Pet owners can use apps like BringFido, Barkio, DogHood, and DogLog to help them get the most out of traveling with their dogs or to assist them in keeping their four-legged friends safe and healthy.

BringFido

BringFido is an app that includes more than 500,000 dog-friendly places to stay, play, and eat in over 14,000 cities around the world.

Users can book a pet-friendly hotel room using the app’s search function with the ability to sort by distance, popularity, rating, price, or recommended places.

“Every pet owner’s success story makes us proud, but those when we’ve helped members of the military relocate their families and pets across the country are pretty high on the list,” Erin Ballinger, destinations editor of BringFido, told The Epoch Times in an email. “We also have helped thousands of people evacuate from natural disasters to pet-friendly locations in their time of crisis and that always makes us feel good.”

She said you can find nearby attractions, upcoming dog events, and local resources such as dog walkers, groomers, sitters, veterinarians, and pet supply stores. Users can share a photo of their dog enjoying his favorite spot. You can even leave reviews of pet-friendly attractions within the app.

She added that you can use search filters to find hotels that welcome big dogs and multiple pets. You can also narrow results to browse hotels that don’t charge a pet fee.

With over 30,000 pet-friendly places in California, the Golden State is a great destination for pet owners because there are so many dog-friendly outdoor activities like beaches, state and national parks, hiking and cycling trails, and restaurants with large patios, Ballinger said.

She said that the editors at BringFido noted some of the most dog-friendly places to visit in the Golden State in a blog post.

She also talked about how CEO Melissa Halliburton founded BringFido.

“Shortly after rescuing her first dog, Rocco, in 2004, Melissa grew frustrated with the need for pet policy information on hotel websites. After a year of research, in which she and her friends called every hotel in the United States, Melissa launched BringFido with the mission of making pet travel easier,” she said.

She said in addition to launching and managing BringFido, which is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, Halliburton is the co-author of “Ruff Guide to the United States,” a book that features 365 of the best places to visit with your dog in all 50 states.

BringFido is available for download on iOS and Android.

Barkio

Barkio is a pet monitoring app. In other words, it works like a baby monitor for your pet.

It works by using two devices. One you carry as the viewer, and one is left at home to video your pet. The app says you can use old phones, tablets, or laptops.

“The idea to create a pet monitoring app came very unexpectedly,” Katerina Bouzkova from TappyTaps, the developer of the app, told The Epoch Times via email. “We first developed an app to monitor babies. To our surprise, we started to see in user reviews that people were using the app not only to monitor babies but also to monitor pets.”

She said this feedback was important and was what led to the making of Barkio, tailored specifically for monitoring pets, particularly dogs.

“We started to learn more about the issue of separation anxiety. After discussions with several veterinarians and canine psychologists, we modified the app to be more effective in addressing separation anxiety,” she said.

She added that in collaboration with experts, led by veterinarian Dr. Hana Zertova, they’ve created an online dog separation anxiety guide.

The app also includes voice commands in which users can record commands in their own voices and use them anytime with just a click.

Another tool is an activity log providing a detailed overview of your dog’s behavior over time. You can review all detected events, like movements and noises, and play captured videos. You can use the data from the activity log to plan your day, adjust the intensity of your dog’s training, and even share it with your vet for consultations.

“Barkio allows you to interact directly with your pet. You can talk to your dog through the app, providing reassurance with your voice,” Bouzkova said. “Even more, you have the option to show your face to your dog, which can be a great way to calm them down if they’re feeling anxious or lonely.”

She said the app gives people the chance to try out pet monitoring without having to buy additional hardware, since many users only need it for a short period of time like for a vacation.

Bouzkova said the app helped a man in Germany whose dog, Fritz, caused problems for neighbors by barking excessively. The app would alert the man when his dog started barking, and he could then calm his dog down and improve the situation.

She said the app also helped a user in Paris named Marie, who used the recorded commands feature to train her dog not to chew when she was away. The consistency in commands when she was not home helped her dog, Bella, adapt more quickly.

Additionally, Bouzkova said the app helped a user monitor a dog post-surgery, and another user had a dog with separation anxiety and found that the communication feature helped the dog to relax.

Bouzkova said Barkio is translated into 18 languages and is available for download on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. It can also be opened in any modern web browser.

DogHood

DogHood is an app that shows users dog-friendly events, parks, and restaurants as well as lost dogs. It also shows services from groomers and trainers to daycare, natural supplements, and vets.

The main feed of the app features social profiles highlighting your dog’s personality, helpful tips, trends, news, and uplifting feel-good posts. There is also a community forum with information covering puppy training, health, food, and personalized recommendations.

“DogHood is a profoundly positive platform centered around our shared love for dogs. It’s an open space for people to share, recommend, and interact with fellow dog enthusiasts,” Purvi Janardhan, co-founder and CEO of DogHood from Saratoga, California, told The Epoch Times.

It was Janardhan’s experience of getting a dog that inspired her to create the app.

She said she never really wanted a dog but got one for her boys and husband. At first she was overwhelmed, and at one point she asked her husband to return the dog.

She said her situation eased through the help of a member of her community who seeks out new puppies and dogs in the neighborhood to help the owners on their journey.

“She is dog passionate, and she helps people just because of her pure love for dogs,” she said.

The neighbor provided resources and helped Janardhan connect with other dog owners in the neighborhood.

“With her help, my journey from puppy owner to dog owner to dog lover accelerated and was very smooth,” Janardhan said.

She said the dog-passionate lady who provided her with help is Ruchi Joshi, who became co-founder of DogHood.

“We wanted to replicate my positive experience in every single neighborhood and scale out the experience,” Janardhan said.

In addition, she said the app has helped numerous lost dogs in the area find their way home. The app has a feature to create a lost dog post that sends alerts to everyone nearby.

“Recently, we reunited a dog found 20 miles away after two days,” she said.

Janardhan noted that in today’s remote and hybrid work culture, meeting new people can be challenging, but dogs are natural social connectors that can spark spontaneous conversations among owners.

Furthermore, the app makers aim to help users give forever homes to rescue dogs, arrange playdates, organize breed-specific meetups, form new friendships, and share joyful moments and photos.

DogHood is available for download on iOS and Android.

DogLog

DogLog is an app that helps users keep records of all the different aspects of their dog’s life. Users can log all the routines, including meals, walks, supplements, and appointments.

The log can be shared with others, including pet sitters and dog walkers, by creating a “pack” within the app. With that, the pack members can coordinate care of a pet by checking the log to see if something needs to be done.

Users can create a profile of their pet, keeping crucial information in one place, including natural supplements, vet and groomer information, and what type of food your pet eats.

Gideon Marks, along with his daughter Lynn and his son Ron, as a trio developed the app because they were searching for a solution in their busy lives to stay organized while they shared care of their dog after moving to San Francisco.

“We noticed we were leaving sticky notes, we were sending texts, we were calling each other, and a lot of things were kind of falling in between the cracks,” Gideon, who used to work in finance and corporate development, told The Epoch Times.

Users can set reminders in the app as well as analyze the data logged to figure out trends and help create routines.

For example, Lynn told The Epoch Times that logging when your dog goes to the bathroom can help you understand when your dog is most likely needing to go, which can help with potty training and avoiding accidents in the house.

Lynn said she travels a lot for work, and it’s comforting to be able to look at the app and see the care her husband has been providing for their dog.

“For me, it’s both love for my dog and also for my husband, who is the one who’s taking care of her,” she said.

Gideon said that after the death of their dog named Joy, who inspired them to create the app, they were at a crossroads as to what to do with the app. With Lynn, they decided to continue with “DogLog” as a legacy of Joy.

“DogLog helped us realize [Joy] had some medical issues. It will continue to help others,” Gideon said. “This was probably one of the strongest feelings we had that actually led us to push DogLog even to higher altitudes.”

DogLog is available for download on iOS and Android.