after they’ve performed due diligence of tasting, the cookie connection doubles as a training exercise.
Always following the kitchen obedience rules of sitting or lying down outside the kitchen when Bryant mixes the dough, the 130-pound Working breeds have a sweet gig. They’ve figured out that once the tray goes into the oven, they can cross the kitchen threshold to perform their highly detail-oriented work and begin their up-close inspection.
Always in perfect position to maintain their security clearance during baking time, the dogs stare at the oven window in total surveillance. When the timer goes off and the cookies are ready to come out, their real job begins.
“From the oven, the cookie trays go into the dining room to cool, and the dogs aren’t allowed in there,” Bryant says. “The boys are good about remaining in a down stay until I give them permission to stand.”
When the Bryants first began baking cookies, “Oliver,” their first Swissie, developed the habit of getting underfoot when the bakers moved from the kitchen to the dining room to cool and decorate the trays of cookies. “He was our first dog and not as well-trained as the three we have now,” Bryant says. “We’re not sure if he did this accidentally or had a master plan since his interference would usually send the tray of cookies flying all over the floor.”
Bryant always bakes some leftover pieces of dough just for the canine trio. After the tidbits cool, she breaks off a piece of cookie and gives them a nibble or two. “They each get a bite, and surprisingly, they’re satisfied with one little bite,” Bryant says. If the Swissies perform well, licking peanut butter off the spoon may count as an extra.
The couple makes cut-out cookies, and the dough consists of human-grade dog ingredients. “Our cookies contain peanut butter, pumpkin, cinnamon, wheat flour, baking powder, and water, and we don’t use eggs, sugar, or tapioca starch.”
Their Birthday Business Begins
Hinckley, Macallan, and Bristol aren’t the Bryants’ first Swisses. Oliver, Oliver’s Riding Solo, “Bowdoin,” CH. Swiss Run’s Burke Mountain Bandit CGC TKA, and “Clay” GCH CH. Swiss Run’s Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee, RN FDC CGCA TKA, were the couple’s first trio of Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs.
“At one point, we had five Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs in our house at the same time,” Bryant says. In 2012, Oliver was the Bryants’ first Swissie. They wanted a breed that liked being with them and could take them anywhere and do anything, from hanging out on the couch to hiking in the snow or walking on the beach.
The Bryant’s Mountain Dog Cookie Bakery began with a gift. “For Oliver’s first birthday, we invited a few friends to bring their dogs over for a party,” Bryant recalls. “For party favors, we made large dog cookies and gave them to everyone to take home. People loved the idea and the cookies, and through word of mouth, our business took off.”
Club Involvement Pays Off
Members of the Greater Swiss Dog Club of America and the York County Kennel Club of Maine, the Bryants received an order from the Trap Falls Kennel Club in Shelton, Connecticut, six years ago to make large 9-l/2-inch-long cookies in the shape and color of traditional dog show rosettes. Rather than hand out traditional ribbons to their main winners at the show, the kennel club presents them with the Mountain Dog cookies. In the beginning, the couple baked 20 to 25 cookies for a show, but that number has grown to as many as 35.
The Bryants and the Swissies work as a team. Jon handles the baking, while Melissa does all the decorating. “We start two weeks before the show because rosettes can take a week or more to complete, plus there’s drying time,” Bryant says. “I’ve never taken formal baking or decorating classes, but I found that I can do things in icing that I can’t do with a pen and paper.”
Branching out from baking rosettes, the Bryants also offer treat bites for sale by the ounce that people can use for dog training. The bakery takes custom orders, too. Big dog-bone birthday gifts featuring a photo of a beloved dog are popular. They’ve also added 125 cookie cutters, including 30 dog breeds and holiday shapes such as snowmen and reindeer. “Watermelon-shaped cookies during the summer are always in demand,” Bryant says.
For the Bryants, getting involved with their Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs from Oliver’s first birthday to the six they’ve owned has not only brought them a canine circle of friends and activities, but also a tasty side business that brings joy and happiness to those around them.