Bakery helps provide service dogs to veterans

Nov. 11, 2014, Kansas City, MO — As Canada, the United States, the Commonwealth of Nations and many other countries around the world pause to honor their servicemen and women today, Three Dog Bakery in Kansas City, Missouri, is teaming up with man's best friend to provide service dogs to veterans.

Nov. 11, 2014, Kansas City, MO — As Canada, the United States, the
Commonwealth of Nations and many other countries around the world pause to honor their servicemen and women today, Three Dog Bakery in
Kansas City, Missouri, is teaming up with man's best friend to provide
service dogs to veterans.

Three Dog Bakery will donate to Food Industry Serving Heroes (FISH) an amount equal to 15 per cent of the total sales of its products, whether through its bakeries, its retail outlets or online, made on Veterans Day/Remembrance Day. The company will also contribute a year's supply of its dog food and treats to the recipients of its service dog initiative.

The nonprofit FISH engages the food industry in serving military veterans who have sacrificed greatly to serve their country. With the donations from the Three Dog Bakery Veterans Day promotion, FISH will purchase service dogs to distribute to veterans in need.

Returning military personnel and veterans face a myriad of challenges that can be aided with the use of a service dog, from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to immobility. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the country has 1.6 million veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, 21 per cent of whom suffer a service-connected disability.

Service members and veterans are provided with highly specialized service dogs that help them find a new level of independence in their post-combat life. Service dogs are specially trained to help perform a multitude of tasks that increase the independence of their human partners. People paired with service dogs show significant improvements psychologically, socially, and even economically.

Service dogs are in high demand, with wait times up to three years. Training begins when the dogs are young. These highly trained canines work on average eight to 10 years before they retire.

With 50 million dog owners in the United States, Three Dog Bakery believes the necessary financial support to provide service dogs affirms the many benefits provided by living with a dog and is a tribute to its loyal customers, the four-legged friends who press their noses up against the bakery glass or who enjoy their treats at home. Three Dog Bakery will pioneer this annual tradition just as it did the canine bakery concept 25 years ago – that's 175 years in dog years! Popular among canines and their owners alike, its products feature a diverse array of premium, all-natural treats and food for those special times in a dog's or family's life.

Three Dog Bakery oversees 34 boutique bakeries for dogs, located within the United States, Canada and Hong Kong, and is known for its custom-made baked treats. The company provides Three Dog Bakery brand and private label packaged products to national and independent pet retailers, grocery, mass, club and drug stores, as well as through direct-to-consumer online sales. Among its most popular products within that retail segment are baked treats such as the Classic Cremes and Lick'n Crunch cookies.