How did a coffee shop end up with a name more fit for a pet store?

“We have that dog. He looks just like that and his name is Otis. He is a Swedish vallhund. It was my wife Julie (Bean) who came up with the name,” said Paul Harrison, owner of The Little Dog Coffee Shop on Maine Street in Brunswick.

The Harrisons had been working for the same nonprofit organization for some time and wanted to start their own business. They walked up and down Maine Street and found the current location, which is on the corner of Bank Street.

“I’ve been drinking coffee since I was around 7 and was thinking only of a coffee shop serving baked goods. It became clear within the first few months that we were in business, however, that our customers were looking for more food options,” Harrison said. “Thus the panini menu and our continuing evolution of preparing and baking all of our food products in-house.”

They have been using Coffee By Design roasters since the doors first opened in 2005. Coffee By Design is a Portland-based roaster that has been roasting and serving coffee for nearly 20 years.

“We are the only sellers of CBD coffee in the Brunswick area. The owners, Mary Allen Linderman and Alan Spear, have been great partners and their coffee has been a big part of our success. We serve 12 different blends of their roasts every day, including our very own Little Dog Blend,” said Harrison.

Good coffee takes patience, diligence, good water and good beans, he continued. “At my wife Julie’s insistence and with their help, we’ve been pouring and serv- ing each espresso drink by hand on our fully manual Rancilio espresso machine since we opened our doors,” Harrison said.

In addition to offering all varieties of coffee and tea, there is an extensive food menu. Everything is fresh, made mostly with ingredients from area farms and created in the café using only a microwave, panini grills, a convection oven and industrial sized mixers.

“We use meats that are smoked right up the hill at Bisson’s Meat Market (Topsham). And I get all our bread from Borealis Breads. We get our bagels from Mister Bagel. We offer a variety of glutenfree baked goods, as well,” the owner said. “We buy our gluten-free baked goods from Brunswick’s Wildflours Gluten-Free Bakery and Portland’s Bam Bam Gluten and Dairy Free Bakery. My goal over time is to buy everything locally.”

He has always believed in having a food director, with the current one being Mark LaVesque. Critical to this position is the ability to think and create food that can be made within the limitations of the kitchen’s setup.

“We want all our food to be prepared from scratch, so we don’t use anything that is preprepared,” Harrison said. “In 2009, we did a lot of work to expand our food efficiency. We added a deli counter and fridge. We got a bigger convection oven and removed the regular one. We got commercial level appliances and machines, and added an open cooler to display merchandise better.”

Another recent improvement was going to green lighting, using Efficiency Maine and energy-efficient light bulbs, which he said has reduced his energy bill by nearly 48 percent. Keeping the shop cool has also been an issue, despite opening windows or using fans.

“I upgraded to a better cooling system. Despite the fact that the customers never complained, I know people were hot in here sometimes, so I knew that was something that needed to be improved,” said Harrison.

More recently, he hired Amy and Brett Trefethen, owners of Barn Boards and More of Mt. Vernon, to build new barn board tabletops for all of the tables.

“We’ve received a lot of positive comments about the new (table) tops,” Harrison said. “I realize it makes a real difference to our customers to see that while they continue to support us, we are always trying within our means to make this as nice an experience as possible.”

Figuring out what hours to stay open, what groups to embrace or shun, and what type of Wi-Fi arrangement to use has been part of the growing pains The Little Dog Coffee Shop has experienced.

“I didn’t want to encourage religious or political groups to come here. I don’t want people to feel like they will be accosted with someone else’s opinions or causes when they come in here,” Harrison said. “We encourage the arts, nonprofits and music. We’ve now put the password to using the Wi-Fi on the receipt, so that pretty much makes it clear that if you want to sit here and use the Wi-Fi you need to buy something. The majority of our customers are really good about that.”

Using a customer’s first name when handing them their order or remembering the names of regulars is important to all the employees.

“Trust is important. I want this to be a familiar place to the people who come here. I am lucky because I usually have staff members who stay on for quite some time, so people get to know them as well. I like it when people feel comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis,” he said.

But being friendly and positive hasn’t always been easy. Harrison explained that he had a hard time in the first several years working long hours and having to go home and help his wife with twin girls.

“Within the first year we were open my wife and I had twins. So I was working long hours, we were open until 10 p.m. then, and I am sure I was snappy toward people. I had a pretty short fuse,” he said.

Today, he uses his trust in his employees to allow himself time off to spend with his family.

“Sunday is family day. That is really important to me. In fact, I am now helping coach The Little Dog soccer team. Every Saturday we have warm-ups and games. Our two girls, who are now 7, are on the team,” Harrison said. “The Little Dog Coffee Shop sponsors the team and it’s a lot of fun. We have pictures on our Facebook page. It’s done through the Brunswick Recreation Department.”

Little details

¦ THE LITTLE DOG COFFEE SHOP in Brunswick is open Monday through Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday’s hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To learn more, visit www.littledogcoffeeshop.com. Or go to Facebook and friend the shop.