0204: Bar K Dog Bar Expansion with Leib Dodell

Leib Dodell joins us in one of the happiest places on earth: Bar K Dog Bar. And he shares exciting news about their future.

Learn more about this unique dog park at BarKDog.com.

Leib talked about Bar K’s response to COVID-19 back in March 2020 and co-founder Dave Hensley was our first guest in January 2020.

In the Archives:

Joining Bar K as a three-time guest on Dog Words is Jesse Shroyer. Her visits include:

• Huck the Hospice Foster

• Dogs + Yoga = Doga

• Harrowing Tale of Parvovirus

In this episode we also reference Mark Cushing and his new book Pet Nation: The Love Affair That Changed America. 

I mention a study described by dog behaviorist and researcher Dr. Ellen Furlong.

Visit RosieFund.org for links to all of our social media, including our free YouTube channel with a video of Peaches playing in the snow with her friends at Bar K. Please subscribe to our channel to help us secure the Rosie Fund URL.

Celebrate 5 years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com.

Music for this episode is provided by alternative string duo, The Wires. Visit them at TheWires.info. Learn fiddle and cello-fiddle online — even if you've never played before — from Laurel Morgan Parks and Sascha Groshang at FiddleLife.com.

Recent guest Ashley Schanz is now online at schanzssketchbook.com in addition to her Facebook Page Schanz’s Sketchbook. You can commission Ashley to sketch a beautiful memento of your pet with the proceeds bene

Make a donation at RosieFund.org or through our Facebook page. You can contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Also check out our page on BarkYours, the online mall with gifts for people who love their dogs.

Rosie Fund online:
RosieFund.org
Facebook.com/rosiefund
Instagram.com/rosiefund
YouTube.com/rosiefund

Transcript

LEIB  0:02 
They said that there were two places they absolutely had to stop and see on the way from Annapolis, Maryland to San Diego, California, the Grand Canyon and Bar K. If you're on that list, like I guess you're doing something right.

PHIL  0:17 
I'm Phil Hatterman and this is Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund. Today, Leib Dodell and I discuss one of the happiest places on earth, Bar K Dog Bar, and he shares exciting news about this unique dog park's future.

If you're new to this podcast, in each episode, we explore the world of dog care and companionship. "We save each other" is the motto of Rosie Fund, which simply means the more we do for dogs, the more they do for us, and they already do a lot. If you love dogs, you'll love dog words. We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions. Go to the podcast page at RosieFund.org to share your thoughts. We welcome suggestions for topics and guests. The only way we know which ones you like is if you tell us. Then we'll try to deliver more of that. Please download, subscribe, rate and most importantly, share dog words.

Celebrate five years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate on our website or Facebook page. You can also contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Links are in the description. Please follow Rosie Fund on social media. Subscribe to the free Rosie Fund YouTube channel that offers great videos Rosie, Peaches and shelter dogs, including some exclusive content like Peaches in the snow at Bar K.

Remember, you can commission recent dog words cast Ashley Schanz to sketch a beautiful memento of your pet with the proceeds benefiting charities. This makes a great gift, especially if you know someone who has lost a pet. Please use the keyword "Rosie" when you contact Ashley if you want Rosie Fund to be the beneficiary charity. That's r-o-s-i-e. Go to Ashley's Facebook page Schanz's Sketchbook or her new website SchanzsSketchbook.com. Both are linked in the description.

Next time on Dog Words we get to know Lucky 13 Rescue with volunteer Stephanie Robinson.

The mission of Rosie Fund is to provide humans with the resources and education they need to give senior and harder to adopt dogs a better life. We thank you for joining our mission.

This week, our guest on dog words is Leib Dodell. Welcome to the show, Leib.

LEIB  2:21 
Thanks for having me back.

PHIL  2:22 
You are on because of your affiliation with Bar K - that you're a co-founder of Bar K with Dave Hensley. Bar K has the distinction of tying Jesse Shroyer, for most appearances on Dog Words, this is your third appearance. Your second. Dave was our first guest ever. This is your second time on so three appearances.

LEIB  2:44 
That ties us with Jesse that pulls us ahead of Jesse?

PHIL  2:46 
That that ties you with Jesse. Jesse has been on for Huck the hospice foster, dealing with Parvovirus with a puppy foster and then of course Doga - dog yoga at Bar K. So there's that tie-in there. So this will probably light a fire under Jesse, that she has to find some other reason to come on.

LEIB  3:04 
Well, it's on now. The competition is on now.

PHIL  3:07 
And it's a heated competition. Our relationship with Bar K is wonderful. I can't tell people how great it is that technically, I guess Bar K has been on more than three times because we've done multiple interviews here with many guests. You've been so generous in sharing your space. But it's kind of like the the State Farm commercials where people think I'm getting special treatment and they want to thank Jake from State Farm. You've been so great to us. But it's really not special treatment. Anybody can and should come to Bar K for co-working or just to hang out at the restaurant. It's just a great space, Leib.

LEIB  3:41 
Yeah, well, thank you. It is - no, you guys do get special treatment. We love Dog Words and what you guys are doing just, you know, there's so much going on in the world of pet and you guys constantly call attention to new and interesting issues. So we love you guys. But you're right, that this is what Bar K is all about. It's about creating a community and being a hub for all the different like tentacles of the pet community. And there's so many. And if we can be a platform for bringing that together and sharing information and thought leadership, then that's what we're all about.

PHIL  4:11 
I've had multiple guests, who I didn't know had any connection to Kansas City, and I'll make an offhand comment about something we did it Bar K and they go, "Oh, ueah, Bar K!", that they've either heard of it, or their couple of visits to Kansas City came to Bar K.

LEIB  4:28 
Yeah, no, that makes me really happy. And it's true. I'm often surprised at how word has gotten out around the country. And we've got this really cool map, sort of a heat map that shows where people are coming from because you know, everybody who comes here, even if you come in as a guest for a day you fill out a form. So we know your zip code, and we plotted it on a map of the United States and literally, it's like we're covering the entire country. So, you know, I think we've gotten to a point where if you're passing through Kansas City and you love dogs, someone is going to say, you got to go see what these crazy people have done on the riverfront. And they're coming by In fact, I'll share a great story. One of our favorite stories is there was a family here and we just started talking to them. And turns out that they were moving their daughter from Annapolis to San Diego. I can't remember whether it was school or work or whatever. And they said that there were two places they absolutely had to stop and see on the way from Annapolis, Maryland to San Diego, California, the Grand Canyon and Bar K. So, if you're on that list, like I guess you're doing something, right.

PHIL  5:25 
I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. But it kind of seems like Bar K  might be turning into one of those institutions that people might even be taking for granted. Like someone who grows up in Kansas City, and has only ever been to the Plaza for the Christmas tree lighting. It's like the Plaza is a great place to go any time of year. There's wonderful things to do with the Plaza. So don't just leave Bar K as that place that you bring people from out of town like, "Oh, I'm gonna show off Bar K." Come to Bar K at any time. And it's a great place to be.

LEIB  5:55 
Yeah. And hopefully we become an indispensable part of the lifestyle of a dog and a dog owner, you know, in Kansas City. That's the idea. And so a lot of our customers are coming two, three, you know, four times a week,

PHIL  6:06 
The few weeks that you were closed at the beginning of shelter at home. It was - that was stressful for Peaches.

LEIB  6:13 
Yeah, I'm sure. It was stressful for me, too.

PHIL  6:18 
I can't imagine it was probably a different kind of stress for you. But when we finally got to bring her, oh, she was just beside herself. Because she kind of goes nuts anyway once we're crossing the bridge and she knows this is where we're going. And sometimes she's wrong, sometimes we go other places when we cross the bridge, but she always thinks we're coming here. She was just bouncing off, it was a good thing we have her tethered in the backseat, or she'd gone through the window. Even though the windows closed, she was just so - and then when she got here to have to catch up on all this smells and make a lap or two.

LEIB  6:52 
But one of the one of the fun things that I like - people share videos, where they're at home and they ask their dog, do you want to go to Bar K, and the dog just goes nuts, right? And so those are super cute and lovable. And so I'm thinking, you know, one day five years from now when we're ready to do a TV commercial, and it's just little video snippets, you know, authentic video snippets of people asking their dog, "Do you want to go to Bar K?" that would make a great commercial.

PHIL  7:16 
It's tough that spelling Bar K sounds so similar to saying Bar K. So it's hard for us to discuss it around Peaches. We just kind of a knowing nod or wink. It's like, Do we have time this afternoon to go to...?

LEIB  7:31 
That place?

PHIL  7:33 
And, yeah, she she knows what we're talking about. And then she gets wound up. When the weather's nice. And there's Doga every Sunday she knows when it's time to leave. It's even before I start putting on the stuff I would wear to Doga she is doing her little howl and stomping around, like, "Come on people, like, finish breakfast. We got to get to Doga."

LEIB  7:54 
Isn't it amazing how perceptive they are about things like that. Like, I think dogs are just really good at cause and effect. Like, they pick up on connections between things that we don't even necessarily see.

PHIL  8:05 
Yeah read better than us.

LEIB  8:06 
Bear, so you know, my - I've got 12 year old blind German Shepherd named bear who's super lovable and sweet and was a therapy dog in his prime. Sso he's so tuned in like, if I get two wine glasses out and put them on the table he knows that company is coming over and he'll go and sit by the front door. Remember, the dog is blind. So he must hear the tinkling of the wine glasses and he just knows in his mind because of his experience with cause and effect what's going to happen next. It's pretty amazing.

PHIL  8:35 
Listeners need to go to our archives and check out our interview with Dr. Ellen Furlong an animal behaviorist and a researcher. Because she talks about the research with dog shaming on social media where they put the sign on the dog that looks guilty. That the - I won't go into too much detail because you just need to go listen to Dr. Furlong's interview. But she talks about the study they did. They would have the owner and the dog in the room and tell the owner, "we're going to put out a treat, but we're not going to let the dog eat it." And then the owner would leave. And either the dog would eat the treat after being told not to. Or even if they didn't, the researchers would take the treat away. And then they would tell some owners when they come back your dog ate the treat. And before the owner could even say anything the dog would act guilty. And it had nothing to do with whether they had actually eaten the treat they had been told not to eat. It was based on just the owner's body language before they even said, "Bad dog." Once they had been - immediately once they've been told...

LEIB  9:41 
The dog picked up on it. Yeah.

PHIL  9:43 
That they're so intuitive. They read us and that's you know, it's been 1000s of years of them benefiting from being able to read humans.

LEIB  9:50 
Yep. So interesting.

PHIL  9:52 
Talking about the popularity of Bar K and how Kansas Citians better not take it for granted, Bar K is going to be on the radar for a lot more people soon. Tell us about that, Leib.

LEIB  10:07 
Well, 2021. It's a big year for us, right? We think it's time for us to expand we have now four years under our belt in Kansas City. People listening to this are going to be well, for years, I thought you guys opened august of 2018. And we did. But remember that we were open for a year and a half in the warehouse in the West Bottoms, which we called the Bar K Lab for a year and a half before that. So we've been at this now for four years here in Kansas City. And we think, you know, we've got a pretty good handle on the fact that people want this experience and dogs want this experience. And so we're ready to branch out. And so we've got two new locations in development. One in St. Louis and one in Oklahoma City that are going to get rolled out, you know, in the next 12 months,

PHIL  10:46 
I'm excited to visit both of them because we had the Lab experience. We loved the Lab. Peaches loved the Lab. And we knew it's going to be better when they move to the Riverfront just because they're going to have more space if for no other reason. But even before you did that just at the Lab, the way Bar K would adapt and evolve and try things and learn and say, "Okay, that didn't work. What can we do better with this event?" And it just continually got better. Of course, you brought all those lessons to the Riverfront. But you have continued to have that mindset. So what are you taking from what you've learned from the Lab, and from this location to Oklahoma City and St. Louis?

LEIB  11:33 
Yeah. So they're really going to be like the best of both the Lab and the Riverfront, right? Because like you say, we have learned from everything. Just quick word on the lab. You know what you said about the Lab, so many people echo like how much they love the Lab and the Lab was great, but it drives me nuts. Because, you know, we spent three and a half million dollars building this like beautiful Riverfront campus. The Lab was an old, drafty warehouse that it probably cost us about 1500 to open up and you can't believe how many people are like, "Oh, we missed the Lab," but I think what they miss is that intimate indoor, all weather that area,

PHIL  12:08 
That word was in my head when you were saying but that people miss it is like there was that intimacy, simply because there weren't as many people there.

LEIB  12:17 
It was more exclusive and had that sort of under the radar, you know, speak easy...

PHIL  12:21 
And it wasn't because there was a cliquishness to it. It was just because it was in the West Bottoms. People didn't know it was there.

LEIB  12:29 
And not even in the cool part of the West Bottoms.

PHIL  12:30 
Yeah, it was like it wasn't next to an art gallery right.

LEIB  12:34 
Now, but so we're gonna take that experience and incorporate it into the next location. So these locations in St. Louis in Oklahoma City, we'll have two acres of outdoor space just like we have here in Kansas City with a lot of the same features - unique play equipment and a stage, but they'll also have 10,000 square feet of indoor off leash space, which I know is going to make people here in Kansas City like super jealous.

PHIL  12:58 
Where's our 10,000 square feet?

LEIB  12:59 
Don't worry, we are at some point in the future we will throw some kind of a enclosure out in the back of the park, maybe like a tennis bubble type thing so we can have that.

PHIL  13:08 
But as an aside, just what you guys do with the tents and the heaters, during the winter. I have been here on days that we would not walk peaches outside. But we throw one of her many beautiful coats on her and bring her here. And you still want to have gloves and a cap.

LEIB  13:26 
Yeah, it's pretty civilized

PHIL  13:28 
It's sheltered and warm. And the way it's set up on the terrace the dog can dart in and out as they get warm and cold. And depending on the kind of dog like the St. Bernard's that just stay out there the whole time and just love it and you can stand there and watch them while you sip your your hot toddy.

LEIB  13:44 
Exactly. So this is I'm going to lecture a little bit to like Kansas City listeners here like this is actually one of the things that surprised me about moving from the Lab to the riverfront, which is I thought that this would be an all year all weather experience. I mean, you still got to get your dog out, like doesn't matter how cold it is, right? And most dogs love the cold. I can't get Bear to come back inside when it's under 30 degrees. I mean, he just loves it out there so and I get that we humans are a little bit more frail. But you know, why wouldn't you come to Bar K when it's 20 degrees and snow on the ground and you know, you can come inside like you said and get a drink and warm up or you can stand under the tent in front of the heater while your dog plays but that hasn't seemed to be the experience and we're here in Kansas City still very seasonal. Revenue it peaks, obviously the fair weather months and then dips in the cold weather months. So I don't know what what's happening to all the dogs out there in the winter like you guys must be going crazy.

PHIL  14:39 
Obviously. There's - and crazy is a keyword because there's obvious physical benefits that the dog is moving around. But the emotional benefits of the dog to have that stimulus. You get cabin fever, and you have books to read and cable and internet and talk to your friends on the phone. The dog only has you. They're trapped there with you. They don't have a book to read.

LEIB  14:59 
Couldn't agree more. I think it's a mental thing with we humans that like when it's cold out and there's snow on the ground, we just are not thinking dog park. And I think it's maybe it will change over time if we just keep, like emphasizing the point that this is an absolutely wonderful destination on nasty winter weather. But now it's just so...

PHIL   15:19 
And you have good comfort food.

LEIB  15:20 
Comfort food, and you know, music. I mean, it's just a great place to go.

PHIL  15:24 
You're not hanging out in a park. You're not sitting at the, the...

LEIB  15:29 
I mean, would you rather walk around the block sort of freezing your, you know, tushy off? Or would you rather like come here where you can come inside and warm up and your dog. But so two days ago, which I realize means nothing to listeners, because who knows when this is gonna, but today, it's what was it? 30? Little under 30? Right. But two days ago, you remember film? It was Wednesday? I think it was 60?

PHIL  15:48 
Yes.

LEIB  15:49 
And I don't know if you were here, but the place absolutely just went nuts. It was like a summer day. And we had about 100 people in line.

PHIL  15:55 
Yeah, I've been there on those days like that, where you get the one nice day in the middle of a cold stretch. And you're glad you're a member because you can come right through the member line.

LEIB  16:02 
But then the by the next morning it was snowing, right. And so we had a one day on a Wednesday where we probably had 2000 people come through our space. And then the next day, we probably had 20. And that's just you know, the experience here. But so lesson learned. And as we build the Bar K experience at around the country, we'll add the indoor component to it. And I think that's going to make it an even more indispensable destination for people because you'll remember that back in the Lab days, our busiest days, were the bad weather days. That's when everybody was like, "I gotta get my dog, some exercise and get the heebie jeebies out and let's go to the warehouse."

PHIL  16:39 
And you didn't even have food. You just had the bar.

LEIB  16:41 
Not only do we not have food, there was no heat and no air conditioning. So if it was 30 degrees outside, it was 31 inside.

PHIL  16:47 
Yeah, people huddled up.

LEIB  16:48 
People huddled around the heater and people still showed up. So that's what I mean about the mental block. Like it wasn't any more comfortable in the Lab in the winter than it is here. But yet people came. So it's just this mental thing about being indoors versus being outdoors. So we'll hopefully turn that around to the next locations.

PHIL  17:05 
Something I want to talk more about Oklahoma City and St. Louis. But the changes not just at Bar K in the Riverfront, but the changes to the Riverfront. There's construction right next door.

LEIB  17:20 
Yeah, it's unbelievable what's happening here.

PHIL  17:22 
There's gonna be residential and is there commercial going into that as well? Because there's some commercial at the other apartments.

LEIB  17:28 
A little bit. Yes. So you know, the Port Authority, right, which owns all this Riverfront property, they have big plans to create this whole Berkeley Riverfront community. And I think in three to five years, this is going to be the best most dog friendly trendiest neighborhood in the whole city.

PHIL  17:46 
The streetcar's coming.

LEIB  17:47 
The streetcar is going to come right down the Grand Street viaduct from the River Market, literally right in front of Bar K. And they're building an elevated bike ped bridge, that's going to go parallel to that viaduct that'll connect downtown on the River Rarket to the Riverfront by foot. So...

PHIL  18:03 
And that has been a I wouldn't say a concern, maybe a minor annoyance for me, where we have done stuff in the River Market and thought, wouldn't it be nice if I could just walk over there, there's not a convenient way to do it, you have to come down so far to the west.

LEIB  18:20 
Down at the Town of Kansas Bridge, right when they come all the way back and you know that path is not...

PHIL  18:20 
And when you have  a senior dog, she's done, when you make that long walk and now you have to go back.

LEIB  18:30 
Some some stretches of that path like it.

PHIL  18:32 
They're not ideal.

LEIB  18:33 
A little bit like the beginning of a Law & Order episode, right? So that bike ped bridge will change the dynamics considerably. And it'll be just an easy walk cause nobody wants to walk on the grand street viaduct right now. There's no...

PHIL  18:47 
You shouldn't.

LEIB  18:47 
It's super dangerous. You see people doing it from time to time, but it's super dangerous.

PHIL  18:52 
That would be good for Bar K. But I also think any commercial development down here, Bar K is going to be good for them. Kind of like the bars and restaurants that are next to a ballpark benefit. They're going to benefit from being next to you.

LEIB  19:05 
Yep. And there's talk of a hotel coming down here. There's talk of an office tower, so...

PHIL  19:09 
Oh, wow.

LEIB  19:09 
Like I said...

PHIL  19:10 
So if I have a choice of a hotel that, yeah, out on the interstate, or next to Bar K Dog Bar.

LEIB  19:20 
Yeah. So one of the like, ideas, you know, Bar K is all about just throwing out these wild ideas and then seeing what sticks was like, how cool would it be if there was a bed and breakfast, tucked in the back corner of Bar K and so if you're traveling across the country, can you imagine if you could stop for the night and a bed and breakfast on a dog park? Let your dog out the door like I mean, that would be just such a brand new and to me, like critically important

PHIL  19:45 
You would need to book well in advance. This is not a last minute. You're not going to impulse.

LEIB  19:50 
Well, one day hopefully we can add that. I mean, that's the cool thing about where the pet industry is right now is it's like infinitely scalable and things are changing so quickly. Like you had a guest on a few months ago, Mark Cushing, who wrote this new book called Pet Nation. And I recommend it to listeners if you haven't read it yet, because the whole theme of the book is how shifting attitudes towards pets and dogs in particular, impacting every segment of the economy, from transportation, to hotels, to restaurants, to employment, and how you know, especially younger people are just demanding more pet friendly accommodations. So I think that's going to change the economy hugely over the next couple of decades.

PHIL  20:31 
The streetcar doesn't allow non-service dogs, currently, people can still and should still, as I keep saying, come to Bar K without their dog. So you can take the streetcar and come to Bar K without your dog, you'll want to do that. But I don't doubt for a moment that by the time they get that section of the street card done, there'll be some sort of accommodation for either all dogs are allowed. Or you can get your dog certified as public transportation friendly, that there's some sort of screening that perhaps the Animal Services Division can do now that it's run by, KC Pet Project. Because the way our society has evolved, dogs go with us everywhere,

LEIB  21:14 
You're 100%, right, maybe one of the three cars is dog friendly, or something so that's a...

PHIL  21:19 
And the dogs are better at going with us everywhere, because it's so ubiquitous. And it's not a novelty for the dog, like it would have been when I was a kid to take my dog into a store. It would destroy the place. But now a dog grows up from the time it's a puppy. There's so many pet friendly places that getting on a street car is nothing.

LEIB  21:40 
Yeah, no. I think you're right. I think there's a huge opportunity there. So stay tuned, that could be a great topic for a later Dog Words episode.

PHIL  21:48 
And any listener out there who wants to start a movement to make that happen? Let us know. We'll get you on Dog Words. And we'll jumpstart that.

LEIB  21:56 
You bet.

PHIL  21:57 
Back to St. Louis and Oklahoma City. How does that as expansion work? Did you identify prospective cities? Or did people in those locations come to you and say, "We want what you have."?

LEIB  22:11 
Yeah, little both like it's been sort of an opportunistic expansion. Like it's for us. It's about finding the right real estate. We need a lot of space. And we need two acres at least to make our model work plus parking. If you've been a Bar K a nice day, you know, the 300 cars parked out there. So you need the right real estate situation. And, you know, it's generally not a commercial real estate kind of play, you know, because, you know, you're not going to do Bar K on the Plaza. It's just the economics are not gonna make sense. And they probably don't want 2000 dogs descending on the Plaza. So you're looking for unique, we use the phrase "found space" where we can find a piece of property that commercial developers wouldn't think of as desirable. I mean, look out the window, Phil, we're under a highway bridge next to a railroad and yet it works. So you got to find those unique opportunities. And so we were able to find a piece of property in St. Louis that's owned by a local developer in an emerging neighborhood called the grove that's still pretty industrial.

PHIL  23:10 
What part of St. Louis is that?

LEIB  23:12 
It's right in the center city. Just...

PHIL  23:14 
I was born in St. Louis. I know it a little bit.

LEIB  23:15 
Okay, so like, right next to the Hill, just sort of Southeast to Forest Park, south of the cortex central cortex. It's a perfect location, right off...

PHIL  23:24 
I'm laughing because those are destinations. Anyway, Forest Park, go to the Hill, get some good Italian and take your dog out.

LEIB  23:31 
Yep, we're on a street called Mcree Avenue, which you drove down Mcree, you'd be like, "Well, this doesn't look like a place for a bar and a restaurant because it's, you know, super industrial" and, but that's the kind of sites that we're looking for. And we know that dog people will find us like, as long as we provide a great experience. And it's, you know, we're right off couple highways. So it's...

PHIL  23:50 
Oh, yeah. It's easy to get to.

LEIB  23:52 
Yeah, it's going to be spectacular. So it's under construction. right now as we speak. We're actually it's a little different than here in Kansas City and in Oklahoma City, are ground up construction. But in St. Louis, we're repurposing a beautiful old warehouse. So that means that we'll have that indoor offleash space. It's a 56,000 square foot warehouse. We're taking half of and it's gonna have, you know, it's got 30 foot ceilings and all the beautiful metalwork and we're gonna convert it into this indoor dog park and bar and restaurant, it's really going to be extraordinary. And, you know, I'm personally going to be relocating to St. Louis in the next 45 days or so. So I can be there during construction and opening which we expect opening sometime in September.

PHIL  24:34 
Well, 56,000 square feet. That's about a football field.

LEIB  24:38 
Yeah, the building is enormous. And like I said, we're taking half of it and then there gonna be other tenants and the other half which, hopefully their employees are dog lovers, because they'll be able to take advantage of having Bar K right next door. It's just gonna have, you know, a lot of the same elements that we have here. And then a lot of enhancements. we kind of talk of it as the 2.0 version of BAr K.

PHIL  24:59 
You guys, do you talk about found space, you do a good job of taking advantage of what you're handed. For a lot of developers being under the Grand Street viaduct is a non starter. That's shade and shelter.

LEIB  25:13 
Absolutely. And we knew that going in. I mean that what we didn't know. And sometimes it's better to be...

PHIL  25:17 
What it would cost you to put that in? But just to have it and take advantage of it is great.

LEIB  25:22 
Yeah. What we got lucky, you know, since it's better to be lucky than good sometimes is like a poker expression. That's one of my few vices and right at around five o'clock in the summer, the shade from that bridge is right over our dining space.

PHIL  25:36 
Yeah. It's just to the west of the building. That's perfect location.

LEIB  25:40 
We're not that smart. So it just works out great.

PHIL  25:42 
Cause yeah, you could have done had a seasonal study done to see, "Where do we need to put this?" That's where you would have put.

LEIB  25:46 
We would have and so we just got lucky. And it's kind of cool to see in the summer. Right? The crowd migrates with the shade over the property. But there's always shade somewhere, you know, because we also have the shade from the building. And then we've got the two containers out in the park, the, you know, the one on the east side of the property gets morning shade, and the one on the west side gets evening shade.

PHIL  26:05 
Yeah, I've used it to get out of the sun and to get out of the rain and hang out there while Peaches, for the most part doesn't care if she's playing. She doesn't like the rain. But if she's playing she doesn't notice it. So yeah, let her run around.

LEIB  26:19 
Yeah, it works out great. So you know, have similar aspects in all these other locations. The other thing about St. Louis is St. Louis is where Purina is headquartered. And we have a very strong partnership with Purina and so they really wanted to have a BAr K in their backyard. So we think that's going to be a great dynamic because you know, a lot of the Purina employees for happy hour, they've already take their dogs to work. So they can just go to Bar K after work to have a beverage, you know, when life starts to get back to normal, if they need an off site meeting space, we can accommodate that. Plus, people who've been here in Kansas City know we have an area called Petfinder Park in here, which is where you do your Doga and where we have adoption events, and Petfinder, many people may not know that petfinder.com is owned by Purina, which is one of the reasons that we've created this area called Petfinder Park to have rescue events. And so Purina has committed to doing Petfinder Park and all of our other locations. So in St. Louis, that Bar K will also have a really elaborate Petfinder Park where we'll have regular adoption events and other programming so and we have Seresto Stage here in Kansas City, which is kind of the epicenter right of the...

PHIL  27:30 
Yeah, we haven't even talked about live music yet that you have.

LEIB  27:33 
Yeah. So we're going to replicate Seresto. Seresto is going to also sponsor our stage in St. Louis. So we can recreate that experience pretty magical, right? Just you have a singer songwriter up on a stage and dogs running everywhere? It's an experience that's pretty unique.

PHIL  27:46 
The singer songwriters that you have up there, the performers, I'm so impressed with how they just roll with it, because there'll be dogs that will stroll up there and be, you know, sniffing in their guitar case that's laying open, and then move on and they just just keep going. And they probably if they weren't a dog person they probably wouldn't take the gig.

LEIB  28:06 
If you're not a dog person or if you maybe take yourself a little too seriously this is probably not the venue for you. But if you have a dog, we've had a lot of artists say, "God, this is the first time I've been able to take my dog to a gig." I mean, think how cool that is.

PHIL  28:17 
You can't take it to the bar.

LEIB  28:18 
Right. So it's great for the artist is great for the artist's dog. They're not getting left home. And it's great for our customers.

PHIL  28:23 
Yeah, wonderful performers. And you're gonna have wonderful performers in Oklahoma City and in St. Louis The proof of concept that you've done with first with the Lab, and then with making it work here, you're taking to that next level of proof of concept. "Can we expand this?"

LEIB  28:42 
Yes.

PHIL  28:43 
And I have no doubt that you will.

LEIB  28:46 
I'm glad you don't. I mean we don't either. But it's challenging.

PHIL  28:49 
I don't have any money writing on this. So it's easy for me to be...

PHIL   28:52 
Fair enough.

PHIL  28:52 
But objectively I can't see how wouldn't work.

LEIB  28:55 
Well, it's just execution, right. And the concept is absolutely going to work. It's scaling it that you know, that's - every growth business goes through this, you know, you got one location now you got to replicate it and triplicate it. And that's the hard part.

PHIL  29:08 
We've seen that with countless restaurants that you love, and then they add a second location or expand the dining space and it loses it.

LEIB  29:16 
Loses the magic somehow That's why I am determined to be there in St. Louis.

Yeah, don't leave that to chance.

My feet on the ground like building the relationships with the community. That's part of what has made Kansas City so great is you know, we spent a long time getting to know all the rescues all the dog trainers, all the daycares, all the vets and we want to do the same thing and all these other locations. So it really does feel like it's the community meeting place for pet lovers.

PHIL  29:42 
You have a real understanding of what makes Bar K work and you are experienced enough in other endeavors that I think you can be more objective than someone who is like, "It's always been my dream to open a restaurant, I've got a restaurant and now the restaurant's popular so I just going to expand wildly." That measured expansion and that attention to detail, that hard work that's so necessary is something that you're doing. So I think that bodes well for your success.

LEIB  30:14 
Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. That is something we're very, very mindful about, because we don't want to dilute the experience that we've created here by growing too fast.

PHIL  30:23 
I'm going to put you on the spot with my last question.

LEIB  30:25 
Uh oh.

PHIL  30:26 
We are Bar K members here in Kansas City. Is that membership applicable to the new locations?

LEIB  30:34 
Heck, yes, it is.

PHIL  30:34 
Yes!

LEIB  30:35 
Your membership will get you into every Bar K location. You know, you alluded to earlier, you're excited to see St. Louis and Oklahoma City, we hope people will want to do that, you know, most like, you know, taking your your son or daughter to see all the baseball stadiums if you're a baseball fan, because every Bar K is gonna have its own unique nuances to it. And I hope people will want to share that with their dogs and do a road trip and go see all the Bar K's.

PHIL  30:58 
Just having a long weekend, thinking, "Well, where can we go where there's stuff to do?" Oklahoma City and St. Louis just moved to the top of the list because we don't have to figure out can we take Peaches? Are there things for Peaches to do? It's like, well, it starts with we can definitely take her to Bar K. And then what else can we do in St. Louis with Peaches?

LEIB  31:16 
Yeah, no, that's great. And they're both an easy day trip, right? Yes. Why we picked those cities because we're going to be managing from here and so we wanted to make sure that they're places we could get to pretty easily so yeah, by the end of this year, you know this time next year, Phil when you and I are sitting here pulling ahead of Jesse again in the...

PHIL  31:33 
Yeah, take that Shroyer.

LEIB  31:34 
...we should have three amazing locations up and running. So hopefully we can bring joy to a lot of dogs in the Midwest.

PHIL  31:40 
Can't wait to visit those locations and can't wait to have you back for updates on how they're doing and what the next phase of expansion is going to be for Bar K.

LEIB  31:49 
 Look forward to it.

PHIL  31:50 
Thanks for joining us, Leib.

LEIB  31:51 
Thank you.

PHIL   31:59 
I'm Phil Hatterman. And you've been listening to Dog Words presented by Rosie Fund.

Thank you to Bar K Dog Bar co-founder Leib Dodell for joining us today. There's a link to BarKDogBar.com in the description along with links to some of the interviews we referenced in the Dog Words archive.

Check out the video of Peaches in the snow at Bar K on the Rosie Fund YouTube channel. Please subscribe to our free channel for fun videos and updates on the shelter dogs featured by Rosie Fund. Links are in the description.

Remember you can commission recent dog words guest Ashley Schanz through her website or Facebook page to sketch a beautiful memento of your pet with the proceeds benefiting charities. Please use the key word "Rosie" when you contact Ashley if you want Rosie Fund to be the beneficiary charity. That's r-o-s-i-e.

A big thank you to alternative string duo The Wires featuring cellist Sascha Groshang and violinist Laurel Morgan Parks for playing the wonderful music you've heard on today's and previous episodes of Dog Words. Supporting The Wires supports our mission. Their generosity allows Dog Words to use beautiful original music without having to pay for licensing. To continue distributing music they need fans to buy it and subscribe to their online concerts. You can even hire them for a socially-distanced private concert. Learn more about The Wires at TheWires.info and download their music on iTunes. Check out FiddleLife.com and learn to play fiddle and cello fiddle online from Laurel and Sasha even if you've never played before.

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Next time on Dog Words we get to know Lucky 13 Rescue with volunteer Stephanie Robinson.

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