Nothing can pick up your mood like hanging out with a new fuzzy friend and this new app will partner you up with shelter dogs who could use the companionship just as much as you could!
Charlie and Cristina Saunders, based in San Francisco, plan to release the new app Walkzee this June. Walkzee is being heralded as an Uber for dogs and is the ideal way to play with a pup while helping out your community.
The Saunders were originally inspired by a program they observed at a shelter in Hawaii while on their honeymoon. The Kauai Humane Society actively encourages visitors to take their dogs on day trips. They even wear vests that say “adopt me,” which advertises to prospective adopters that the dogs are available and would love a forever home!
A lot of dogs end up not being walked at shelters and then act out when they’re around prospective adopters, simply because they don’t have an outlet for their energy. If there was a way for these dogs to get some of their energy out, learn how to hang out with new people, and for you to get some much-needed stress relief, why wouldn’t you go for it?
Here’s how it works: shelters will list information about their dogs and users will search by geographic area to find a dog they can spend some time with! The app users will be able to walk the dogs, the shelters will gain sorely needed dog walkers, and the dogs will become better socialized and therefore more adoptable.
The app has already received $26,000 in funding via Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, which is 30 percent more than its original goal of $20,000. It will be completely free for both the shelters and for the app users, with the Kickstarter funding going towards developing the app itself.
Are you looking forward to getting your puppy fix?