Pupcakes caters to pet fashion, food luxuries 
Rows of cookies — Carolina baseball hats, watermelons and hot pink bones — fill display cases through the shop.
Fresh trays of homemade brownies, peanut butter cups and scones sit on racks just behind the counter. The faint smell of sweet potato lingers along the back wall.
The treats are mouth-watering, sprinkled with chocolate shavings and piped with the brightest and most intricate touch.
But it's faux chocolate, yogurt-based icing and exclusively peanut butter cookies. They're pint-sized goodies served after a good bowl of kibble.
Pupcakes Dog Boutique and Bakery, on Harden Street in Five Points, is every pup's dream come true.
Elvis Pupsleys, green bean chews and, of course, the pupcake are just a few of the homemade treats owner Marie Lipton stocks the store's shelves with every morning.
All of the doggie desserts are fairly priced. The Pupsleys — made with peanut butter, banana and carrot — are just $2.25 each. Cookies, which take the shapes of the state, tiaras and caterpillars, range from 75 cents to $2.25.
The highest ticket, $18.50, is for the custom-made birthday cakes, inscribed with a special message for the prince or princess pup. And who orders a dog birthday cake without a matching party?
The back room of Pupcakes is filled with stuffed animals — some sans stuffing — and painted landscapes for birthday parties. For a flat rate of $75, the birthday dog can invite nine of his or her canine pals for cake, ice cream and a couple of staff-led games. Goodie bags are also provided.
But don't be duped! It's not just fun, games and sweet bites at Pupcakes. The back bar, still scented with that sweet potato smell, houses an offering of natural, more training-suited treats. Sweet potato bites, cheddar puffs and honey berry mixes are all bagged for $6.99 a pound.
Lipton's three dogs are mainstays behind the Pupcakes counter. Carmella, a 1-year-old pit bull terrier; Blue, a 3-year-old chihuahua; and Prada, a 5-year-old Yorkshire terrier, greet customers with a few kisses and the stray bark. Prada, Lipton said, is the queen bee of the shop. There's also a glamour shot or two of the dogs modeling threads from the bakery's complementary boutique.
Hair bows sit beside the register, polka-dotted, striped and frilled with different sizes for every breed. Tuxedos, complete with mini top hats, and belted rain jackets line the side wall.
The front of the store opens to collars upon collars, some studded and others embroidered with stars and stripes. There are outfits on display with tutus, ribbons and beads. It really could be mistaken for a small-scale children's boutique, with coordinating pink and green watermelon getups, tanks and tutus proudly outfitting model dogs in the display window.
And then there are the Gamecock football jerseys and cheerleader onesies. They're big in Columbia's pampered pup world.
Lipton said about 30 percent of Pupcake's revenue comes from the bakery, while the rest is from the outfits, collars, beds and other dog essentials. There are a lot of regulars — it adds to the charm of the boutique. Carmella and Blue were both just beside themselves when a regular, Maisy, came in for her fill of Fromm, the fruit- and vegetable-based brand of dog food Pupcakes carries.
Lipton handpicks the store's many eccentricities, admitting she's a shopaholic, and serves as the only full-time baker. Before purchasing Pupcakes five years ago, Lipton owned Diva Dogs, a grooming salon in Columbia.
After purchasing the bakery, she would ship in all of the treats from a baker in Massachusetts. However, after a few years, with some help from the baker, she adopted the recipes as her own and took over the entire operation.
Visitors walk from nearby Shandon and some make the drive from Chapin. It's the only bakery of its kind in the city.
It's charming — a tucked-away bakery in the heart of Five Points. If your dog is in the market for bubble-gum pink galoshes with a matching hat or a purple iced tulip cookie, Pupcakes is the place to go.