How son's autism diagnosis led to WOOF The Yorkshire Dog Shop in Leeds

WOOF: The Yorkshire Dog Shop in Oakwood, Leeds is the brainchild of husband and wife team Natalie and Robert Press, whose 13-year-old adopted son Toby received an autism diagnosis in July 2021.

Determined to find a way to help their son, they decided opening a business could be the answer.

Natalie, 53, a wedding make-up artist said: "We wanted him to have the best start to his life and education's never been his forte.

"So we wanted to explore putting together a business that would build on his strengths.

"He's quite creative. He loves dogs.

"I've always said he's a bit of an entrepreneur.

"We just felt like opening a shop like WOOF would help him with his communication skills, his independence, and really just let him learn the ropes in his own way in his own time."

The brave couple had the idea in July 2021 and despite having no previous experience, opened the doors that December .

Natalie says: "It's been a voyage of discovery because we were completely new to this industry.

"Apart from having our own dogs, we've got no experience of owning a dog shop."

The couple have kept their son's diagnosis firmly in mind while designing the store, which they say specialises in offering personal services.

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Customers are known and their needs understood.

"Everything that we've done with the shop has been very much through the lens of autism or certainly our experience of that," Natalie says.

"Some of the things Toby used to struggle with were really big ceilings, the fluorescent lighting, anywhere that was too crowded and had lots of products piled up so we couldn't see, so it became very overwhelming.

"So we've designed our store to basically be very clear - there's plenty of space.

"We try not to have too much out on the shelf so people don't get overwhelmed.

"We are very happy for people to pick things up, look at them and try them on the dogs.

"As long as the dogs are clean and dry, that's all we ask. We want people to try things out, make sure they work for them and all these kinds of things that we have implemented for somebody who has autism or neurodiversity, it translates really well to everybody else.

"Everybody really likes the fact they can come in and try on a harness because you can't in lots of places.

"We've also done things like putting in a 360 degree view of the shop online. So anybody with autism that needs to prepare themselves before they come down, they can just go on to Google, and they can have a look at the shop and see how it looks inside and see what we look like and know a little bit about us before they come.

"They're the kind of things that we've done to help."

Natalie says it's been a great success for Toby, who often helps out in the store and has learned a lot about human interaction as well as about dogs.

"It's really helped him with his confidence and his independence.

"So even if he's not talking, there are people talking in the shop. So he listens to the conversations and understands how people interact in that sense. Autism is basically a communication disability. So it's really helped him with that.

"Once upon a time, he would avoid eye contact, but he's definitely a lot more confident. If I say, 'Can you go and help that person over there?' he'll go and help them. So it's really helped him from that point of view."

Natalie and Robert also use locally sourced products and say it helps build a sense of community. "We do try to support local as much as possible, and certainly UK brands as much as possible,” says Natalie.

"We have a local supplier who literally lives around the corner from the shop who does Christmas cards and advent calendars for the dogs.

"We stock food that's made in the north of England. We have some collars that are made by somebody in Wakefield.

"We try, where we can, to get as many Yorkshire brands in as possible and then we expand it from there simply because we want to reduce our carbon footprint, but also just support other local businesses, other smaller businesses."

Natalie describes how a never ending flow of dogs drag their owners into the store off the street - with a range of dogs in all shapes and sizes.

"They all drag them in. We have different dogs coming in from really tiny Chihuahuas through to Burmese mountain dogs.

"You get all different ranges coming through."

Customers, too, come from all over Yorkshire to buy from WOOF.

Natalie says: "We have people that travel from North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire to come and see us partly because of some of the products that we stock.”

She says even online customers get a personal touch.

"Whenever I get an order placed over the website, if it's a customer that is a regular and they've told me about something that's going on with the dog like they can't eat chicken anymore and they've ordered something and not checked the ingredients I've swapped it out for something else. So it's that real personal service.

"We can't compete with the larger online services, we just don't have that leverage. But what we can do is we can deliver the same day for people and we can make sure that what they're paying for is the right product for them.

"We don't get any returns. I think I've had one return in three years. We do spend a lot of time with our customers talking to them, making sure that they're making the right purchases, but also making sure it's right for the dog."

Natalie and Robert are delighted with the way WOOF has taken off.

She says: "We've gone into it and we've made changes as we go along, but it's great. We love it as a family.

"It's really nice to be part of the community. And we have got a really fabulous community here in Oakwood.

WOOF is like the old fashioned corner shop where you suddenly had a chat and that was all part of the day.

"People come in and they'll be in with us chatting for a good half an hour on board.

"You get to learn all about your customers about what's going on in their lives and it's really that sense of community that we've built.

"I love going there every single day."

WOOF: The Yorkshire Dog Shop, 460 Roundhay Rd, Roundhay, Oakwood, Leeds LS8 2HU

woofthedogshop.co.uk