The Dog Cabin: “Everything you need for the dog, but the dog”

Some of the EDC staff members recently stopped by The Dog Cabin in Lake George. The store is stocked with a wide variety of dog-related items and gifts, which we happily browsed (and bought) for our pups at home.  

Lisa Giknis is the owner of The Dog Cabin. She moved to Warren County in 2007 and opened her business in 2011 after a lengthy career in the insurance industry.  

“We have everything you need for the dog, but the dog,” Lisa said. “And we’ll beat competitor’s prices.” 

Lisa is The Dog Cabin’s sole employee, running the store and baking dog treats – all homemade except the non-alcoholic doggie beer – primarily by herself. She said her husband also helps to staff the store. 

In addition to operating The Dog Cabin, Lisa is the author of two books. Proceeds from sales of “Fetching Words: Poems by Dogs for Humans” and “The Lonely Dick” are donated to breast cancer and prostate cancer research, respectively. Lisa wrote the books to individually honor her mother and father, who both had cancer.  

She’s currently encouraging all restaurants along Canada Street in Lake George to be dog-friendly and provide water bowls on the sidewalk outside their establishment.  

Pandemic-related supply chain disruptions have impacted The Dog Cabin, in addition to struggles with significant minimum order quantities of goods for the store. Still, Lisa continues to ship orders domestically and internationally to Australia, England and Canada.  

“Most customers are tourists, but we do get a lot of locals,” Lisa said. “I want the dog to be happy, the customer to be happy and come back to Lake George.” 

Zora, one of Lisa’s two dogs, often hangs out in The Dog Cabin. Lisa’s previous dog, Snickers, initially inspired her to start the store when she realized the area lacked a store dedicated to dogs. A large photo of Snickers hangs behind the cash register in tribute to the pup. 

The store’s original location was on Beach Road, where Lisa says she “learned along the way, listened to what the customer wanted and needed and tried to be different.” 

Now, you can find The Dog Cabin at 32 Montcalm St. in Lake George.  For more information about the store, visit thedogcabinlg.com. For more photos from our visit, see below! 

Lisa Giknis, owner of The Dog Cabin, stands behind the store’s counter. The large photo on the wall is of Snickers, Lisa’s previous dog who inspired her career change.

Our new friend, Zoey, stopped in with her human to inspect the store’s goodies.