Our Story

Small Dog Candle Co. was born in April 2020 by mother-daughter duo Jamie and Avery Wheeler. The pair were grieving the loss of an important family member. Avery was in the middle of her Master's degree at the University of Kentucky and was now completing her thesis and teaching classes from our living room. Binging TV shows was the new pastime. To keep things cozy, we were burning A LOT of candles. Candles that we noticed did not smell as fragrant as they had in store; if they were fragrant, the fragrance did not last through the candle's lifetime, or the burn time was not as long as advertised. This dilemma led Avery, a Materials and Textiles Scientist, to research these issues. Before we knew it, Avery had ordered supplies and ingredients. 

One thing led to another, and we found ourselves on a mission to create the candle we wanted: a realistic burn time, high-quality ingredients, and the ability to smell the candle throughout our house. We nailed it. We asked ourselves, why keep these incredible candles to ourselves? The answer was we could not. Our business name comes from Avery's miniature long-haired dachshund, Smallz. Smallz is a distinguished gentleman and a treasured member of our family. For years, we've joked that we all work for this "Small Dog," who had put in as many hours as we did to create an incredible candle, so it only seemed fitting for his likeness and nickname "Small Dog" to be our representation. 

Family and friends devoured the candles we gifted them and soon requested more to purchase. From April 2020, we've grown to include a retail location, e-commerce, wholesale, and fundraising. We have since expanded our product line to include additional home scenting options.