CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — These days, it seems like there’s an app for whatever you need. And now, you can add a new app to the list.
The first ever app for doggy dates allows you to make play dates for your four-legged friends, and the man behind the app says it has the potential to be a game-changer.
"This is really the first time that a generation has adopted dogs in mass,” said app developer Colby Weintraub during a Zoom interview from his home in Boulder, Colorado.
We found Jordan Campos and 5-year-old Basset Hound, Woodson, at Cole Park their first time sniffing around.
The two live a short dog walk away, and that had us wondering if they’d even need an app for doggy play dates.
"It's cool,” Campos told us. “Interesting. I'm curious to find out what that would be or entail.”
What it entails really doesn’t matter to Alec Robbins and his 4-year-old pooch, Kayuh.
"If I need to do a dog play date, I'd just go to the dog park,” Robbins told us.
It may not be his thing, but as we know, not every pooch or person is the same.
"It's good for scheduling for people who are really busy,” Campos said..
And just like human dating apps, you can swipe left or swipe right on the doggy playdate app. You can also find out more information about local dogs in the area, like their name, age, breed, sex, location, and interests.
When asked where the idea came from, Weintraub talked about graduating from college during the pandemic and remembering that, "ten of my really close friends adopted dogs during the pandemic.”
That's why Weintraub said, "I wanted to figure out a fun, easy way, for gen Z, my generation, and millennials to integrate their dog into the new connections they make going forward.”
When asked if a possible benefit of the app is a human friendship, Weintraub answered, “that’s a possible benefit, there's a friendship. There might be a date. Between the people.”
"What happens after the introduction and after the messages on the app, that's entirely up to the two individuals and, of course, up to their dogs,” he added.
So if a dog lover wants a play date with another dog lover, dog dads like Campos, are all about it. But, there are dog lovers out there who prefer what you might call an unplanned encounter.
"I think that can make a better connection than actually trying to go out,” Robbins told us. “ It eliminates a lot of hassle, I would say.”
The app may be the first one to make doggy dates, but at the same time, it's certainly raising some eyebrows because of it's name. The app is called Doggy Style.
Woodson barked at the name and we told him that he had heard right. The name of the app is Doggy Style.
"I wanted it to be memorable and I wanted it to stick out in peoples' heads,” Weintraub said. "I wanted a company that is fun and is funny and sticks out in your head and why not settle on doggy style.”
We wanted to know when it comes to the name, if the pros outweighed the cons.
"So many more people have come up to me and said that they loved the name than people who've come up to me and said they hate the name,” he said.
When we told the dog dads over at Cole Park, they had mixed reaction.
"Not a great name,” Robbins said with a laugh. “A little crude.”
Campos reacted by saying, “I mean there's an idea in my head and an image. I'm just, hmmm, ok.”
So whatever image you may conjure up, Weintraub says, there's just nothing like your four-legged friend.
“This is something that you look at and you're smiling. You're looking at adorable dogs.”
Just swipe left or swipe right. Plenty of dogs to possibly date - and maybe their humans, too.
The app is free in the iTunes store or Google Play. Weintraub also recommends reading the fine print when signing up. You are held responsible if something goes wrong.
