Spoiled Dog Boss offers brunch for pups at Terrestrial Brewing Company

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s safe to say that any dog that has attended a Sunday doggie brunch at Terrestrial Brewing Company is a fan of Dawn DeFrank. She may be the only person to rival a dog’s owner as a pet’s favorite human.

Sundays are for the dogs thanks to DeFrank, who single-handedly cooks and sells a total dog-friendly brunch menu at the Gordon Square brewery. She owns Spoiled Dog Boss, a homemade dog and cat treat company utilizing local ingredients.

“Dogs have always given more than humans could ever give to them, and it’s just awesome that there is something that is made just for them,” DeFrank said of the brunch.

DeFrank takes her title as the Spoiled Dog Boss seriously. She knows her four-legged customers by name and is more than generous with the treats she passes out. For her, it’s never really been about the people at brunch — it’s all about the dogs.

“So many dogs do know it’s Sunday,” DeFrank said. “This is why I continue to do what I do.”

DeFrank started Sunday dog brunches at Terrestrial after the COVID-19 pandemic, but she’s been making her own dog-friendly dishes for years. She credits everything to her dog Daisy, who passed away in April 2023 at 12 years old from cancer.

“She has been the 100 percent driver in all of this,” DeFrank said.

DeFrank started making food for Daisy, a Pit Bull-Dalamatian-Coon Hound mix, when the dog was about five and had a laundry list of negative health reactions to her diet. Her reactions ranged from allergies to full-on seizures. DeFrank decided to do better for her dog by ditching traditional kibbles and treats and making her food with simple and fresh ingredients.

DeFrank’s friends and family started to notice the significant improvement in Daisy’s health and wanted to know her secret. DeFrank realized she could make treats out of the same ingredients she would feed Daisy on a regular basis and share them with others.

“It literally was handed to me. That’s what Daisy gave me,” DeFrank said.

Treats are important to the training and well-being of a dog, but DeFrank said that many owners don’t realize the negative impact some commercial treats can have on their pups. DeFrank did extensive research about both good and bad ingredients. Importantly, Daisy would taste-test everything to have the final say on whether it was good for other dogs.

Spoiled Dog Boss officially launched at the Willoughby Farmers Market in 2017. DeFrank brought her treats to other events and began meeting more local farmers. Those farmers had an abundance of organ meat they weren’t using and offered it to DeFrank. Animal organ meat had been more difficult for DeFrank to source for her creations.

After some trial and error, DeFrank determined that dehydrating organs like beef liver or chicken feet was the best way to sell them without any preservatives. “It was like a seven-year journey for me to even get that,” DeFrank said.

Spoiled Dog Boss thrives in public spaces and events like festivals and farmers markets. The COVID-19 pandemic was detrimental to DeFrank’s business. But with her spare time, she started a Facebook series called Cooking with Daisy where she would teach her followers how to make different dog-friendly food items with five ingredients or less. She specifically would focus on ingredients that were easy to get at a time when some grocery store items were difficult to source.

“Everybody always wanted to know what Daisy ate,” she said.

The folks at Terrestrial Brewery were fans of Cooking with Daisy and reached out to DeFrank about hosting a dog brunch at the brewery once it reopened.

“Life was rough for a lot of people,” DeFrank said of the pandemic. “Dogs bring everybody joy and people love to watch dogs eat.” She was also surprised to realize that no one else was doing something similar in the area.

DeFrank hosted her first brunch sometime in 2021. The first menu included her famous egg bites, which she serves at every brunch because they are such a customer favorite. She also served “Woofcakes,” which are pancakes for dogs, and a bagel topped with wild Alaskan salmon.

Aside from the egg bites, customers can expect to see either woof cakes or “woofles” (waffles) on the menu every week with various toppings. She also makes different flavors of ice cream in the summertime. DeFrank has made dishes for dogs some people wouldn’t believe — from loaded nachos to Daisy’s Sunday spaghetti and “woofballs.”

After making food for Daisy for years, dog recipe development comes pretty naturally to DeFrank. She’ll still surprise herself — such as when she successfully made dog-friendly pasta out of chickpea flour for the spaghetti and woofballs dish.

“I’ll make something the first time and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this. I can’t believe this worked,’” she said.

Sunday dog brunch prep starts on Wednesday night for DeFrank, who works a full-time job on top of running Spoiled Dog Boss. She’ll work for a few hours a night and typically work an 8-hour day on Saturday to prepare about 50 servings of each brunch item. DeFrank usually sells out or she’ll get very close.

Terrestrial has hosted some themed brunches, like a luau, where dogs are encouraged to dress the part. DeFrank matches the menu to the theme — such as making Hawaiian huli-huli chicken for dogs. After Labor Day weekend, DeFrank is planning an “end of summer” brunch that will be ‘80s rock themed.

Since Daisy’s death, DeFrank lost some of her spark to create new menu items. It’s hard for her without her right-hand dog tasting every bite along the way, but DeFrank also wants to keep it alive in Daisy’s honor. For example, she will continue to donate 100% of brunch profits to local pet-related nonprofits on Daisy’s birthday every year.

“I think she would come back and seriously kick some a** if I didn’t,” DeFrank joked of Daisy’s reaction if she stopped doing doggie brunch.

The future of Spoiled Dog Boss got cloudy for DeFrank when Daisy, whom she refers to as her “soul dog,” died. Prior to her death, DeFrank wanted to keep expanding and host more dog-friendly food events in other venues. Since she’s been grieving, DeFrank has been maintaining her operation and trying to heal.

“I’m hopeful that that’s where I’m going to be again on that other side,” DeFrank said of Spoiled Dog Boss expanding.

If You Go

Location: Terrestrial Brewing Company, 524 Father Frascati, Cleveland

When: Sundays starting at 10 a.m.

Note: Follow @spoileddogboss on Instagram to keep up-to-date with brunch menus and events