We’re going to have a huge announcement on April 6th. I was having some fun on Twitter teasing about the news, and now it has turned into a full on contest in association with the Twitter Paw Pawty! I’m going to be dropping hints on Twitter all this week about what it could be. The first U.S. resident to guess it correctly will receive a 30% Off coupon code to use in our online store. (@emmythecat will provide the prize to first non-US resident) That’s the biggest discount we’ve EVER given. Twitter can get a little crazy sometimes, so I’m going to update this page with the hints as well so people can catch up. We will not announce the correct answer until the BIG, HUGE news is published on the morning of April 6th. Your guess must be tweeted out with the tags #bakersdog #pawpawty or we won’t see your answer!

UPDATE: We’ve Announced Our Big News!

Hints:

• This is not an April Fool’s joke and is real news.
• I slept in late on Sunday because I figured it was my last chance to do so for a while.
• The news happens sometime this Sunday (4/5), but the retail store will not be open.
• We are NOT having a baby! (Sorry Mom & Dad) Bonus hint: This is Baker’s Dog news.
• Some may think of a comic book, cartoon, or movie when they hear the news.
• There’s is pretty much a giveaway to what the news is in our latest video. (Watch the whole video closely!)

It’s been a while since we changed out our label photos. We had picked a few Winter themed photos back in January to match our winter decor. With the 70F days and outdoor customer photos we’ve had recently, we decided it was time to start celebrating Spring! As usual, these lucky dogs will get a Nearly Free* One Pounder as a thanks for letting us feature them on our retail store packages and online store photo options. We’ve also switched from using a glossy finish label to a cool matte finish. We think it matches the craft paper bags better. Let us know what YOU think!

*Nearly Free is because our online payment processor won’t let us charge $0.00 for an item. So we charge 1¢ + shipping.

[podcast format="video"]http://s3.amazonaws.com/bakersdog/BakersDogEpisode2HD.mov[/podcast]

We recommend following this link to view in HD. Also available on Vimeo.

Since our last video, we’ve become a fully operational bakery and retail store! It has taken some trial and error to learn and tune the new equipment. But I think we’re fairly happy with how we have things working at this point. Watch the video to see for yourself!

I haven’t blogged about the business much lately and it seems like every other customer that comes into the store asks us, “How are you guys doing?” We won’t get into specific numbers, but the store is definitely seeing tangible growth month to month. That’s not really that hard since we started from $0 a few months ago! It’s very exciting to see repeat business and hear the overwhelmingly positive feedback. We’ve been listening to our customers have been working on some new products to accomodate their requests and needs. I really enjoy telling our retail customers about the custom photo packaging and watching their faces light up as they think about all the neat photos they have of their furry children. It has been received even better than I expected it to be.

We can’t yet afford to market locally as much as I’d like to. I’ve been trying to make up for that by asking customers to tell their friends about us, doing what I can from the computer, and tweeting my face off. I only wished I was able to break away from the store to network in the local community more. All in all, we’re happy with how things are ramping up and pretty excited to see how things go for the Summer. We aren’t bajillionaires (yet). If we continue on our current trend, we will be profitable in 2009 and I think that’s all anyone can ask for right now.

If you like what we’re doing, stop by our retail store or shop online. Recommend us to the 3 biggest dog lover’s you know and tell us what we can do to become your #1 source for healthy baked pet treats!

The Baker’s Dog is proud to announce we will be hosting a pet portrait day on June 13th. The sitting fee is $15 in advance and $20 the day of the event. The fee secures a 30 minute session for one dog. A $5 fee will be added for each additional dog sitting in. Prints are sold separately by Melissa McDaniel Photography. A portion of the sitting fees will be donated to the Grand Strand Humane Society.

Melissa McDaniel is traveling the country raising awareness for animal shelters and rescues. She has identified and partnered up with a select few businesses to host pet portrait days on her journey. You can see a portfolio of her work here. This is a one day only event with limited spots. Please contact us to book your appointment.

If you’d like to help promote the event, here is the flyer we’re using in our store. Please feel free to print out or email to your friends!

We also have another exciting project in the works with Melissa that will help participating shelters and rescues across the country. Details coming soon!

Dutchess posing with... herself!

Remember our DoggedDogdom.com giveaway? Well the winners have recently been announced and the prize packages went out a couple of days ago. Even though Leigh of GoFetchGifts.com and Anne-Marie Gates entered the contest, we think the dogs Mr. Blue and Dutchess were the real winners!

Mr. Blue shaking a paw for a biscuit

Both winners got their prize packages today and sent us photos along with notes of thanks. GoFetchGifts.com even took the time put a nice little write up on their blog! Though we never expect anything in return for our prize offerings, we are incredibly flattered when people take time from their busy schedules to let us know they love our products. Getting the opportunity to put our fresh baked treats and custom photo packaging into new customers hands is exactly why we sponsor these contests.

We also really want to thank DoggedDogdom for letting us sponsor their contest and we look forward to more successful collaborations in the future!

Ryder not looking too excited about bath time!

We’re sponsoring another DailyPuppy.com photo contest! Enter your best “Bath Time” photo of your doggy to win a treat package with your winning photo on the bag. The January contest we sponsored was their biggest competition to date. Do us proud and take a minute to submit your photo.  Details are here.

Duke & Sophie waiting patiently

It feels incredibly good to provide a product and service that brings so much joy to our customers and their pets. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. But when one of our customers took the time to post a video of their dogs enjoying our treats, we were downright flattered! Here’s the videos:

I think we need to put together another video soon!