A couple from Northern Ireland have launched a dog friendly directory that aims to support local businesses while solving problems for dog owners.
Amée Spence said Best Bark was born out of the everyday struggles she and her partner faced as dog owners, trying to find reliable, up to date information about places that genuinely welcome dogs. After scrolling through outdated blogs, checking Instagram comments, and digging through websites for the words "dog friendly," they decided to build a platform dedicated to dog friendly businesses.
They're hoping Best Bark will make it easier for dog owners to explore, shop, eat, stay, and play with their dogs, while supporting small businesses around Northern Ireland. After just a few months, over 400 businesses are listed on their online directory.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Amée said her little chihuahua Vito loves to go everywhere with her, but they often struggled to find genuinely dog friendly spots when out and about. She said: "I'm a dog owner myself and the idea came from me and my partner.
"We have a wee chihuahua, and he will come with me everywhere. He loves going to cafes, restaurants, bars - wherever we're going, he wants to be. As dog owners we found that it was really hard to find dog-friendly places.
"We would either end up googling and finding out of date blogs or articles, saying somewhere was dog friendly, then you go and it turns out you have to sit outside in a cold patio or whatever it was. Or you would be scrolling through social media just looking for one photo of a dog to kind of prove that it is dog friendly, and I thought there has to be an easier way."
Amée said they encourage people to leave reviews of dog friendly spots on their platform to help other dog owners out. They have also started placing Best Bark dog-friendly decals in windows of businesses to help reassure others that a spot is genuinely dog friendly.
Initially setting out to make the platform just focus on hospitality venues, they soon decided to include other small businesses including dog groomers.
"We were planning to just focus on the hospitality side of things, but we went to a dog market and set up a stall, and were looking at the independent businesses selling the likes of harnesses," Amée explained.
"We realised a lot of the time these wee small independent business owners might not have the funds to have a big flashy website or even be that social media savvy, but they still offer an amazing service in their community, so we wanted to be able to connect them to dog owners who need them."
Amée said many people in their 20's treat their dogs like their children, and just like there are information sites for child-friendly spots or things to do with children, a dedicated site for dogs was needed.
She said: "The majority of people interacting with us are aged between 25 and 45. From my own lived experience of me and my friends, some of us are having babies, some of us have dogs.
"We're all on our own path. For kids we have all these information sites, so it's nice to bring that to the dog friendly world as well."
With Best Bark, a core principle is advocating for responsible dog ownership. Amée said: "Some dogs like sitting in busy cafes and others would rather be running around like a mad thing. One of the big things we advocate for is responsible dog ownership, we're trying to educate people on whether your dog is happy in a dog-friendly place, or whether it's maybe not for them.
"I think as we grow this company and we start advocating for more places to become dog friendly, we also need to advocate for responsible dog ownership because it goes hand in hand.
"We're wanting to teach business owners that dogs aren't a nuisance, and teaching dog owners then how to be respectful of the business and of other people, because we are fully aware that not everybody loves dogs, and obviously some people have allergies.
"It's about trying to find the right balance of making the business owners aware that dogs can sit and be respectful in their own wee area, and it's about publicising amazing companies we have here that sell the likes of settle mats or enrichment toys or treats that the dog could be like busying themselves with while they are sitting beside the owner."
To find out more about Best Bark, visit the website by clicking here.
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