Sam DeLory’s Three-Year Quest To Open ‘Dream Dog’ In Halifax
HALIFAX — By the time Sam DeLory finally throws open the doors to Dream Dog, she’ll have been trying to get the business started for three years.
She’ll have sat through meetings with her city councilor, the mayor, and city planners. She’ll have attended public hearings, gave presentations, signed a lease, lost the lease, signed another lease, and even hired a special firm to shepherd her through the city’s development process.
All to follow her dreams and open a small doggy daycare in an underserved Halifax neighbourhood.
But the young nurse-turned-entrepreneur says it’s all been worth it.
Dreaming Up Dream Dog
DeLory knew she wanted to work with animals — especially dogs — since she was a kid. She even toyed with the idea of becoming a vet.
But life took her in another direction, and she eventually went into nursing. She liked the job but said she knew one day she would work with dogs.
In January of 2019, she decided to make that happen. She has just moved to a neighbourhood near Larry Uteck Boulevard and noticed there were a ton of dogs, but no doggy daycare nearby.
She saw an opportunity, so she created the concept for Dream Dog.
“When I looked at my future, I wanted a job that’s going to make me feel happy. And one where I’m supporting people in doing what they want to do,” DeLory says.
“I had a dog all through school and I know how beneficial it can be when you’re pursuing the things that you want to do to be able to have a dog. So that’s kind of the inspiration behind the name: we take care of your dogs so you can follow your dreams.”
Dream Dog would be a doggy daycare that served small dogs, like the ones many of her condo-dwelling neighbours owned. It would operate completely indoors, with special “porch potties” for the pooches to do their business.
“It’s a really different concept, I think, than what we’ve seen in other doggy daycares in the city,” DeLory says.
Along with the daycare, Dream Dog would have a small retail section and a self-service dog wash for owners that includes shampoos, conditioners, a professional blow drier, and warm towels.
Who Are You Calling A Kennel?
DeLory remembers that, starting out, she thought her biggest challenge would be convincing a landlord to let her herd 30 dogs into the building every day. That was a challenge, but she eventually found someone who believed in her and the business.
What she didn’t anticipate was how exhausting it would be getting the approvals she needed from the city.
Shortly after she signed her lease, in November 2019, HRM denied her an occupancy permit for the building.
Doggy daycares are a relatively new phenomenon and the city’s development bylaws haven’t kept up. With no proper category for DeLory’s business, planners classified it as a kennel and said it wasn’t appropriate for the building.
DeLory says her indoor-only, soundproofed, small-dog daycare is a far cry from a kennel, which can keep dogs outside and overnight. Over the next six months, she met with her local councilor, city planners, and the mayor to try and find a solution.
Eventually, they landed on a workaround. DeLory would take her application through the city’s development agreement process—a grueling series of meetings, presentations, and public hearings.
“This is the same process that a major developer would have to go through to build an entirely new building,” DeLory explains. “We’re literally making a change to a line in an appendix at the development agreement but we’re going through the same process.”
Before she started, she had to sign a new lease and convince her landlord to hold the space for her until (hopefully) she got the approvals she needed.
She signed that new lease in January of this year, then hired an outside company to help the landlord through the process. By March, things finally got underway.
Seven months later she’s almost finished. Her proposal must make it through one more public hearing, then get council’s blessing before the city lets her move forward.
That hearing is in November. DeLory hopes the permits will come through and she can have her space renovated and open by January of 2022.
‘Perseverance And Patience’
DeLory believes the municipality did the best it could to get her through the process “in a fairly reasonable timeframe.” But she says the three-year ordeal has “definitely been a learning experience in terms of perseverance and patience.”
“It makes it hard, I think, for young like entrepreneurs to get going when they have to go through these lengthy and maybe overbuilt processes. That’s a challenge I think that our city faces and hopefully can work through over the next few years,” she says.
“I would like to see it be a little bit easier for a young entrepreneur to open a business — especially a business that’s needed.”
If the interest in Dream Dog is any indication, a doggy daycare near Larry Uteck is needed. DeLory says she already has a waitlist of about 70 people ready to take advantage of her services once she finally opens.
She says she plans to start small, with minimal staff and space for 15 dogs but plans to quickly ramp up to 30 spaces.
From there, she’s already planning on opening a second location — one that will incorporate her passion for animal welfare with an adoption or rescue program.
“That’s in the 10-year vision,” DeLory jokes. “I’m really confident that this business will succeed… and I think this is just the beginning for Dream Dog.”
Trevor Nichols is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
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