DON’T HAVE A DOG?
Dog lovers unite! At Dogshare we have made having a part-time pooch possible with our 'helper' feature which connects the “desperate and dog-less” with dog owners, to provide a helping paw. Those longing for puppy love can get their pet-fix by providing walks or dog sitting for time-poor dog owners in their local area. Once you've paid your membership fees, no money exchanges hands, simply the companionship of man’s best friend.
Dogshare was initially launched to connect like-minded and caring dog owners with one another to assist in the daily care of their respective pets, but we soon expanded our community to include any pup aficionado. Time-poor dog owners now have an even larger network of doggy day (or night) carers, looking to share the unconditional love (and responsibility) of their canine companion.
The benefits of having a dog in your life go further than on demand furry snuggles, according to a 2015 Harvard Medical School report called “Get Healthy, Get a Dog”, which found that people who have dogs in their lives are healthier overall. Not only are they more physically active, but they’ve also been seen to have better cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and lower levels of stress.
But despite this, we understand that not everyone in Australia is in the position to own a dog, lack of space, time constraints, and limited finances are enough to interfere with full time dog ownership but are easy obstacles to overcome in short term care.
We found that there are so many people out there who genuinely love dogs and have experience caring for them, but are unable to commit to owning one for a variety of reasons, but with so much love to give, we really wanted to offer these people the opportunity to care for a dog, at least some of the time.
Dogshare works much like online dating. Simple to use, dog owners create a profile about themselves and their prior dog experience and indicate the services they’re happy to provide. Helpers can offer to cover dog walking, overnight or vacation stays, assist with dog appointments or simply check in on the dog while its owners are at work.
Helper profiles are then made available to Dogshare’s dog-owning community who can connect with suitable ‘matches’ and arrange a local park meet-up. Everyone can test the chemistry and see whether the relationship has legs. Pardon the pun. The helper gets access to a dog and all the benefits that go with it, while the owner has someone to love and care for their pet when they can’t. It's a real win win situation!