Gelato for Dogs Tastes Pretty Swell
Dogs are swell! Spoil them with gelato!
By Cole Goodwin
Debbie Hendrickx has moved her operation from Seattle to The Dalles. And she’s staying busy sweetening up the lives of dogs everywhere with a Swell new gelato that’s just for the dogs.
So, how on earth did she end up deciding to make dog gelato for a living?
Well, she says if she had a dollar for every time she’d gotten that question... she’d be rich.
Once upon a time Debbie Hendrickx, was not the Doña of Dog Gelato.
Originally from Belgium, she moved to the United States at age 24 and learned to speak English by watching TV. Her favorite word in English? You guessed it… Swell.
“Like the minute that I knew that I was gonna do gelato for dogs. I was like, oh the name is not a question, it’s gonna be Swell. I just thought it was such a neat word, and nobody uses it ever, like never ever.” said Hendrickx. “And the color of the brand was not a question because orange is my favorite color.”
But before Swell, she had a corporate career in fashion as a buyer at Nordstrom for 18 years before deciding to pursue her dream of making a viable career out of her love for dogs and gelato.
“I’ve always loved dogs ever since I was little,” said Hendrickx. “Anytime someone would ask me to babysit I’d be like ‘I’m not babysitting no babies, but I’ll go and babysit a dog!”
“And my boyfriend and I just love gelato. And I love the process of making it.”
“So I got a little gelato cart. And I spent the summer of 2016 in the dog park with my gelato cart. And before you knew it, I kind of had like regulars at the dog park. And it was fun. It was just fun.”
Then, the summer came to an end.
“So then I started interviewing for other jobs at big companies like Starbucks, REI, all those places. And I would get to the final round, and every time I just had this feeling like... I don't want to do this. And I basically decided that this is my now or never moment. I got to try this dog gelato thing. If I don't try it, I’ll always regret it.” said Hendrickx.
The demand for Swell gelato took off!
“Washington and Oregon are kind of the same in the way that they love local businesses, and there’s so much support,” said Hendrickx. “I was selling in 25 stores around Seattle pretty quickly. So then I was driving stuff all over the place in my car. And I was like okay, this is not sustainable, so I got a distributor and then before you know it- I think in about four months - I went from selling in 25 stores to a 120 stores.”
“Last year was a little tough business-wise because a lot of pet stores were closing down; nobody knew what to do. But then I launched my barkday (birthday) flavor in March, and it’s been doing so good!” said Hendrickx. “I think people were looking for little things to celebrate at home, and their dogs were one of them. I think it was just people finding little moments of joy.”
Pictured: Swell’s instagram is full of happy dogs enjoying Swell gelato!
While COVID was tough on pet stores, Swell was swelling past the kitchen to fill Hendrickx 'entire house full of ingredients, freezers, and cups.
She needed more space, so she started looking for a place.
While on a bike ride with her boyfriend one day she found the perfect place right along the Riverfront trail in The Dalles.
Now she’s bringing gelato for dogs to the Gorge.
Now located on the Port of The Dalles, she makes gelato from her new location along the beautiful Columbia River.
“My boyfriend is a kite-surfer, and he’s had a place here for 13 years. I wanted to move out here. I just had to wait for the right place to pop up,” said Hendrickx. “This place is amazing. Like right now. I'm looking at people walking in front of my window with two dogs, and I'm in here making gelato for dogs. That is amazing.”
“What I really want to do is turn one of my four windows into a pop-up window right here on the trail and serve gelato to people and their dogs walking by,” said Hendrickx. “I just can not do it right now. I need more employees to make that possible. That’s kind of my next thing I want to make happen.”
Until then locals can pick up this special treat for their puppers, at Dog River Pet Supplies in Hood River.
The only downside of the new location?
The logistics are expensive because the location is out of the way for most distributors.
A problem that may be alleviated as more businesses in the Port could provide volume price reductions for freezer trucks.
So what’s in Swell Gelato?
Swell gelato for dogs is a plant-based product made with wholesome ingredients and no refined sugar that comes in four delicious gelato flavors that have man’s best friend in mind, Hendrickx said. There’s lots of flavors to choose from: Banana-Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Cheddar, Sweet Potato Molasses (Vegan), and It’s My Barkday (Triple Berry Birthday Flavor).
Swell gelato is dog approved and taste tested by Debbie herself
“I taste test it myself, every single batch. So it has to be good,” said Hendrickx. (She said the taste is also the reason she won’t make a chicken flavor. Sorry dogs, chicken is for dinner, not dessert.)
So besides delicious ingredients, what goes into making this gelato dog-approved?
“Swell gelatos are frozen hard on purpose because that way the dog can lick it straight out of the cup. It is a longer-lasting treat that way, and no spoon is needed,” said Hendrickx.
The cups are also specially made to make sure dogs can get every last lick out of their gelato treats.
“I specifically picked this cup because I wanted to make sure that flat face dogs, Frenchies or whatnot, bigger dogs with wider snouts, you know, can get their noses in there.”
Hendrickx said dogs just love it. “You can see it on my Instagram. Their eyes just kind of glaze over.”
Pictured: Local celebrity and working dog, Sammy of Sammy’s Woodland Smokes stopped in to get a special premium gelato treat. Her rating? 10/10 She, for one, is looking forward to a gelato for dogs walk-up-window. Coming to a hot summer day near you in the not-so-distant future.
Hendrickx said she felt it’s important to give back with her business.
A portion of Swell’s proceeds goes to support the International Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA International).
“I wanted to stand for something. I wanted to give back... I really liked what the SPCA was doing,” said Hendrickx.
From cat and dog rescues to wildlife rehabilitation centers, the SPCA provides grants to alleviate animal abuse, and support the wellbeing of animals locally and around the globe through their Shelter Support Fund, Education Initiatives, and Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide, which provides veterinary care and transport for animals that U.S. service members befriend during deployment.
Debbie Hendrickx’ dog Patches gets all the free dog gelato he wants. “Patches is seven pounds of trouble. He’s a rescue. He only had one eye when I got him, and now he’s blind in the other eye, and he’s a pill. But he’s still cute, and he’s mine.”
Overall, thing are looking up for this Swell new business on the Port of The Dalles.
