Rock Rapids woman opens up her own dog treat business

ROCK RAPIDS, IOWA (KELO) – A young girl from Rock Rapids, Iowa is now a business owner. Lainee Jensen is an other-abled young adult and the proud owner of Lainee’s Doggy Deli . With help from her family, she travels to local vendor fairs and farmers’ markets to sell her dog treats.

Lainee is a young adult who needed something to keep her busy after she graduated high school. Her parents also wanted her to be able to continue to learn new skills.

“We started Lainee’s Doggy Deli for Lainee after she graduated from Central Lyon High School two years ago. We started it as a way for her to continue to learn skills, to be able to work as independently as she possibly can, and also as a way to fill up her days. She is used to being in school five days a week, 8 hours a day, and after high school. As an Intellectually disabled young person, it was just hard to find enough work experiences or opportunities in the community to fill up those five days a week, 8 hours a day,” Lainee’s mom Jessica Jensen said.

A frequent customer loves the idea of homemade treats for her dog.

“We love to support small businesses. I’m a small business owner myself. Lainie treats are made with love and natural ingredients. So we like to feed that to our dog,” Becky Bontje, a customer at Lainee’s Doggy Deli said.

Not only does Lainee’s mom Jessica Jensen want to continue to be there for her kid she is also keeping others informed that everyone is important.

“It’s been very meaningful to look at ways that we can keep Lainee busy and keep her learning. It’s really all about the learning. It’s also important for us to advocate and try to educate folks to get the message out there that individuals, no matter what their ability might be, that they all have an ability and a way that they can contribute somewhere,” Jensen said.

“We love to deliver because then we get to meet the dogs,” Business owner Lainee Jensen said.

“Lainee is a special girl. She loves dogs and we want to support her small business,” Bontje said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.