As a San Francisco transplant, I left the majority of my life back in Ohio. I had to tearfully say goodbye to family, friends, and beloved pets as I headed to the Golden State. Dog owners understand my pain – even if you’re leaving your pet behind for only a two-week vacation or a quick weekend trip, it’s not easy.
This is where City Dog Share comes in. City Dog Share is a California non-profit founded in 2011 by Eric Husk, who continually kept getting asked to watch his friends’ dogs. Feeling overwhelmed by making daily dog visits all over the city, he realized there must be a better way to accommodate all of these requests.
After taking several months to map out his idea, Husk decided to create a Facebook group where dog owners and dog lovers can join, post to the newsfeed, and seek out people to watch their dogs for a few days or weeks, depending on need.
Sujin Park and Eric Argel, SOMA residents and proud owners of Bowser, a seven-month-old Yorkie, recently discovered City Dog Share on Facebook when they saw friends posting on the organization’s page.
After taking Bowser to a local puppy social, Park and Argel realized that socializing with other animals is essential. “We made it a priority to seek out opportunities for Bowser to attend [more puppy events],” says Park.
Park notes that she definitely plans on taking advantage of what City Dog Share has to offer. “Being able to have consistent play dates or sitters while Bowser meets new friends and puppies is ideal…”
Socialization of your pooch isn’t the only positive of this ever-expanding service: members can easily find help when they’re in a dog-sitting pinch. “I think it’s great that there are options outside the traditional boarding or dog hotels for when we need a sitter,” says Park.
Jennifer Fry – an avid City Dog Sharer and owner of two Golden Retrievers, Rory and Bowie – agrees with the organization’s mission of connecting dogs to people. She was planning a last-minute getaway and had exhausted all known contacts to watch Rory and Bowie.
“To our surprise, we received an almost immediate response from a woman in Oakland who was looking for an opportunity to ‘pay it forward,’ as someone else from City Dog Share had recently watched her dog while she went out of town.” The woman stayed in Fry’s home for that period of time, taking care of the animals while also taking care of typical house-sitting chores.
Fry adds, “We were amazed at the generosity of this stranger and incredibly grateful. Now we are looking for the right chance to pay it forward.”
I wanted to learn more about City Dog Share and even try “sharing” a dog for a few days, so I joined the Facebook group to learn more. What I found was a community of genuine animal lovers who truly rely on one another in times of need or, more often than not, times of play.
Many people post photos to Facebook in hopes of finding a canine “play friend” to stroll with through Dolores Park on a Saturday or to find owners with similar breeds who can exchange stories and suggestions.
As City Dog Share transitions into an official non-profit organization, Husk mentioned the challenges he’s encountered along the way. “We’re waiting to hear back from the 501(c)(3) papers we filed over a year and a half ago to become recognized as an official non-profit.”
Husk also revealed another big hurdle young companies face when beginning their journeys – funding. “As a new organization, we need to acquire start-up funds,” Husk said. “Ideally, we’d like to generate a lot of funds that go to a greater cause. Any money that does not go into the operations and the overall program are going to be redistributed to other non-profit organizations, SPCAs, and adoption agencies.”
Ultimately, City Dog Share’s goal is to help dogs in need through a series of educational, foster, and adoption programs, but it will have a much broader reach because group followers are encouraged to share training tips, local alerts, best practices, and lost-and-found notifications.
As City Dog Share expands (now with groups in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Humbold, Phoenix, Tucson, and Albuquerque) Husk hopes he can continue to watch his business grow.
“For me, the best is yet to come,” Husk said. “We really hope to do some awesome and spectacular things. See it catch on, with enthusiastic people participating, all while a variety of needs are being met.”
Aimee Rancer is a San Francisco transplant who appreciates the worth of a good smile, a cup of Morning Blend, and a French Bulldog. Read her personal-style blog at thelocaltransplant.com.
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Main article photo by: Aimee Rancer
