ELMSDALE: For dog owners, a trip to the dog park can sometimes be a bit of a gamble.
Will the park be packed with dogs? Will it be empty? Is it a good time to bring a dog that may be nervous around larger groups? Or will you make the drive only to discover the park isn’t quite what you were hoping for?
A new app created by Nova Scotia entrepreneur Wayne Brown is designed to take some of that guesswork out of the equation.
Brown, creator of Dog Park Now, spoke with The Laker News at the Off Leash East Hants dog park in Elmsdale, near the Legion, on Sept. 8 to demonstrate the app and explain what inspired him to create it.
The idea started with a simple frustration.
“I kept taking the dog to the park and not knowing what the park was like,” Brown explained. “I went online thinking that there’s got to be something out there that gives you an idea of what dog parks are.”
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After researching what was available, Brown said he couldn’t find a service that provided real-time information about what was happening at individual dog parks.
“There was nothing giving you real-time updates of what the parks are like,” he said.
That led to a decision that would change the direction of his career.
“I guess I’m the one that has to build this,” Brown recalled thinking.
Brown had spent 15 years working in the insurance industry before deciding to leave and pursue the idea. He began working on the concept in January, spending months developing the design before bringing in an app developer to turn his ideas into a working application.
The result is Dog Park Now, a community-powered app that allows dog owners to see activity at participating off-leash parks and check in when they arrive.
The concept is straightforward: know before you go.
For example, Brown demonstrated how an owner arriving at a park can check in through the app, select their dog, and provide information about how busy the park is. That information then becomes useful to other dog owners considering a trip to the same location.
For owners of social dogs, an empty park might not be particularly appealing. For others, especially those with dogs that don’t do well around large groups, a quieter park may be exactly what they are looking for.
“Now you have a better idea of knowing what the parks are like,” Brown said.
The app also incorporates a little friendly competition.
Users earn points for checking into parks, collect badges and can move up a leaderboard. Brown said the goal is to encourage people to participate because the more people who check in, the more useful the information becomes for everyone.
During the Laker News demonstration in Elmsdale, Brown showed the app’s map of off-leash parks and how users can check into a location. The system also showed activity from other parks where dog owners were already using the app.
The app has grown beyond its original purpose as well.
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Dog Park Now includes a Paw Partners directory featuring local pet-related businesses, including groomers, veterinarians, dog trainers, dog walkers, boarding and daycare services and pet-supply businesses.
There is also a Lost Dog Network, which Brown said has been endorsed by Nikki Marie, a Nova Scotia lost-dog advocate.
The app allows users to report a lost dog and provides information to help get the details out to others who may be able to assist.
Brown has also recruited nine volunteer park ambassadors to help spread the word about Dog Park Now and encourage dog owners to participate.
The concept has been gaining attention outside East Hants as well. Brown’s public information about the project says the idea grew out of his own experiences taking his dog to parks and wondering what he would find when he arrived. He initially researched whether something already existed that could provide that information before deciding to build it himself.
The app is available for both Apple and Android users.
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For Brown, however, technology is just a tool to make a simple community experience better.
He sees the app as another way for dog owners to make a more informed decision before getting in the car.
“It saves you a wasted trip going to the park,” he said during the interview.
And that can work both ways.
If your dog loves meeting other dogs, you may want to know where the action is. If your dog prefers a quieter environment, you may want to head somewhere else.
The information is only useful if dog owners participate, which is why Brown is encouraging people to check in when they visit parks.
“It’s just another tool that gives you a better idea of what the parks are like,” he said.
