These applications changed the game of dog adoption. Before these apps, the family hopped into the station wagon and they went down to the nearest shelter or fair for approval. They relied on luck and serendipity to pair them with their new best friend.
If the family knew the dog breed they preferred, this strategy would also lead to a tireless multi-month hunt for their new pet. This can sometimes lead to a "wild card" adoption if they didn't know the breed, which sometimes turned out well and sometimes didn't.
Luckily with new technologies, this problem has been solved. Dog adoption apps have cataloged and categorized hundreds of available dogs for pet lovers to sift through with ease. If you are interested in adopting a pet without making the rounds to all of the local pet shelters, continue reading.
Things to Consider Before you Adopt
When it comes to introducing a furry member to the family, we all want to make sure that it is the right match.
There are many important factors to consider. These factors include lifestyle, location, family, existing animals, income, and work schedule. Truth be told, for even the most experienced pet guardian, the adoption process — and all its associated stressors — can sometimes be daunting.
Six to eight million adoptable dogs and cats find their way into the 3,500 shelters in the United States each year. Unfortunately, due to overcrowding and a lack of funding, many perfectly healthy animals will be euthanized before they will ever find a home.
Apps to Help you Find Pets to Adopt
Pet Finder
Petfinder is a searchable online directory of animals seeking homes.
This is now a list of approximately 11,000 animal shelters and rescue agencies in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Organizations have their own home pages and pet databases.
Pet lovers can look for a pet that best suits their needs, from the comfort of their personal computers. They can access the web page of a shelter to find out what resources it provides. Petfinder also includes discussion groups, a list of pet-care services, and a catalog of free pet-care products to help keep pets in their homes.
The Bark Buddy
The Good people at Bark&Co bring you the Bark Buddy iPhone app. This is the same company that is in charge of Bark Box and Bark Post. This app has almost the same interface as Tinder. You can filter dogs based on those you do and do not like. This mostly has the ease and range of online dating, without the awkward conversations.
Plus, you can use the app to get pre-approved for adoption! There's a questionnaire asking about your lifestyle, training opinions, and the kind of dog you 'd like to adopt. Approval is a relatively painless operation, the app's creator says. After you have been pre-approved, you will give the profile to rescue organizations to ask about the dog you are interested in.
Bark Buddy helps you browse through hundreds of puppy profiles, as well as post your highlights and save them. Some of the best features are that the app identifies the types of dogs you 're most interested in, and offers more recommendations for you.
Paws Like Me
The Paws Like Me App has developed algorithms that recognize the most significant communication factors between people and pets. They tested their algorithm with over 30,00 participants for more than six months before the launch, according to the report, and obtained an average match accuracy of 91 percent.
The Paws Like Me website states that it "creates a complex matching score by integrating four core personality quadrants for dogs and humans and then applying environmental and special factors based scoring weights together with pre-filtering based on your individual needs."
Do you already have a dog? Fantastic! You can also insert your details in the app, and see their rating of compatibility with a new dog. And, if you hit a rough patch and decide to find your dog a new home, you can enter their details and find a new family that's friendly.
AllPaws
AllPaws may have the largest app database. This one lets you check across the nation for 200,000 dogs eligible for adoption. To help you find your ideal pet, the AllPaws app also offers an online dating style interface with over 30 different search filters. You can send and receive messages, save searches, and set up a list of potential dogs to adopt on your personal favorites.
The notifications/reminders function is a beautiful/brutal feature of this app. The app will give you little love notes during the day after you choose your favorite dogs, saying "Ginger is still up for adoption!"
This app isn't just for dogs. They have cats, ducks, rabbits, goats, pigs, reptiles — you must name it! You can also share prospective pets on Twitter or Facebook. Maybe an animal will find a new home because you shared their profile on your social media.
Conclusion
Dog adoption has never been easier or more fun with these three great options to choose from. Download on of these apps today and start searching for the perfect pet!
