The Baker of Dog Treats | Vasilena Todorova
Her hair is tied in a messy bun and a smile lights up her face as she sits down on a chair. Just a few minutes ago, Vasilena Todorova finished cooking something very special in the other room. Vasilena works in a bakery but her clients are far from ordinary. They have four legs and get easily excited.
Four years ago, Vasilena created the Dog Bakery in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than 3000 cakes later, the small shop is still working at full speed, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Vasilena and her colleague spend their days baking in the kitchen. In the evenings, they ship all purchases to their clients.
The Dog Bakery sells home-made, all-natural dog cookies and birthday cakes. All products are made of fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits in different combinations.
Vasilena’s goal is to make owners treat their dogs as part of their families. In her words, “Bulgarians generally have this perception that a dog’s place is in the yard and on a leash.” Vasilena aims to change this and show people the importance of feeding their dogs with healthy, nutritional food.
“I think that sparking a discussion is an important aspect of my job,” Vasilena shares. Some time ago, a street photography page published a photo on Facebook, in which a family was celebrating their dogs’ birthday with a cake, made by Vasilena. The post gained popularity and people started arguing in the comments. The topic — should dogs be treated like humans?
People on one side of the debate argued that there is no point in organizing a birthday party for a dog because pets can’t tell the difference between a normal meal and having a cake, balloons and candles. “I don’t agree,” Vasilena says. “I think that dogs understand the emotions of the people around them. They can sense the atmosphere. So throwing a birthday party is not enjoyable only for the owners, but also for the dog.”
Vasilena got the idea of creating a dog bakery around the same time she quit her office job because she needed a change and a purpose.
“I started looking up recipes because I wanted to cook healthy, homemade meals for my dog,” Vasilena shares. At one point she discovered the concept of a dog bakery and saw that such shops were popular in the US. This is how she found herself the purpose she was looking for.
“There was no such thing as a dog bakery in Bulgaria back in the day, “ Vasilena says. “My business was the first of this kind so when I went to register my company, there was no suitable category.”
It took her more than half a year to open a shop and gather all the documents and licenses. During that time, Vasilena was baking at home with the help of her mother.
“The first Christmas after I got the idea for the dog bakery, I already had a lot of clients. I still hadn’t opened the shop, so I was cooking from home. I had so many orders that the whole house was a mess, there was shipping packaging and food everywhere,” Vasilena remembers.
“It was chaotic. But seeing how many people supported my idea made me realize I had to turn the bakery into more than a hobby,” Vasilena says with a smile.
