Giving Them Something to Bark About at Bow Wow Designs
By Jane Singleton

Adrienne and Jeremy Rohrs of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, have managed to get it all together! As owners of Bow Wow Designs Boutique & Bakery, they have successfully combined their business and IT degrees with Jeremy’s skills as a building contractor and their lifelong love of dogs. Tyler, the Rohrs’ three-year old black Lab, “is inspiration and validation” for all that takes place at Bow Wow Designs. The “bakery” part of the Bow Wow name refers to the display case full of treats that are baked by Adrienne right there in the store, and the design part refers to the original dog products designed by the two of them.








During the first year of Bow Wow Designs, the Rohrs had a web-based business only. But it quickly developed into a retail store because Adrienne and Jeremy kept coming up with super ideas that could become real with a store. “And we decided to give it a try,” Adrienne said. “Why not?! So we jumped in and opened our retail store in April of 2006.”

“I always wanted to own my own business, but hesitated because it can take over your whole life and I wanted to have a life outside of work also,” Adrienne said. “But after being in the workforce, I discovered that fulltime employment in any form does take a lot of your time and you might as well be spending that time doing something you enjoy and love.”





“Ours is a dogs-only business,” Adrienne said. “We make it our business to find products that go above and beyond what you find for dogs at regular pet stores. And obviously, we are trying to enhance the relationship between the pet and the dog owner with toys and treats that can really bring joy to their lives. By spending time playing with your dog, you are happy, the dog is happy, and both of you are healthier because of it. It’s that sort of thing with us.”






The store, Jeremy’s colorful creation, is divided into sections: Bella’s Spa and Bath, Puppery Barn, Le Chien Boutique, Spot’s Sporting Goods, and Ty’s Barkery (Tyler recommends the freshly baked pumpkin biscotti dog treats). It’s truly a shopping experience for both a dog and his person. Adrienne and Jeremy have created their own shop where dogs and their people want to hang around!
“We have people who come in every week,” Adrienne said. ”Lots of times they’ll bring coffee and sit and chat and bring their dog to play. For my customers who come in frequently, I let their dogs have the run of the store off-leash as long as there is no other dog in the store. Of course Tyler is always there. They run around and sniff and zip back and forth through the curtain that hangs between the shop and the kitchen where I do my baking. They are excited to be here!”

Adrienne and Jeremy’s affinity for dogs came into their lives in different ways, but their love of this four-legged companion is undeniable. Adrienne was eight years old when that first dog came into her life. Her mom was jogging around the neighborhood and Adrienne was keeping pace on her bicycle when they found a stray German Shepherd. He followed Adrienne home and she named him Ruffles. Her parents did not let her keep that dog, but the next weekend they all went out and bought a Keeshond who did stay and became a part of the family. “Her name was Angie,” Adrienne said. “I think my friends thought I was a little overly dog-enthusiastic. I took Angie everywhere, bought her bandannas because clothes for dogs were not that available then. We had Angie until I was in college, when she passed away.”

Then when the Rohrs got married, Jeremy really wanted a dog. His family never let him have dogs. When his mom was growing up she had a dog and went through the heartbreak when it was hit by a car. She didn’t want to go through that again.

“So Jeremy and I decided to get a Lab,” Adrienne said. “We wanted a big dog we could take around with us, that was intelligent, that was playful. And if we ever decide to have children, we’ve heard that Labs are great with children.”

“So we found a breeder and of course fell in love with one of the puppies—the runt of the litter. He was five pounds when we picked him up. We named him Tyler and he quickly became a member of our family. And Jeremy’s mom just fell in love with him. She had kept herself from getting a dog for so long. When she saw Tyler, she just melted.”

Puppy love runs the show at Bow Wow Designs and it never fails to inspire unique products. One popular product in the Rohrs’ store are Doggles—sunglasses with UV ray protection for dogs who ride with their heads out of car windows or in boats. Doggles keep the wearer’s tear ducts healthy, so Doggles do have a practical use. “But a lot of therapy dog owners put Doggles on their dogs because when then visit residence homes or nursing homes, hostels—that sort of thing—the residents just get a kick out of seeing their therapy dog in Doggles. They laugh. And laughter is great medicine,” Adrienne said.

Another trick to cure what ails you is to offer ways to bring a neighborhood together. Bow Wow created the Dog of the Month contest not only as unique way to market their business, but as fabulous way to promote goodwill with other local businesses. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy pictures of a cute doggie face? When a photo is selected as Dog of the Month, the owner gets a store discount at Bow Wow Designs. Local winners also win a gift card to a local restaurant. And of course, all winners get bragging rights—they get to tell everyone their dog won the Dog of the Month contest and will be featured on the Bow Wow Designs web site.

As entries increase, Adrienne and Jeremy said it’s getting tougher each month to choose the Dog of the Month. The winner’s photo and story are posted in the store and on Bow Wow’s web site, www.bow-wowdesigns.com. It’s a great venue for people who love to show pictures of their dogs and tell a short story about them.

The store has also become a great venue for trainings of the canine kind. A company called Canine Companion comes into Bow Wow Designs on Monday nights to conduct puppy and dog training. It’s all positive instruction and behavior modification by professionals who have invested money and time in becoming certified as trainers. Customers can signup and when they come in for the training, they get a ten percent discount on purchases from the store on things they need like training treats, toys, or whatever.

Special event themes are a big deal at Bow Wow. For a grand opening, a beach theme with chicken-flavored snow cones and Hawaiian shirts for the dogs; to benefit Youth for Christ, a tailgate party with collegiate jerseys and a hotdog roast (with free hotdogs for Tyler and all his friends); and for Halloween, a Howl-o-ween party with a costume contest, a pet photographer, and treats for dogs who stop by the store and do a trick!

For those who are lucky enough to live in the area of Fort Wayne, Indiana, make sure to stop by Bow Wow Designs Boutique & Bakery at 340 E. Dupont Road! For those of us living elsewhere around the globe, never fear, the lap of luxury isn’t as far as you think! With just a click of a mouse you purchase Bow Wow Designs’ favorite Pumpkin Biscotti and Canine Canolli in our store. Happy Shopping!