As you open the door to Dogfather and Co., you may expect to see a Don Corleone type sitting peacefully in a baroque chair gazing out the window. Instead, Nataly Kashani is busy moving a bed still in its protective casing to make space in the entrance of her store. The bed, fastened with plush black velour and embellished with faux zebra print, oozes decadence and comfort. And while it may be snug enough for a toddler to curl up on, it was custom-made for a breed of dog weighing no more than 10 pounds.
A customer on the other side of the store sees the bed and asks for one in plaid — naturally, for the two self-assured purebred Scottie dogs by his side. “We’ll talk next time you’re in,” Nataly says. She knows him as well as his dogs by first name.
In 2007, Kashani walked into Dogfather and Co. — a lifestyle shop and spa for the urban dog located a few steps from Rosedale station — to buy a leash for her new puppy. Two weeks later, she was its owner. “Specialty pet stores were still very new at the time, not to mention I didn’t know the first thing about retail!” she says. “But I immersed myself in learning as much about the industry as I could.”
By the second year a grooming spa was added to the lower floor and by the third year, the business turned a corner. “I was finally able to move out of my mom’s house. All those years of sacrifices were well worth it.”
