Lonely dogs nuzzle up to the net

Inky and Winnie were used to boring days alone, until they jumped on the social networking bandwagon and hooked up with other lonely dogs in their neighborhood.

“Dogs are intelligent creatures and just like us they need stimulation and company, yet we leave them alone all day to go barking mad in the dull backyard. Why aren’t we pairing them up?,’’ Britt Smith says, of why she established dogtree.com, the free community site allowing people to find pet playmates in their local area.

“It’s forging stronger links within the community between people too, allowing dog owners to connect with each other,” said Smith.

Dogtree users create a profile for their dogs and search for others close by, so owners can arrange alternate playdates to keep pets entertained while they’re away. The site is completely free to use, making it a cheaper alternative to pet minding, which costs upwards of $30 a day in the inner city.

“Dogs are like Children: they need to play, they need stimulation. It’s an act of cruelty to leave animals alone without propper stimulation, food, water and shelter,” said an RSPCA Spokesperson.

If left in the same environment without fresh toys or company, animals run the risk of becoming depressed, particularly in the inner city where backyards are small and without room for exploration.

“It’s when Animals are depressed that they can start to display signs of physical anxiety, like constant barking and skin rashes from biting themselves,” said the RSPCA spokesperson.

” I felt guilty leaving Inky and Winnie alone all day while I went to work. They would look at me with these sad eyes, and I know they hated it but I had no choice,’’ said Forest Lodge resident Holly Jackson, of why she chose to remedy the problem by joining dogtree.

Caution should be taken in setting up playdates, and before leaving pets together unsupervised. Smith advises owners to introduce their pets in a neutral location like a park to see if they get along.  “Basically it’s up to your own discretion. People know their pets and they know which kind of dogs they get along with,” she said.