When Hannah Scheideman graduated from TCU in 2010, she was anything but ready to continue on to graduate school or have a traditional nine-to-five job. Instead, she said she thought of starting a dog lounge and boutique business. 

Scheideman has now worked to make this idea a reality with the help of two other former Horned Frogs: her mom Sara and Hannah’s fiancé Ben Witten. The inspiration for WAG came from Scheideman’s two-year-old red fox Labrador named Sage and dog boutiques she saw while traveling in Colorado.

“I love people and I love animals. Dogs are my favorite,” Scheideman said. “But I wanted a job where I got to interact with people a lot and get to know them and just get to know their hearts.” 

Scheideman said WAG would carry a lot of purple products to get pooches and their owners in the TCU spirit. Her family has been to almost every TCU football game, home or away, for as long as she can remember, she said.

“We would love to host tailgating events. We’ll have a TV here where we’ll show the game,” Scheideman said. “We’ll have purple puppy contests, where the dogs obviously can dress up in purple, and they’ll be given a gift.” 

In addition to fashionable accessories for dogs and their owners, Scheideman also supported local businesses and charities through her store. WAG would feature products like dog beds and pillows from Red Dog Barkery, as well as doggy treats and snacks from Three Dog Bakery, which Scheideman claimed were good enough for humans to eat.

Scheideman said she would like to use WAG as a platform to help out other charities such as Canine Companions for Independence. They worked on setting up once-a-week dog adoptions in the store, she said.

Senior entrepreneurial management major Lorene Agather has known Scheideman since they were young and said she was not surprised that her lifelong animal-loving friend had decided to open a business dedicated to dogs. Agather has a 4-month-old puppy named Turner, which she planned to bring to WAG once it opened.

“[WAG] is so hip and really young looking. I think that TCU students will really love it,” Agather said.

Agather isn’t the only one anticipating the opening of WAG. Its Facebook page currently has over 600 “likes” and continues to grow everyday. Scheideman said she was excited about the overwhelmingly positive response to WAG so far.

“I was looking at the products I have for the store the other day and realized this may not be enough… I need to order a lot more before our official opening,” Scheideman said.

WAG is currently under construction in a space by Trinity Park on Foch Street. Students and their furry companions could look forward to WAG’s planned opening in mid-May.