Your Dog Will Love this Hidden Gem in Leyburn
This independent pick and mix shop is designed with your pooch in mind
In a matter of months, Eloise has turned the business around, expanded its range and helped the deli to become a staple for families with four-legged members in the local area and further afield. She speaks to Living North about what her customers can expect at the dog-centric pick and mix shop, and how she has newly expanded the range.
A quick glance inside this quaint deli in the centre of Leyburn and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a classic pick and mix shop, complete with a wall full of goodies to choose from and hand-packaged local treats. But this deli has gone to the dogs – literally. From chicken feet and duck necks to liver sausages and dried sweet potato slices, The Dales Dog Deli is a one-stop shop for a huge range of high quality dog food and treats.
Relocating to North Yorkshire in late 2024, Eloise was a fan of the store from the beginning after visiting the area a number of times. When the owner announced the shop would sadly be closing, she jumped at the chance to revive the beloved independent. ‘We’d always seen and supported this shop because I thought it was such a lovely idea. Having always had dogs ourselves, we really appreciated that there was someone that sold natural options. It just seemed to have an integrity about it,’ she explains. ‘I was really sad when Steven had put a post up about closing it down. I had a bit of a think about it and I wondered if he’d be open the idea of selling it. He was happy for me to take it on and we’ve got it going again. Obviously we’re tweaking it and adding more lines in, but still maintaining that natural local ethos.’
A high-quality curated selection was important to Eloise as she expanded the business, and she wanted to avoid filling the shelves for the sake of it. There’s an extensive range for pooches to choose from already. ‘It’s not for the faint-hearted! Some people will come in and walk back out, whereas with the dogs you can hear their claws scrabbling on the paving outside to get in,’ she says. ‘We have zero-waste products from the meat markets and there’s all sorts of things, from beef udders to tracheas, cow ears, chicken feet (they’re really popular), duck necks, turkey necks and hairy rabbit’s ears. It might read like a horror show but the dogs adore them! Plus the fact that no part of the animal has gone to waste is a good thing.’
If Leyburn is beyond your reach, you can still enjoy all the delights of the deli online, with their personalised ‘build your own box’ system. ‘Everything off the pick and mix wall is on the website so you can buy specifically what your dog likes or will eat. Dogs are like us really, and they have allergies to certain things and some dogs struggle with certain protein sources. Customers can choose their own or we can build them a box if they give us some basic information (like breed, size, age, likes and dislikes).’ For the most spoiled dogs, there’s even a subscription service so your pup never has to go without.
Keeping stock as local as possible is a priority for Eloise as she continues to expand the range. ‘We support other local businesses too. We’ve got PureFlax, which is flax oil from Wetherby. That’s a family business as well – they grow it, harvest it, mill it, press it, bottle it and distribute it all themselves and it’s good to support them. We also have the leads from Askrigg Ropemakers which is another local business.
‘We’ve added drying coats and waterproof dog coats, as well as Cosy Cottage Spa pet shampoo bars from Malton. It’s another business with some integrity rather than going down the wholesale route and buying any old thing off the shelf.’
Unsurprisingly, Eloise has a growing list of regulars who visit the store to get their fix. 'We’ve got Milo who is a fox red Labrador, and we call him waggy because he is just so very waggy (as is typical with labradors). We get the whole-body wag from the nose to the tail and he’s very enthusiastic. He always comes in for his camel skin chews,’ she says. ‘We’ve also got the most gorgeous long-haired German Shepherd called Nico who comes in for his raw food and his mum and dad always get him some treats.’
As a new small business owner, Eloise appreciates how dedicated her customers are. ‘It’s always lovely to see regulars and their dogs. It’s great because you get to spend all day talking to lovely people and dog-bothering!’
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