“Tinder for dogs”?
Wait what? So, it’s like dog dating? Or puppy prostitution? Play-dating? (Sorry, to let you down, Deuce Bigalow – but my little lady’s already spade). Actually, not so much. This new app has more to do with joining up humans and adoptable hounds and less to do with inter-mutt meetups. And the guys who also own Barkbuddy are responsible for this magnificence that keeps us from having to hunt down sites or wait on phone lines so see if we qualify for a furball.
At first, this sounded like a more user-friendly version of “Pet Finder” at your fingertips (ie – iphone).
But by using the Barkbddy app, you can hop on and cruise the list of canines up for adoption in your area. The filters let you narrow down your hunt for a four legged friend that’ll jibe with your lifestyle – including whatever gender you’d prefer, age, or even activity level.
Heh. So, it’s like I’m getting all my Shih-tzu Rescue or Petfinder messages in one place instead of sorting through my general email to get it?
Kind of, and kind of not. Although I’ve yet to use a dating app, they liken it to Tinder cuzza the “swipe right for yes, swipe left for ew” search method those programs use. And with Barkbuddy, they NSA style track your mongrel window shopping excursions and build some sort of an affinity algorithm based off which types of pooch you tend to thumbs up. Or double tap. Or favorite. (I think I lost the dating app metaphor somewhere along the way there).
Although Barkbuddy has only been out a short while, there’s already 300,000 shelter and rescue dogs in the database already. And the co-founder Henrik Werdelin raises a good point: because people like me get irrationally blissful over the mere sight of a dog doing this…
(seriously – whole day just 360’d)
… people will sign up for this app regardless of their pet sitch. Even if they can’t afford the money or room or time for Rex the 2nd, they might have a friend they can pass the info along too.
Still, that doggy dating or an app that pimps out your pup would be fun for the furballs (someone tried – as a kickstarter and it failed before reaching $200). However, this is better because it serves my selfish interest of collecting more miniature animated fur creatures until I’ve completed my bouquet of wriggling fluffy rumped love-givers to fill my inner void. Making an unwanted pet family is the best thing ever. Just like that movie where the harlot marries a prince by prostituting, we get rescued right back when we rescue Rover.
I finger swipe right and they sweep me off my feet.
(“Right. Wait. Can I swipe left to defer MissCrazyPants?”)