Okay, admit it. We’re all crazy about our dogs.
We watch them on YouTube and post their pictures on Facebook.
But now it’s time for dogs to have a social network of their own. At least that’s what the brains behind a New York startup think.
Take, for example, a dog named Bandit.
“He had plenty of friends back in San Francisco,” his owner Anthony McGee says. “But now it’s time for him to meet new friends in New York.”
So McGee used the startup site MatchPuppy.com to find puppy playdates, a clear indication that social networking has indeed gone to the dogs.
Site founder Michael Chiang says the original business plan was to help with ‘puppy love,’ connecting owners looking to breed their pets. But eventually the team decided “just friends” was okay too.
“We realized there was a bigger need in the market, to help dog owners kind of facilitate playdates online,” Chiang says.
Matches are made by neighborhood, breed, and age. But some pet owners have the same kinds of concerns with it as with ‘human’ online matchmaking.
“I would be a little concerned, because I don’t know the dog,” said prospective puppy-dater Shameika Bloice.
But other dog owners like Lexi Herman say, “It’d be great to meet some other people who have breeds similar to mine.”
And dog owner Brian Huseman agrees. “If there’s a way for dog owners to interact and maybe set up playdates later, I could definitely see some value in that.”
Chiang says the social benefits aren’t for the pups alone.
“Dogs are a great icebreaker,” Chiang says. “And using a website like ours, you find new relationships, new friends, so definitely the human aspect of it is very strong.”
So far the site is limited to New York, but Chiang says other cities are being eyed as future dog-meet-dog worlds.
