BarkHappy, New Mobile App for Dog Owners Launches Nationwide

Free social app connects dog owners with dog-friendly places, events;
provides lost-and-found alerts

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#barkhappy–BarkHappy®, a location-based, crowd-sourced mobile app created to help
dogs and their owners discover the dog-friendly world around them,
launched nationally today. The app offers a unique and creative way to
socialize dogs and help communities better engage their four-legged
family members by showing dog-friendly places, dog-friendly events, and
even has lost-and-found alerts. The app is designed to foster a
connected community of dogs and dog owners through real-life experiences
while also creating a platform for dog-friendly businesses and events.

“Dogs are social by nature. They are happiest when they are out with
their owners and other dogs.” said Ninis Samuel, CEO and founder of
BarkHappy. He was inspired by his rescue named Kerby, and believes a
socialized dog is a happy dog. “We’re trying to change what it means to
live life with your dog: they don’t have to always stay home anymore.
There is a dog-friendly world out there that BarkHappy can help you
discover!”

Find Dogs Nearby to Meet New Friends
Already seeing success
in its three trial cities – Austin, Portland and Seattle – BarkHappy has
quickly found its way into thousands of dog owners’ lives by enabling
them to make new friends in their area. Users create profiles for their
dog , including information such as age, breed and even their
personality traits – such as whether they get along only with small
dogs. Profiles can even feature an Instagram account link. Users can
browse other dogs nearby, send “wags” or messages to other dogs, search
by breed, see their owners’ information, or schedule a play date with
others.

A Dog-Friendly Map to Go More Places
The BarkHappy map
features over 20,000 dog-friendly places nationwide, with various
categories including restaurants, bars, parks, vets and hotels. Each
listing has its own profile information that dog owners have difficulty
finding today without extensive research or phone calls. For example,
users can quickly identify whether a restaurant has water bowls, treats,
covered seating, or if dogs are allowed on the patio. Users can leave
ratings, comments, or report a problem with a listing. Dog-friendly
businesses are listed at no cost to them, and the map is crowd-sourced –
thus growing every day. Any user can add a new dog-friendly place to the
map and share with the community.

Attend Dog-Friendly Events, or Host One
The events feature
in the app shows upcoming public dog-friendly events from BarkHappy
itself, its charity partners, and others. It even allows users to host
their own private group play dates. Users can schedule a group play date
and invite friends in their “Pack” from the app. Invitees can then
invite others in their network. BarkHappy has already gained a
reputation for fun events in its first three cities, such as
BarkHappyHour events at at restaurants, weekly meet ups, and even
dog-friendly bar crawls. BarkHappyHour plans to continue these efforts
in major cities across the U.S. as part of its expansion.

Lost Dog Alerts
The app also features a “Lost Dog Alert”
system. This free service allows users to create a lost (or found) dog
report with key information about the dog, including photos and contact
info. Most importantly, users can also pinpoint on the map where their
dog was last seen. BarkHappy then sends a lost dog alert to all
BarkHappy users within a radius of that location – posting the dog’s
photo and owner’s contact information. A similar report system is
available when a dog is found by other users.

“The most likely person to find a lost dog is another dog owner,” says
Samuel. “Today, when someone loses their dog, they exhaust the
previously available channels, like distributing flyers or posting on
Facebook. But with BarkHappy you can now make sure the word gets out, in
real-time, to the exact kind of people that can help: other dog owners!”

About BarkHappy:
BarkHappy Inc. was founded in by Ninis
Samuel and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Ninis spent 12 years as a
marketing executive at Fortune 500 tech companies – including Microsoft,
Lenovo and Nokia HERE – launching software and hardware products around
the world and leading product management, consumer marketing, and
strategy. Ninis combined his tech-savvy with his love for dogs to create
the BarkHappy brand and appointed his dog Kerby as “Chief Puppy
Officer.” The app launched in July 2015, with Austin, Texas as its first
trial city.

The app is available for free in both the iTunes® App Store and Google
Play store.

For more information on BarkHappy:
www.barkhappy.com
@barkhappy
on Twitter and Instagram (see #barkhappy)
www.facebook.com/barkhappy

Contacts

Cohn & Wolfe Public Relations
Jessica Nelson, 323-602-1092
Jessica.nelson@cohnwolfe.com