Jenn Calvi and Joe Caivano knew they could build something together long before they opened a dog bakery and grooming shop in West Islip.
After all, they’d already survived renovating a house together down to the studs.
“We did the whole house ourselves,” Calvi said. “On the weekends, we were painting ceilings, laying down floors. We knew we had the ability to work together.”
The Lindenhurst couple’s story actually started with dogs, in January 2021.
Calvi grew up in Carle Place and had two when she met Caivano, a Lindenhurst native and Lindenhurst High School graduate, who had one dog of his own.
Once the dogs got along, the humans didn’t have much of a choice.
“It was like, ‘I guess we live together now,’” Calvi joked. “We were like a little blended family.”
Almost six years later, dogs are still very much running the show.
Calvi and Caivano are the owners of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming West Islip, a bright-pink boutique at 425 Union Blvd. offering dog grooming alongside a retail shop packed with treats, toys, pet food and enough elaborate dog cookies to make a human jealous.
Right now, the bakery display has gone full Halloween, with frosted skulls, ghosts, pumpkins, spiders and donuts joining treats decorated like everything from hot dogs to birthday cupcakes.
The couple opened the doors April 17 after a process that began nearly two years earlier.
A second chapter
Back in May 2024, Calvi and Caivano, 47 and 48, started talking seriously about what they wanted the next chapter of their lives to look like.
Both had established careers. Calvi works remotely for Blood Cancer United, while Caivano works for Con Edison in Flushing. They weren’t looking to walk away from their day jobs, but they wanted to start building something that could eventually become their retirement plan.
They knew one thing: Dogs had to be involved.
“We love dogs,” Calvi said. “That’s the thing that brought us together.”
They explored different concepts, including doggy day cares, before Caivano came across Woof Gang. A franchise appealed to them because they could own a business while still having an established brand and support system behind them.
For Calvi, a day care presented one additional problem.
“I’d probably just want to keep all the dogs,” she joked. “That would be setting me up to be a hoarder.”
Woof Gang proved to be a better fit.
The company got its start in Florida in 2007 with a neighborhood pet-store concept designed as an alternative to the big-box experience, later adding grooming to its model. It has since grown rapidly across the country.
“I liked what I saw, and I saw they were expanding,” Caivano said. “I liked that it wasn’t a giant pet store that also offered grooming on the side.”
When Calvi and Caivano began the process, Woof Gang was still relatively new to Long Island. More locations have since followed, but the couple still operates Suffolk’s only location.
“We’re still kind of the little engine that could,” Calvi said.
Grooming comes first
Despite the word “bakery” in the name and the eye-catching display of gourmet dog treats greeting customers, grooming is the backbone of the West Islip business.
The shop offers full and mini grooms, baths, nail services and a lineup of spa upgrades, including a blueberry pie facial, de-shedding treatments and the appropriately named “Happy Barkday” package.
They also offer private reactive dog shopping sessions, opening early or after closing at no additional cost so every dog can experience the joy of picking out their own treats and toys.
Calvi and Caivano credit much of their early success to their local staff, including their manager, sales associates and groomers.
“Our groomers that are here from our core team, on the services side, they’re amazing,” Calvi said of the eight-person staff.
One groomer, she joked, is basically Snow White.
“She’s so good with the dogs,” Calvi said. “She sings to them.”
On the retail side, the inventory ranges from everyday chews, premium food, all natural treats and toys — to the considerably more Instagram-friendly bakery case.
Hamburgers and hot dogs were among the big sellers over the summer.
Now it’s the pumpkins, ghosts and other Halloween creations.
They’ve even hosted a dog birthday party after hours.
“We closed early and there were like five dogs running around,” Calvi said. “It was heaven.”
Finding their pack
For Calvi, though, some of the most rewarding moments have happened outside the normal rhythms of running a store.
She previously volunteered with a rescue organization and remains passionate about dog adoption. Since opening, the couple has worked with local shelters and rescue groups, including Almost Home Animal Rescue and Adoption and Babylon Animal Shelter, while participating in adoption and fundraising events.
“That’s my favorite part,” Calvi said. “Getting together, having events and donating to rescues. We’ve been able to do a lot of that so far.”
They’ve also begun forming relationships with other local businesses and organizations, something Calvi said has made the shop feel increasingly connected to the community around it.
And then there are the dogs themselves.
The couple currently has two: Olive, a rescue French bulldog, and Otto, a German shorthaired pointer. Unsurprisingly, both have benefited quite nicely from their owners’ career choice.
“Everything we do is for them,” Calvi said, though the joy and puppy love extends well beyond Olive and Otto.
“When dogs come in, I forget I’m working,” Calvi said.
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