US Dog Walker App

(AP HORIZONS) – A new iPhone app for hired dog walkers lets owners track their pet’s every move. The Fetch Club, a luxury spot for New York City’s puppy elite, is one of the first companies to offer the special GPS service.

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At 10:00am each morning, two-year-old French Bulldog, Pooper, is picked up for his daily walk. With dreams of chasing squirrels and sniffing for buried treasure, what Pooper doesn’t realize is his that mischievous antics are not going unnoticed.

Dog walkers around the country are beginning to track their treks and jot down their journey with the help of a new app.

Developed by Chicago-based ‘Pet-Check Technology’, the app allows professional walkers to upload updates – such as miles walked, bowel movements, pick-up time, future scheduled walks, and training lessons.

Each adventure is also traced in real time on a virtual map; letting the owner access their furry friend’s activites when they are at work.

Dog walker Max Brand says the new system avoids miscommunication.

“I prefer using Pet Check because it’s clear on both sides of the table. The client feels that everything is safe, secure – they know where their dog went on a walk, they know the time their dog spent outside. And from our angle, we don’t have to worry about the client not knowing and we know exactly when the dog needs to be picked up, what their special needs are, whether they need to be fed. It’s all right there on our iPhone,” says Brand.

Brand works for the Fetch Club, a luxury spot for the Big Apple’s puppy elite. Located in New York’s financial district, the club boasts everything from a shop stocked with high-end pet products to a lavish overnight hotel.

Co-owner Janna Lee says they knew the latest app would be the perfect addition their new ‘Walk Club’.

“We wanted to have more visibility with the owners and accountability for the walks that we did. We felt they should be given as much information as possible about the services they are rendered,” says Lee.

So how exactly does the app know when to track? Customers get a barcode to put on their door for thewalker to scan.

The scan registers the phone’s internal GPS to begin logging its coordinates. The details of the walks are then up to the walker to fill in, as one would a Facebook status.

Pooper’s owner Ami Goodheart says her workday completely changed when she signed up with the service. Working as a costume designer thirty-blocks north, she said she loves that it only takes a click to catch up with her cuddly companion.

“I am so ultimately in love with my dog that I want to see what he’s doing, checking on him every day, and they just make it so convenient to do all of that online,” says Goodheart.

But to most outside the dog-lover circle, the gadget seems overboard. Is this amount of mutt monitoring necessary?

“I mean, I don’t know, a lot of people have nanny cams and things like that. I don’t have children; I have my dog. You know, he’s my family. So, I think that it makes sense to people who are pet owners. You want to know that everything is good and safe and having fun and not being neglected.” says Goodheart.

On the other side of town, the Humane Society of New York knows first hand the consequences of a neglected pooch.

Anne-Marie Karashi, the society’s associate director, says more attention to dog welfare could only be a good thing.

” I think it’s important to know that you’re paying for a service that you can trust. And a lot of times, people will pay for a dog walker, hoping that it’s for a good hour or whatever they need in the afternoon. If the person’s only taking the dog out for 15 minutes and back, then it might explain why their dog may not be as housebroken as they would like or getting anxious when they come home. It could explain a lot of behavioral problems. If they were addressed properly, then animals would not have to be surrendered to the shelters. So, it could be because they’re not getting that walk that you’re paying for and not getting all that energy out that you want, and they’re frustrated,” says Karashi.

After a hearty hike around town, Pooper finally heads home for the day. But not without a final lap of honor, caught on camera, for Mom.

 

SHOTLIST

New York City, USA – 11 June 2012

1. Wide of dog walker Max Brand with French bulldog, “Pooper” walking out of a Wall St. apartment building

2. Close of Pooper walking through Wall St.

3. Mid of Brand taking Pooper’s photo on his iPhone

4. Mid of Brand typing update into his iPhone

5. Close of app on iphone. UPSOUND (English) Max Brand, Fetch Club dog walker: “Ok so right now we are on the walk and here’s the dog’s name I put.”

6. Close of Brand petting Pooper’s head

7. Close of app on iPhone. UPSOUND (English) Max Brand, Fetch Club dog walker: “And the reason why we don’t have the walk length here right now is because it’s right up here. And, it says it’s connected, which means it’s connected to the 3G network, so it’s connected to the database online.”

8. Mid of Pooper licking a passerby’s face

9. Close of app on iPhone. UPSOUND (English) Max Brand, Fetch Club dog walker: “And the walker’s comments, you know -’great walk’- and scheduled for that. “

10. Close of Pooper looking around

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Max Brand, Fetch Club dogwalker:

“I prefer using Pet Check because it’s clear on both sides of the table. The client feels that everything is safe, secure – they know where their dog went on a walk, they know the time their dog spent outside. And from our angle, we don’t have to worry about the client not knowing and we know exactly when the dog needs to be picked up, what their special needs are, whether they need to be fed. It’s all right there on our iPhone.”

12. Mid pan down from the back of Brand’s T-shirt to Pooper walking

13. Mid of entrance to the Fetch Club

14. Mid of customer looking at products in the Fetch Club’s shop

15. Close of luxury pet care products

16. Close of novelty dog leashes

17. Mid of puppy Micha having a rest in the Fetch Club’sdog hotel

18. Mid of Fetch Club co-owner, Janna Lee, answering the phone with puppy Ho Chi on her desk. UPSOUND (English) Janna Lee, co-owner of Fetch Club: “Hello Walk Club, can I help you?”

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Janna Lee, co-owner of Fetch Club:

“Well, we wanted to have more visibility with the owners and accountability for the walks that we did. We felt they should be given as much information as possible about the services they are rendered.”

20. Mid of Brand opening the door to Pooper’s owner’s apartment

21. Close of Brand scanning barcode on Pooper’s owner’s door

22. Mid of Brand putting on Pooper’s leash

23. Close of Pooper and Brand feet as they leave the apartment

24. Mid of Pooper’s owner, Ami Goodheart, working at her job in Chelsea as a costume designer

25. Mid of Goodheart checking on Pooper’s walk on her iPhone

26. SOUNDBITE (English) Ami Goodheart, Pooper’s owner:

“I am so ultimately in love with my dog that I want to see what he’s doing, checking on him every day, and they just make it so convenient to do all of that online.”

27. Close of Amy tracking Pooper’s walk to Imagination Playground on her iPhone

28. Close of Pooper’s walk summary in real time on her iPhone

29. Close of Pooper’s weekly walking schedule on her iPhone

30. SOUNDBITE (English) Ami Goodheart, Pooper’s owner:

“I mean, I don’t know, a lot of people have nanny cams and things like that. I don’t have children; I have my dog. You know, he’s my family. So, I think that it makes sense to people who are pet owners. You want to know that everything is good and he is safe and having fun and not being neglected.”

31. Mid of a Chihuahua at Humane Society of New York’s animal shelter

32. Mid of Anne-Marie Karashi, Associate Director of the Humane Society of New York, checking on rescued puppy Charlie. UPSOUND (English) Anne-Marie Karashi: “Charlie! Hi! Hi little man! Hi little man! How are you? Want to come out?”

33. SOUNDBITE (English) Anne-Marie Karashi, Associate Director of the Humane Society of New York: ” I think it’s important to know that you’re paying for a service that you can trust. And a lot of times, people will pay for a dogwalker, hoping that it’s for a good hour or whatever they need in the afternoon. If the person’s only taking the dogout for 15 minutes and back, then it might explain why their dog may not be as housebroken as they would like or getting anxious when they come home. It could explain a lot of behavioral problems. If they were addressed properly, then animals would not have to be surrendered to the shelters. So, it could be because they’re not getting that walk that you’re paying for and not getting all that energy out that you want, and they’re frustrated.”

34. Close of rescue toy dog in a cage

35. Wide of Brand and Pooper walking home

36. Mid of Brand logging on his iPhone that Pooper is home safe with a bowl of water