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Critter confections

A Seffner bakery carves its niche among doting owners who love to shower their pets - dogs and cats, even horses and goats - with treats.

SEFFNER - Dogs recognize the bakery boxes.

The gourmet treats inside are baked to suit their tastes. Savory treats also cater to cats, horses and goats.

At the Whiskers and Wags Pet Bakery, animals are the customers to please.

The menu of fresh-baked items features Harmony's Horse Cookies, Gingerbread Paws and Lady Dumbrowski Mini Eclairs. Cat treats include Kitty Kaviar and Salmon Appetit.

Dogs can choose among eight flavors of birthday cakes - from carrot cake and peanut butter to beef and chicken. The store's new specialty birthday packages come with decorations, doggie plates and bags with party favors. For the canine guests, of course.

Owners Joanne and Jennifer Ballengee never intended to get into the business of planning birthday parties for pets. Like business, the ideas have snowballed quickly.

For years, the mother and daughter made holiday gift baskets for friends. They wanted to include something for their pets. So Jennifer, a culinary dabbler, mixed up a few treats.

The all-natural goodies were a slobbery hit. Friends asked Jennifer to cook treats for their pets during the year. When mother Joanne opened the Enchanted Boutique in Seffner a year and a half ago, she decided to feature a display of the pet treats out front.

As word spread, customers arrived from across Tampa Bay. In September 2003, the family sold 500 pet treats. This year in their new location, the business sold 1,620 treats in September - despite missing several business days because of the hurricanes and power failures.

"It took off," said Joanne, 49, who oversees marketing. She and her daughter hire a part-time employee seasonally. "It was very popular, very quickly."

The pet bakery did so well that the Ballengees now are phasing out the collectible store with the move from their old location about a half-mile west on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Joanne still will make customized gift baskets for her human and animal customers, but most of the space at a new storefront on Martin Luther King in Seffner is for the dogs.

At its site across from Wal-Mart, near the Mango Dog Park, the pet bakery will feature a cafe where pets can chow down on fresh-baked treats while owners enjoy a refreshing beverage. The bakery also is expanding into national sales to pet boutiques in New York and California.

Display cases offer tantalizing views (even from four legs) of pet treats that Jennifer bakes in a rear kitchen. Items stay good for up to 60 days, longer if frozen.

The Ballengees name treats after the three family dogs who are their chief taste-testers: Freckles, a beagle mix, is the namesake for peanut butter woofies. Cheesy garlic twists are the favorite of a Lab named Shadow. Precious, a terrier, owns the peanut butter cookies.

Other treats are named for the family's deceased pets, and their loyal customers.

Many of the pet delights were inspired by regular kitchen cookbooks. As the bakery's only cook, Jennifer consults vets and researches online to make items healthy for pets. Whole wheat flour, honey and carob are substituted for ingredients that would make animals sick. She even has learned to frost doggie birthday cakes with cream cheese.

"We've had customers who have eaten them and say they taste fine," said Jennifer, 27, noting that treats are made without salt. "People that don't like sweet foods love it."

Pets don't seem to notice anything lacking in the flavors.

Since discovering the bakery two months ago, Sabra Manchester has given a treat every afternoon to Dudley, a miniature pinscher. Favorites are cheesy garlic and bacon cheddar twists.

"He knows the box," said Manchester, 30, of Brandon. "When I pull it out of the fridge, he jumps up and down and attacks me for the treats."

- Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

WHAT: Gourmet pet treats, which sell for $.75 each or up to four for $1; pet merchandise ranges from several dollars to $20 to $50 for a wooden bench holding bowls for water and food.

WHERE: 11711-B Martin Luther King Blvd., Seffner

GRAND OPENING: Celebrate the store's move to a new location on Oct. 30. Customers will get free gifts and door prizes. A photographer will take doggie photos. A contest for the best doggie costume for the Halloween holiday is scheduled.

CALL: 689-5289.