By Tim Hawk
When Samantha Clearfield was just a kid her parents would ask her what she wanted to do when she got older, and her answer was to live somewhere warm and scoop ice cream by the beach.
Fast forward years later, Clearfield, now 31, is the owner of a business in a beach town that is warm, at least part of the year, and is scooping ice cream — not for the large Jersey Shore crowds but for our beloved four-legged friends.
It’s funny how childhood dreams can come true. And she wouldn’t change a thing.
“It’s wild to me that I get to do this,” she said on a busy Sunday afternoon at Salty Paws, a doggie ice cream bar and bakery in Ventnor City.
With a huge smile and a hearty welcome, Clearfield is quick to greet the human customers as they enter the shop, which is lined with treats, bones and other essentials, before dropping down to greet the always happy and excited tail-wagging faithful friend by their side.
After a few sniffs — many treats are at nose level for the dogs — her customers eventually make their way over the the ice cream bar where an assortment of flavors and toppings makes deciding the hardest part of the visit.
For the regulars the decision is easy, they know exactly what their dog likes.
Lindsay Plesniarski, of Egg Harbor Township, visits the shop every week to the delight of her 7-year-old husky Lulu.
“She loves it,” said Plesniarski. “She gets all excited and sings on the way here. She knows she’s going to get her ice cream.”
Lulu watched patiently as Clearfield scooped the combination of cheese steak, beef stroganoff and bacon ice cream into a bowl before chowing down on the treat next to Nova, Clearfield’s 4-year-old pointer heeler mix and unofficial store manager.
Clearfield took over Salty Paws from its former owner in January and put the blame on Nova, a rescue from Texas, who she said was the inspiration for her career change from a court reporter to the owner of a shop that is not even a year old.
“I opened this so we could be together everyday,” said Clearfield.
Nova is a COVID pup who came into her life in June of 2020, only four months after Clearfield graduated from court reporting school and around the same time the pandemic shut everything down.
During the time Clearfield worked from home the two developed an inseparable bond and when life began to get back to semi-normalcy, the thought of leaving Nova behind was too much.
“I developed anxiety leaving her,” she said.
While living in Philadelphia she attended the grand opening of a Salty Paws in the city and found out it was a franchise when talking to the owner.
Clearfield applied the next day and asked for the shop in Ventnor but was told that the person who owned the Philly shop already bought into that location.
After several failed attempts to find space near the city, Clearfield was approached by the Ventnor owner to buy the shop which she opened in September of 2022.
“She reached out to me because we became close,” said Clearfield. “I was living in Philly and I would take Nova (to her shop) and she knew I was struggling finding a place in New Hope or Doylestown.”
A deal was finalized and Clearfield put all her savings into the shop, moved into her parents home in Longport and then opened in January knowing that life at the Shore in the winter months tends to be slow.
To her surprise the weekend crowds at the shop were better than she thought they would be and soon began to notice the great lengths that people will go to pamper their pets.
“I know people love their dogs but I don’t think I realized how much people love their dogs until I opened this,” Clearfield explained.
Salty Paws offers a variety of different treats to spoil any dog. The bakery section includes doggie donuts and cookies, with the squirrel cookie being one of the top sellers. Another dog favorite is the happy birthday bone, said Cleafield
The main attraction is the lactose free ice cream where 12 flavors are on the menu. Peanut butter, bacon bacon, cheddar cheese and pumpkin lead the way as the favorites. There are 10 toppings to choose from and include turkey, chicken and yogurt chips — a dog’s version of sprinkles or jimmies — that complete the treat.
Enjoying a bowl of beef stroganoff ice cream topped with chicken was first time customer Maeve, a 9-month-old weiner and French bulldog mix who was accompanied by her humans Dave and Vanessa Ryan, of Ocean City.
As the couple looked around the shop, Maeve took a break for eating to play with Trent, a 5-year-old Alaskan Malamute and Great Pyrenees mix, who was at least triple her size.
Playful greetings are welcomed at the shop and eating off the floor is acceptable if a scoop of ice cream happens to lose its way.
As Dave watched Maeve continue her antics, he said he liked the variety of healthy treats and found the personal touch Clearfield gives to the shop refreshing.
Special events such as a paint and sip, where dogs create their own art by licking treats off a canvas wrapped in plastic and a side of dog beer — pork, chicken or beef broth — was sold out.
Birthday parties and most recently a photo session with the easter bunny have been popular. Clearfield also plans on having a photo competition of customers’ dogs eating ice cream and the photos will hang on the wall to give the shop some extra character.
“This job I have not woken up a single day dreading going to work,” she said.
As the summer season grows near, which will be the first of the shop, Clearfield said she would like to build more of a community for people and their dogs and have her shop the place to go after the humans get their cup of coffee in the morning or after the humans get their ice cream on those hot summer nights.
“Every customer comes in with a smile and they’re spoiling their dog, nothing gets better than that.”
Tim Hawk has been a photojournalist for more than 30 years, covering South Jersey and the Jersey Shore. He is also an adjunct professor at Rowan University he teaches photojournalism.
