Inside the Co Derry ‘dog bakery’ serving up canine cupcakes, chocolates and birthday cakes

A Co Derry woman has told how her beloved sausage dogs inspired her to swap life as a solicitor to run her own dog bakery.

Kerona Hasson creates everything from canine cupcakes and chocolates to crisps and birthday cakes through Doganic Barkery, with her three dachshunds serving as the business’s chief taste testers.

The idea grew from Kerona’s long-standing interest in food and a desire to understand exactly what she was feeding her dogs.

“I’ve always been really interested in food,” she explains.

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“I love reading labels and I’ve always liked to make things from scratch.

“I used to bake for people as a way of de-stressing when I was working full-time as a solicitor because it was a really nice way for me to relax and decompress.”

When Kerona brought home her first dachshund, Mr Darcy, her attention began shifting from human bakes to dog treats.

Like many new owners, she initially bought him a wide variety of products but soon found herself scrutinising their labels and researching unfamiliar ingredients.

“I bought every treat like everybody else does but then I started reading the ingredients list on the back of the packet,” she says.

“I was Googling things and thinking, ‘I don’t even know what is in this.’

“So I started baking for Darcy because I wanted to know exactly what I was feeding him.”

He was later joined by Scooby-Doo, who originally belonged to Kerona’s niece.

“He never went back because he got everything made for him,” she laughs.

In June 2019, Kerona took a six-month career break from law and returned home to Derry.

“I was in quite a stressful job and I just thought, ‘You know what? I’m going to take six months out and see what I’m going to do,’” she recalls.

“So I came back to Derry and moved in with my mum. I bought my own house the following January and then Covid hit.”

Throughout that period Kerona continued experimenting with homemade treats for Darcy and Scooby.

After seeing what she was making a neighbour encouraged her to try selling the treats at a local market.

“I said, ‘Nobody would be interested,’” she recalls.

“I only had about £500 to get things up and running when I started doing markets. It has been very hard work and I’ve had to teach myself a lot but now I just love it.

“I love all the different dogs, the different venues and the community among the traders.”

Today Scooby is approaching his 16th birthday and is joined at home by five-year-old dachshund Tilly and Kerona’s newest arrival, rescue dachshund Hugo.

Hugo weighed 16kg when he was surrendered but is now down to just over 8kg after Kerona carefully managed his diet. Despite initially insisting she could not keep him, he has since become part of the family.

She explains that the dogs’ different personalities and tastes have helped shape Doganic Barkery’s extensive range.

Tilly inspired Kerona’s Calm and Dreamy bites after arriving as a lively puppy who wanted to play late into the evening while the older dogs were ready for bed.

She says the treats have since become popular with owners of anxious dogs or dogs which struggle to settle.

“I have one lady with a wee cocker spaniel called Holly and Holly will not go to bed without one of my Calm and Dreamy treats.

“I wasn’t at the market in Coleraine and she was messaging me going, ‘Holly won’t go to bed.’

“I love all my wee regular dogs. Some of the customers now just come up and know exactly what they want.”

Over the years I’ve collected so many recipes for humans, so I thought, ‘Why can’t I do something like that for the dogs?’

—  Kerona Hasson

Kerona develops the range by adapting recipes she once used when baking for people, carefully selecting dog-friendly ingredients and observing what her own pets enjoy.

“Over the years I’ve collected so many recipes for humans,” she explains.

“So I thought, ‘Why can’t I do something like that for the dogs?’ I adapted them using things I knew I could include.

“All my dogs like different fruit and vegetables and like them prepared in different ways. Humans don’t all like the same things and dogs are exactly the same.”

However, behind the colourful cakes and playfully named treats, lies a demanding manufacturing process.

Doganic Barkery is approved by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for manufacturing and handling animal by-products.

Kerona must keep detailed records, maintain separate equipment and adhere to cleaning and temperature-control procedures.

“The paperwork I have to do is the same as a much bigger manufacturing plant,” she says.

“I get audited, I get random testing and every month I have to send a product containing an animal by-product to a laboratory.

“It is hard work, especially when it is just you, but I’m religious about how everything has to be made, presented and packaged.”

Kerona uses local, seasonal and organic ingredients wherever possible and avoids preservatives, additives and artificial colouring.

She has now invested in commercial ovens and a larger mixer to increase production, while work is continuing on a Doganic Barkery website.

New dental treats are also in development alongside plans for a canine advent calendar to join her seasonal ranges.

Although she knows there is scope to expand further, Kerona is happy to allow the business to grow at a manageable pace while continuing to meet customers and their dogs at markets across the north.

“I’m at the stage now where people are approaching me, which is brilliant,” she says.

“I love meeting people and talking to them and there is a real community at the markets. Everybody helps everybody.”

For all the hard work involved, Kerona says she still loves running Doganic Barkery.

“I think everybody thought I was going to go back to law and that this was just a wee phase,” she says.

“But I’m at the stage now where I need a kitchen out the back because I have so much stuff in my own kitchen.

“I know Doganic Barkery could be much bigger if there were more hours in the day, but for now I’m happy with where we are because I do just love it.”

For more information on Doganic Barkery visit doganicbarkery.com.