Dog Parker

@veronica Yeah this is sketchy - it's not so much the box as it is the potential to spread disease. If it worked like those fancy NYC public bathrooms that clean themselves after every use I'd feel a lot more comfortable about it. In the meantime I'll just leave my dog at home if we're going shopping.

@veronica Founder of Dog Parker here. Happy to answer your questions. As this is a first-of-its-kind service, you can imagine we get a lot of valid questions and we love explaining our service. We totally agree that most of the time, it will still make sense to leave your dog at home. Dog Parker is a service for those moments when you have your dog with you and need to stop inside a store where they aren't allowed. Or those days when they can be with you for most of the day except a small portion and you'd rather have them with you, leading an active life instead of cooped up at home all day. It's a safer alternative to tying them up to a pole outside (for many reasons beyond theft), which is a habit we see far too often here in NYC because there is not a good solution for urban pet parents. The (small) Dog Parker in the picture is indeed way too small for your 75lb furbaby. He would fit well inside our large Dog Parker. We have small, medium, and large Dog Parkers in the field currently and encourage our members to use the smallest size that comfortably fits their dog as dogs prefer a 'den-like' environment. The houses are temperature controlled (insulated, and have cooling fans and pads for summer months) and temperature monitored. We have webcams too. We ensure vaccinations by asking for vaccinations records before membership cards are mailed out. And as far as accidents, dogs don't tend to 'go' where they are enclosed. But if that should happen some day, we have a 24/7 customer service line and the ability to remotely shut down the house until it is cleaned. In three months of the service, no accidents to report, just happy storeowners and members. Thanks for your questions!

@veronica I think a mobile app would be well suited for this concept so you could report incidents such as an accident and take photos of the vaccination certificates.

@lonseidman @veronica Your dog is more likely to catch a disease at a dog park than in a Dog Parker as they are single-occupancy. But to your point, we are already testing self-cleaning technology for future Dog Parkers, and while likely overkill, might give anxious dog owners peace of mind.

@askdaylen @veronica workin' on it ;) also to call "dibbs" on the house before you arrive

@vacord Hi there! We have no had an incident where the Dog Parkers have risen above our safe temperatures, but should that happen, we text the member to let them know and ensure their dog is taken out before the temperature rises. We have the ability to remotely take the houses offline for the day. We have an amazing field team and maintenance team locally. Dog Parkers are a safe alternative to leaving your dog inside the car.

@vacord The boxes have a webcam inside and it will probably send you a smartphone alert.

@pe_feeds Breather is not a dog box. 'Apples and oranges'. And I don't think people pee/poo in the rooms (at least I hope not ;))

@robertyau Dogs also do not pee/poo in the Dog Parker, so all good there!

@robertyau But the difference is Breather struggled initially to get people in because the immediate thought was what people would "do" (drug deals, sketchy rendezvouses, etc.) in the spaces and how Breather would handle the cleanup in between space reservations. Yes, definitely different target customer wise but still both serious in terms of incident backlash.

@gizboz1 @veronica It's good to be skeptical, but we clean the Dog Parkers regularly with use (at least once a day) and there is no soft surface for the fleas to stay on inside our houses (the floor mat is a nonporous, antimicrobial pad that is used at vets and shelters around the country). They aren't jumping off the dog to hangout on the plastic interior, I promise :) You're more likely to get fleas from a dog passing you on the sidewalk than in a Dog Parker.

@robmillis @veronica We talked to hundreds of dog owners one on one before developing the service and because the media loves to cover us :) we have gotten over 40k indirect pieces of feedback and research in the last 3 months. We love it!

@passingnotes We're serious dog people too, and while I've had dogs my whole life we made sure to bring in the experts for this--dog trainers, vets, and animal wellness experts when designing the service. I've spent lots of time in the Dog Parkers during install :) Dog Parkers are meant for very short trips (which is why our model is "by the minute"). Dogs will not spend whole days inside. Based on our current member usage, the average trip is 5-15 minutes and is safer than leaving them tied up outside and makes the dog and owner happy because they can be out and about in the city together more easily now.