Let's be honest, I only remember your dog's name

The anti-social app for social dogs.

No DMs. No awkward small talk.
Just dogs being dogs.

Get Early Access See how it works
Free Android No feeds. No followers. Privacy-first
Puppy Pals home map with the parks carousel open — 10 parks near you, the nearest card showing a pal's avatar, a '1 pal here' badge, and a Check In here button.

Your dog found a best friend. You lost them.

It happens every time. Your dog hits it off with another dog at the park. They're wrestling, chasing, doing that weird thing where they just stand parallel and stare at the same squirrel.

And then you leave. And you never see that dog again. Because you were wearing your ratty sweatpants and didn't want to exchange numbers with a stranger in a parking lot.

Puppy Pals fixes that.

How it works

Three things. That's it.

1

Check in. See who's here.

Arrive at a park, tap to check in. You'll see every Puppy Pals dog there right now — strangers included. Browse profiles, see play styles, send a friend request to the golden retriever who just body-slammed your dog in the best possible way. Not at a park? Start a walk instead — your friends see you, strangers don't.

Geo-fenced check-in · Real-time park occupancy · At Park stranger discovery · Walk mode
Check-in sheet over the map with a Park/Walk toggle set to Park, Golden Gate Dog Park detected as 'You're here' with a Ready badge, and an orange Start check-in button.
Pals sheet on the At Park tab while checked in at Golden Gate Park Dog Training Area — a live time-at-park counter with a +1 check-in chip, and an 'At this park: 4 here' list showing a pal with a PAL badge and View profile button, and a stranger with a one-tap +Add button.

And once you're there

The other dogs at this park, right now.

Pals show up with a PAL badge. Strangers get a one-tap +Add. Pending requests land in a muted Sent state — no awkward follow-up. The live timer reminds everyone this is a "right now, in this place" connection, not another inbox.

2

Get notified. Show up.

When a friend checks in, they show up on your map — their profile photo pinned right where they are. Tap the bell on any friend and you'll also get a push notification next time they're at a park. Already see one on the map? Hit "Heading Your Way" — one tap, no text, no "omw" that means you haven't left yet. Just a signal that someone's coming.

Live friend markers on map · Notify Me When subscriptions · Heading Your Way alerts · Zero group texts
iOS-style Heading Your Way notification banner sliding down from the top of the screen with a friend's avatar, name, and the park they're heading to, with the map visible underneath.
3

Private by default. Always.

No background tracking. No location history. No "share your location forever." You check in, friends see you, you check out — gone. Strangers only see each other at the same park, at the same time, enforced server-side. GPS cuts out? Auto-checkout.

We know less about you than your dog's vet.
Friends-only visibility · Server-side enforcement · Auto-checkout · No passive tracking
Persistent cream pill banner at the top of the home view reading 'Checked in at [park] · 23 min' with a pulsing green live dot — visual proof you're sharing on purpose, right now.

Dog profiles

Every profile is about the dog.

Because when you're deciding whether to go to the park, the question isn't "who's the owner?" — it's "will my dog have fun?"

Buddy's dog profile — a gold-ringed avatar over a sunrise-orange banner, PuppyTag Buddy#4821, a deep-green stats strip with 23 parks, 47 check-ins and a 6-week streak, About cards for breed, age, size and energy, and colorful Play Vibes chips like Zoomie King and Fetch Obsessed.

Multi-dog households

Add all your dogs. Pick a lead. The others don't get top billing.

Photo gallery

Up to 10 photos per dog. No likes. No algorithm. Just a gallery.

Play style tags

Five tags per dog. How they actually play — no quiz, no algorithm.

Zoomie King Fetch Obsessed Gentle Giant Ball Thief Water Dog Chase Me Sun Bather

Sound like your dog?

Get Early Access

Why this exists

Built by one dog owner who kept losing his dog's friends.

Puppy Pals isn't a startup with a growth team and an engagement dashboard. It's one person in Portland who got tired of watching his dog make a best friend, and then never seeing that dog again.

That's why there's no chat, no feed, and nothing to scroll. The app's job is to get you back to the park at the same time as the dogs your dog likes — and then get out of the way.

— the one human at Puppy Pals

Fair questions

You're probably wondering…

Is there any chat?

No. That's the point. No DMs, no comments, no group chats to mute. If you want to talk to someone, you'll be standing next to them at the park — dogs are a great icebreaker.

Is it free?

Yes. Free to download, free to use. No ads either — an app about logging off shouldn't be fighting for your attention.

Can strangers see my location?

Only people checked into the same park, at the same time, can see that you're there — and that's enforced on the server, not just hidden in the app. On walks, only your friends see you. There's no background tracking and no location history; when you check out, you're gone.

When is iOS coming?

Android first — that's where we're running early access. iOS is on the list once the Android version has survived contact with real dog parks.

Does it work at my park?

Puppy Pals knows the official dog parks on the map, and you can add your own local spot — the unofficial field where everyone actually goes counts too.

What happens when I join the waitlist?

You'll get one email when a spot opens in the Google Play early-access group. That's it. No newsletter, no drip campaign, no "just checking in!"

Early Access — Android

Your dog's social life is waiting.

We're testing on Android first. Drop your email and we'll add you to the Google Play early access group.

No spam. No DMs. Obviously.

Free Android only (for now) No feeds Privacy-first