We had the good fortune of connecting with Dawn FORD and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawn, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Ben and I already owned a dog care business and saw there was a need for treats with better ingredients so started small, making a few treat flavors for our dog care clients—-the feedback was great! Owners would tell us that their dogs wouldn’t eat the store bought treats they had and only wanted the treats we sent them home with! An idea was born, we did a season at the local farmers market and received great feedback, selling out almost every weekend!

We are based in Seattle so the rain is a factor, we had the idea to get an ice cream truck but for dog treats and The Seattle Barkery was officially in motion!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
A degree in Interior Design was not getting me far, by the time I was done with school I was not really interested in interior design but did have an eye for color and layout which transformed great into treat baking and cake frosting! Our ideas can be boundless and we LOVE the crazy requests we get, the challenges are what keep things interesting!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Seattle Fav Dog Spots:

Marymoor Dog Park where are treat truck is located, huge park with trails and on the water!
Dogwood Play Park, an indoor dog park and bar for adults! great place to beat the rain
Say Woof Studios, a great spot to get ADORABLE one of a kind prints of your pooch!
LOCAL, a dog friendly restaurant in the heart of South Lake Union, close to our retail store location

and of course, The Seattle Barkery, any location to fill up on one of a kind, baked fresh treats, unique toys and locally sourced dog-centric items!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to our manager Hayley! If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have all the clerical things that keep us organized and functional, including: a new website, a cake order form on our website (used to be all done by email and handwritten), a phone line (used to be my personal phone number! and of course: scheduling, pricing and payroll. She does it all!

Website: theseattlebarkery.com

Instagram: @theseattlebarkery

Yelp: The Seattle Barkery, Inc

Image Credits
The Seattle Barkery

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.