Ice Cream Shop and Bakery for Dogs Opens in Third Ward

Milwaukee’s first ice cream shop and bakery for dogs, Salty Paws Milwaukee, will be opening Saturday in the Third Ward.  

Owner Linda Smith has lived in Milwaukee for about 20 years. Around a year ago, she stumbled upon the Salty Paws Pittsburgh Instagram in her newsfeed when she shared a reel about her dog’s first birthday party.

Smith was intrigued by the concept and traveled to Pittsburgh last spring to check it out.

“It felt like such a happy place, and I thought that someone should bring it to Milwaukee,” Smith said. “Then, in talking with my friends, they [were] like, why wouldn’t it be you? So then I thought about it…and I was like, why wouldn’t it be me?”

Salty Paws will be Smith’s first business. Outside of her visit to the Pittsburgh location, she was inspired by her two-year-old French Bulldog, Coconut, and her involvement in the dog community. Smith shared that she and Coconut go to some type of dog event almost every weekend where they have met many friends. She hoped to get involved in more things like that and continue to work alongside Coconut, as Smith has worked from home for the last three years or more.

“It was just as much fun for me as it is for her, so that was another thing that I guess just made me believe that I could actually leave my corporate job and strike out something on my own,” Smith said.

Salty Paws is a Delaware-based franchise that was started in 2018, but Smith’s will be the first one in Wisconsin.

The shop will have between eight to a dozen different types of ice cream at any given time, with flavors including peanut butter, cheese, bacon, blueberry, pumpkin and banana cream. The ice creams are made from lactose-free whole milk or goat’s milk, which makes it easier for the dogs to digest.

Smith describes it as “a human-grade, high-quality treat” in which the flavors smell just like what the dogs will be eating. The shop is fully equipped with dog-friendly toppings to mix-and-match flavors and textures. Dogs can enjoy their ice cream in a dog bowl, cone, waffle bowl or to-go cup.

Additionally, the shop sells other treats such as decorated cookies, doggie doughnuts, cakes and other goods. Salty Paws will also have a variety of toys for purchase that are tough chewer approved.

“Pretty much everything about the space is specifically done with the dogs in mind; Everything from the paint color to the flooring, to the tables and chairs that the dogs can sit at to eat their ice cream, or they can sit on the floor,” Smith said.

In the future, Smith plans to hold birthday parties, ice cream socials and breed meetups at Salty Paws.

“We just want this to be a place where people can bring their dog either to meet with friends, meet new friends, work on socialization and be a place for a happy, positive experience for the dogs and their people.”

Salty Paws Milwaukee will host its grand opening at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 18 at 121 N. Jefferson Street.