Find your dog a friend

My dog Bear, a Tibetan Terrier, is a pretty happy guy. We have a good relationship, based on mutual respect and love. We do everything together - walk, eat, sleep, swim, go to dinner parties and the pub, meet my girlfriends for coffee.... I’d take him to work if I could trust him to follow office etiquette (cocking of the leg on handbags, power boards, bins, the photocopier, human legs would be regarded as taboo in my behind-the-times workplace. What’s a bit of doggy wee in exchange for pats on demand?).

And I must say, for a long while, this me-having-to-go-to-work thing was a big fat problem for us both. Separation anxiety hello! And poor Bear, I can’t imagine what he was going through. Did he think I was a cruel mother, putting him in solitary confinement for no good reason? Was he plotting some kind of pay-back by destroying my garden, high heels, and anything left within doggy-reach? I faced a conundrum. I either get a second dog, or put bear into doggy daycare. I lacked the cash for option 1, and option 2, well, what if there were bullies at daycare?

Anyway, point is, Bear and I have put those painful days behind us, and my basil plants for the first time in their life are flourishing. This is all thanks to Sophie, a Maltese X, who lives around the corner. Her mum works too, and after chatting at the local park one day, we decided to force our dogs into friendship to spare us the guilt of leaving them alone all day long.

Now, Sophie and Bear are besties, regular buddies, boyfriend and girlfriend. Call it what you like, they play together twice a week. She comes to our house every Monday, and Bear goes to theirs every Wednesday.

It’s a kind of doggy dating system which gets them socialising, gets us socialising, and saved my shoe collection.

Anyway, to help out others in the same boat, I set up dogtree.com.au, a free, grassroots service to help dog owners connect for the wellbeing of their pet. Find a dog sitter, walking friend, or arrange play dates with a neighbour’s dog while you both go to work. Bear and Sophie love it. And the best part is, in the comfort of his own backyard, Bear can do all the leg-cocking he likes, with no bullies to tell him off.

In Australia 66% of households own a pet. And with so many lonely canines locked up alone all day in backyards, I reckon pairing them up for play dates is a no-brainer. They play, we work, they come home tired and sleep all night long. Bliss.

Good luck and happy searching.

Britt Smith
Founder
dogtree.com.au
helping your dog branch out