We are the Lapidus Family. On July 27th, 2011 our daughter Rachel suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Rachel fell into a coma, was on life support, and the doctors told us that if she survived she would most likely never walk or talk again. He also stated that the best thing for Rachel would be putting her in long term care. We have never given up on our children and we were not going to give up on Rachel then.

We fought for recovery and after three weeks of fighting with the doctors and insurance company we finally got a 3 day stay at Rehab Hospital of Indiana. After a seventy two day stay, Rachel walked out of that rehab. Rachel still had a long way to go but she was home and alive. 

In Febrary of 2014 Rachel started what is called Vocational Rehab. This is where she would go and volunteer places and hopefully get a job. But, what we found was that finding a job for someone with a Mental Disability was not easy. There is a lot more time involved in training someone with a disability and most employers will not take that time.

When we saw that Rachels Job Coach was having difficulty getting Rachel a volunteer position doing what she wanted to be doing, we started doing some homework. We found out that over 80% of ALL Mentally and Intelectually Challenged are unemployed. Mostly because they have not been given the chance, not because they can not do it.  We thought about it and said why not open a business that would employ the mentally challenged. So we decided to do something about it.

In April of 2014 the idea of Special Dogs & More was created and on October 15th, 2017 Special Dogs & More was born.

At Special Dogs and More the mentally and intellectually challenged get the opportunity to gain employment through on the job training.

They have been told, “You can not do that”, or “You won’t be able to do that”. Well, we are here to tell you that they CAN do it. Our mission is to train and help the mentally and intellectually challenged get the skills needed to gain employment.

Over 70% of all disabled are unemployed. Over 80% of all intellectually challenged are unemployed. With the proper training, support, and self-confidence they WILL be able to hold a job. We are teaching them skills such as: cleaning, cooking, teamwork, life skills, social skills, etc…

Our goal is to help our team members gain either part-time or full-time employment where deemed possible. We will not give up on those that need our help and accept it all while serving the best Chili-Coney Dogs in Columbus.

Special Dogs & More

"Changing Lives One Hot Dog at a Time"

 

When Special Dogs & More first started talking to the Mall there wer two Anchor Stores and a lot more stores inside. It was a good place to start because we felt the pace would be a little slower and it would give us a chance to get the procedures down.

Our goal was to stay here at the Fair Oaks Mall for 2-3 years while we found the perfect permanent home for Special Dogs & More. Due to multiple stores closing over the past 6 months and the drastic decline in traffic, we were forced to start looking earlier than planned.

They say everything happens for a reason. We have found the perfect permanent home for Special Dogs & More but we can't get there without your help and support.

The owner of the building is very kind and is letting us finance 1/2 of the build-out costs to construct the restaurant. This means we have to come up with $50,000.

We know we can do it. All of the community knows how much we love what we are doing and how dedicated we are to the community we live in and serve.

We know that Special Dogs & More has a lot of support. We have the support of our Mayor, we have a Sheriff that loves our mission and the food. Even Tony Stewart Loves Special Dogs & More.

Everyone wants to see us move. Please help us Change Lives One Hot Dog at a Time

At Special Dogs & More we use the freshest ingredients possible.

Our Chili-Coney Sauce is homemade. It has a coney sauce texture with a chili flavor. Our Creamy Cole Slaw is an old family recipe. The homemade Pasta Salad is delicious piled with fresh bacon on top. We only use fresh beef for our chili-coney sauce and our burgers. We try to use as many fresh ingredients as possible.

In the new location we will add salads and make sure we have vegan choices in both the burgers and the hot dogs, We will also simplify our menu by deleting some hot dog and burger choices but will add a create your own option for both.