Three Dog Bakery franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Three Dog Bakery franchise takes $181,087 – $313,563 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $45,000 – $47,500. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 6% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 3%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Three Dog Bakery franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $45,000 | $47,500 | $45,000 to $47,500 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $181,087 | $313,563 | $181,087 to $313,563 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $181,087 | $313,563 | $181,087 to $313,563 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Three Dog Bakery's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 6% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 3% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 7 years |
See the full Three Dog Bakery cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Three Dog Bakery's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Three Dog Bakery's disclosed cost sits against the Professional Services category:
- Minimum startup cost of $181,087 — about 2.1× the Professional Services median of $84,700.
- Initial franchise fee of $45,000 — about in line with the Professional Services median of $39,700.
Category medians are computed from the Professional Services brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Professional Services franchises
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How Three Dog Bakery's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2022: began the window at 28 units; 36 units opened, 11 closed, ending at 41 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Three Dog Bakery or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Three Dog Bakery for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Three Dog Bakery is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Three Dog Bakery grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Three Dog Bakery can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Three Dog Bakery franchise
Three Dog Bakery is a professional services franchisor with 41 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2022, it began the window at 28 units; its filings record 36 unit openings and 11 closures, ending at 41 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Three Dog Bakery, LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
We offer qualified individuals and entities a franchise for the right to independently own and operate a store that will sell personalized cakes, muffins, pastries, and novelty baked items that are baked in the store, dog food, dog cookies, dog biscuits, dog training treats, and cat treats produced by the franchisor or its affiliates, as well as ancillary items (such as dog bowls, leashes, and collars) (each, a "Bakery"). We also offer qualified parties the right to own and operate multiple Bakeries
Three Dog Bakery franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Three Dog Bakery franchise cost?
- $181,087 – $313,563 all-in to open, per Three Dog Bakery's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Three Dog Bakery units are there?
- 41 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Three Dog Bakery's units held up?
- 94% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).