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Want A Dog Date? Bark'N'Borrow Might Have The Perfect Match For You

This article is more than 7 years old.

Apps today can help daters select for just about any “type.” But what if your type is a furry, four-legged friend?

Thanks to 24-year-old Liam Berkeley’s startup Bark’N’Borrow, you’re in luck. Available to U.S. iOS users, Bark’N’ Borrow, which debuted on Apple ’s App Store last November, helps dog-lovers meet dogs for playdates and sleepovers, and helps dog owners connect with each other. Berkeley said the app is meant for “borrowers” who wish they could have a dog, but don’t have the right situation to care for one full-time. The app also caters to dog owners who are interested in trading dog sitting responsibilities with another dog-owning friend, a potential alternative to hiring a dog sitter or relying on a kennel. The app lets borrowers select for everything from distance, personality, size, breed and training level, and owners can also browse borrowers.

“Dog sharing connects you with people and puts your dog in a happier place,” Berkeley said. “There’s more love to be shared.”

The app, which has more than 70,000 users, according to Berkeley, debuted its 2.0 version on Friday, National Day Dog. The new version includes a paid subscription model, which lets users pay $7.99 for one month with a free week-long trial, or $4.99 for three months. Both options give users unlimited messaging and dog dates and the additional option to borrow nearby rescue dogs. Berkeley noted that a subscription likely costs much less than paying a dog sitter or a kennel. And now, Bark’N’Borrow donates 5% of all subscription fees to the Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare nonprofit.

“It's not within shelters’ budget to be able to market,” Berkeley said. “Rescues love it. It brings attention and awareness to their cause."

Berkeley said the app attracts a range of age groups (users need to be 18 or older to sign up), such as older couples who have lost a dog but can’t manage owning a new dog. Safety is a natural concern for any app involving meeting a stranger -- or an animal. To help protect all parties, Berkeley and his team screen every profile on the app and encourage borrowers to join only if they already know they like dogs, not if they’re trying to figure out if they’re interested. Every subscriber is also insured for accidents up to $2 million, according to Berkeley. However, the app only ensures dog dates that are scheduled on the app’s platform, a policy which has the added benefit for company of encouraging users to continue paying for a subscription instead of taking their dog relationships offline. Users can also access support through the app 24/7. And now, dog owners can review borrowers, and borrowers can review dogs through a star system and comments.

“Your dog sitter and dog walker are a stranger until they become your dog sitter or dog walker," Berkeley said. “We do a very good job of vetting each individual. We try to create the safest, most responsible community possible.”

San Francisco resident Lauren McLeod has been on the app with her dog Minnie for nearly nine months and has been pleasantly surprised by the interest they've received. Several new borrowers contact her every week to request Minnie for day hikes and walks.

“I like how easy it is to use, because you immediately know who’s close to you,” McLeod said. “The first person we used literally lives one block from us. It’s easy to meet through the app.”

The Human-Dog Bond

Alan Beck, director of the Center of the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said that if a dog is well-socialized, meeting with a borrower on the app will likely be a positive experience.

“Dogs are fairly flexible, especially if this is a little part of the dog’s life,” Beck said. “Dogs get used to going to a vet and a dog boarding system. They’re really quite comfortable with a bit of new experiences.”

Studies show playdates can help relieve anxiety in both borrowers and dogs.

“The dog likes being with someone who likes them,” Beck added. “It’s great to be an animal owner but not great to be hoarder.”

Beck said there can be meaningful “social reward” for both dogs and borrowers. Borrowing dogs can encourage people to walk more, and studies indicate being around dogs improves relationship-building skills. And who knows, hanging out with a dog might even help one pick up a human date.

“It’s well documented that people seen with an animal are viewed more positively,” Beck said. “We make this fundamental attribution error that if your dog likes you, you’re a better person.”

Finding A ‘Great Idea’

Berkeley, who grew up in Sydney, was inspired to start the company in 2014. He had moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment and came up with the app idea when he and his then-girlfriend desperately wanted to adopt a dog but knew they couldn’t look after one with busy work and class schedules. Instead, they played with neighbors' dogs, which helped Berkeley realized many people would like an arrangement in between dog ownership and being deprived.

Berkeley started working on a website and gathered about 400 email addresses on the streets of Santa Monica for the site’s first launch in November 2014. The company, which competes with a number of dog services like Dog Vacay and Rover, has dog-friendly headquarters in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, and plans to open a New York office by the end of this year.

“Dog sitting and pet sitting are a huge market,” Berkeley said. “We haven't even tapped into .1 % of it.”

So far the app is self-funded (Berkeley’s father and uncle have backed the startup so far), but Berkeley will likely raise a seed fund of a few million dollars in the coming months. Berkeley said one of the biggest challenges for the eight-person startup (about half of employees are engineers) has been managing the technical demands of running a consumer app. Spikes in downloads after media coverage, for example, can lead to glitches or crashes. Berkeley said he plans to use future seed funding to invest more in the engineering. He also plans to create an Android app and bolster the app’s website.

“Doing a startup is hard, so you have to continue to believe,” Berkeley said. “I started this because I thought it was a great idea, and I still think it's a great idea.”

The startup celebrated Friday’s launch at a restaurant called Pink’s Hollywood in Los Angeles. Four dogs from local rescue shelters competed in an eating content (of dog food, Berkeley noted), and Bark’N’Borrow and Pink’s donated about $1,000 in cash prizes to local shelters.

“Being around dogs brings happiness into your life,” Berkeley said. “I get off a terrible phone call and have puppy time for 10 minutes, and am back to it. It’s therapy.”

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