We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassie Erickson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cassie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business? 

In 2006 I opened a doggy daycare, boarding and training facility. I opened my store in the same shopping complex as a pet store so in order to not compete, I had to make everything I sold in my store. Because of this I started baking dog treats, making collars and leashes and painting pet portraits to have more to offer my clients. Everything was a hit with my clients. In 2009 I decided I needed to close my shop. I had to have some serious knee surgeries and I was having a very hard time healing because of how active I needed to be. I also had a baby 10 months prior. So December 2009 I closed.

Because I still had these other skills, I was able to keep painting my pet portraits, baking, training and sewing. I went back and forth over the years working for others while doing my stuff on the side.

A huge passion grew for baking my pet treats and I really put my mind on wanting to open a storefront to sell my treats. December 2021 I saw a space for rent in an adorable little historical area of my town. I called to see about renting the space and was shocked to learn how low the rent was and how perfect the space was for my business. I put the wheels into motion and opened our store in March 2022.

We offer something unique. We offer grain free treats that look just like people treats and foods. They are intricately decorated, customizable and something you really do not see others doing. We also offer obedience classes, private one on ones and will be bringing back the custom collars and leashes. People get very excited about our products and the word is spreading. We hope to be around a while!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a mother of two awesome kiddos (Kaylyne, 18 and Ayden, 14) and am married to my high school sweetheart, Ryan. We have been together now 25 years! I have had a love for all things dog related for as long as I can remember. One of the first books I read was a book about different dog breeds. My first childhood dog was a sweet Shepherd mix named Lucky. She was the reason I fell in love with training. I was only about 9 years old when we got her. I had her trained to do many tricks and did 4H with her. I knew from then on I wanted to become a dog trainer when I grew up.

At 18 years old I contacted a local dog training company and asked the owner about what it would take to get into training professionally. She asked to meet with me and we talked about my experience and my goals. She took me on as an apprentice and trained me for 2 full years. I began training dogs for her in a local pet store. This was 20 years ago and I still am in contact with many clients and have helped train these clients’ new dogs as they have gotten them over the years.

in 2006 I opened just a few stores down from where I was training in the pet store. I opened a doggy daycare, boarding and training facility. We did group classes and agility classes in this location. I loved it! I began sewing custom collars and leashes and making gourmet treats to sell at the store which is where my love of baking and decorating began. Unfortunately in 2009, I had to have a few knee surgeries. One of them being a very large surgery that made it so I was not able to put weight on my right leg for 6 months. Unfortunately I still needed to be at work which caused to me to slip many times and prolong the healing process. I ended up closing in December 2009.

During the last few months of being open I started painting pet portraits on glass ornaments. This was a HUGE hit. I received 50 orders for ornaments in a 2 week time frame plus some orders for larger paintings. I decided that this is what I would focus on when I closed as I could stay home with my kids, heal and do something I loved. My portraits grew very popular and I was able to increase my pricing as my detail increased with each painting. Now my portraits are smaller and super fine detailed making them look like a photograph. Two celebrities have paintings of mine, Wil Wheaton being one and Jake Owens the country singer being another.

Over the years I continued to bake, sew and paint. Opening a pet treat bakery was a huge goal of mine. My treats changed through the years. They went from basic and poorly decorated to grain free, unique and highly decorated. I love making treats that look like human foods. Like tacos, burgers, beer steins, donuts and so much more. I have even made sushi and lobster tails with asparagus! My cakes stand out from others. I love challenges and love to do unique crazy ideas that no one else can do in the dog cake world. I knew I had a place with my treats when I did a few summers of Farmers Markets and sold out each week. Clients would come from all over to get my treats and would tell me that my treats were the only cookies their dog would eat or their tummy could handle.

In December 2021 I saw a space that was going to be available for rent on an adorable little historical area of my town. I checked the space out and knew I needed to find out more about it. The rent was the lowest I have seen in my area! I had to have it. It was a HUGE space which is more than I needed but the rent sure made up for it and I was certainly able to offer more in this space like training!! I wasn’t quite prepared to open a storefront but I decided I needed to make it happen. I had so many clients cheering for me and backing me! We opened March of 2022. It currently is just 2 of us working day and night to make all the awesome goodies. My dearest friend and partner in crime, Jessica, is the main baker. You will find me doing most of the decorating, making all the cakes and doing all the training both private one on ones and groups.

What sets us apart? I am happy to say many things! First, we make one of the only grain free highly decorated treats on the market. We don’t use sugar in our frosting so it doesn’t melt and cause upset tummies in pups. It’s actually yogurt based which jives well with most dogs!! We dehydrate our treats 2 times so we do not have to put any preservatives in them and they last over 6 months naturally. We make our own cookie cutters! We have a 3D printer so we truly can make anything we desire! We pride ourselves on being able to make nearly anything in treat form. We have done some pretty crazy cakes and treats. From pet portrait treats to dog face cakes, giant unicorn cake, burger cake.. I am also a trainer that specializes in positive reinforcement based training and building an unbreakable bond with your dog. I help clients with problem or reactive dogs learn why their dogs behave the way they do and how to go about fixing their behavior. I make custom collars, leashes and harnesses for all size dogs. They are built to last! I paint super high detailed miniature pet portraits that look exactly like your beloved pet. I paint them on handmade fused glass pendants, glass ornaments, wood, slate… you name it. I also TEACH people how to paint their pets. I love what I do. Just wish there was more time in the day to accomplish even more!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My passion and love for dogs built a desire in me to learn everything I can about them. From studying pet nutrition to working in the vet field, training for over 2o years. I want everyone to grow in knowledge that I talk with. Whether it be about things that will benefit their pet, info about what goes into our treats and why. I have the knowledge and experience to share and clients know this from our conversations. Clients I worked with 20 years ago come find me. Clients I took care of their pets when I had my daycare come to me to help train their new dogs. Customers will try our treats with their dogs and the dogs LOVE them. Not only do they love them but they are not getting the upset tummies they get with most other treats. This builds lasting relationships and the reputation has grown from there.

How’d you meet your business partner?

During the pandemic of Covid-19, I was forced to go back into working for someone else. My business was not considered “essential”. I decided that I would put my creativity and decorating skills to use and went to work for Safeway as a lead cake decorator. During that time, I worked at the Mill Creek Safeway and met Jessica. She was also a cake decorator and we became fast friends. I left in February 2021 but kept in touch with her. She actually came and helped me with all my holiday treat making in my home!! When I told her my crazy idea of opening the store front, she climbed aboard!! Jessica is my right hand lady! She is a force to be reckoned with! She was not a baker at Safeway but is the number 1 baker here at the barkery. She has the most drive I have ever seen in a person. I truly am beyond thankful that Jessica and I met and we now are on this adventure together!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.abarkeryunleashed.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abarkeryunleashed/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABarkeryUnleashed/

Image Credits
I have taken all pics provided.