By Karen Shimonsky, October 2008
Photo By Erin Green
Colleen O’Fallon is in her kitchen meticulously icing cupcake-sized goods one at a time. There are brownies, fortune cookies and her famous “pupcakes.” She said decorating the confections is her favorite part of the job, and the finished products look so appetizing that her customers can’t help but drool and pant over them. 
O’Fallon owns Sweet Paws Bakery, a dog bakery and boutique located in the Haile Village Center that since its opening in September 2007, has been offering all-natural, homemade dog treats for pups of all shapes and sizes.  O’Fallon started making the treats when she thought that her cocker spaniel Abby might be allergic to the store-bought variety. When she saw how much her own pooch loved the homemade snacks, she began selling them at local farmers markets.
“So many people were requesting them that I figured why not open a store so they have easy access to them?” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Since then, O’Fallon, who was once vet-school bound, has become a savvy business owner who bakes all of the goods sold in her store with healthy substitutes such as whole wheat flour, oats and chicken bouillon. She even organizes socials for her puppy customers by holding “yappy hour” every Friday afternoon, allowing pups to play while they enjoy their delicacies.
“It’s the best job I could possibly have,” she said. “When I started it was just a hobby of mine, but now I can make a career out of it, which is just so much fun.”