Have you seen K9 Nation app! K9 Nation is the FREE app for dog owners in the UK to get help with their dogs, share their journeys, and find great products and services – the place, where K9 community connects. And it’s pawesome!
I spoke to the founder Rebecca Baker about her impulse behind the app, her plans, interesting campaigns, and more.
What is K9 Nation app?
The K9 Nation app is a free mobile app for dog owners in the UK. It’s a place they can go to, to find all sorts of information they might need to live their best lives with their dogs. This ranges from discovering new places to go for walks, being able to find a groomer or dog walker near you, to a whole host of blogs and articles written by experts about useful content such as what to do if your dog injures themselves
What made you start K9 Nation App?
When I first got my dog Buddy 5 1/2 years ago I was overwhelmed with a sense of worry and guilt about whether I was doing the right things for him. Was I exercising him enough? Am I feeding him the right food? Was he getting enough sleep? The questions were endless and as a single pet parent, I found myself feeling very isolated and anxious.
I was constantly online looking at different websites for advice and information and I would get really frustrated about how disjointed and spread out everything was. I had to use one website to find some new walk inspiration, a different one to find dog-friendly pubs, another to find great toy suggestions and well you get the idea!
It was this need for support, advice, and information that led me to come up with the idea for the K9 Nation app. I realized there was no one-stop shop for dog owners to get all the information they need in one place, so I decided I wanted to create one!
What people can find there?
The great thing about the app is people can use it for lots of different things depending on their preferences. We are all different as dog owners and our dogs are different too so the things we want or need vary wildly.
Some people simply use the app for finding new places to walk and looking up services such as local groomers or a dog-friendly pub or cafe if they are visiting a new area. Then we have some people who enjoy the community aspect of the app and want to be able to connect, ask for advice from other dog owners or make friends and arrange walks.
The best thing about the app is we don’t sell to dog owners. We simply provide information and allow them to discover what is out there for them and their dog and if they choose to then engage with those businesses by clicking on the links to visit their websites or go visit them in person then that’s great.
What are your plans?
We’ve just completed a round of funding into the business so it’s a very exciting time as we are about to enter a new chapter in the business. Over the next few months we are going to be making some improvements to the app from a development perspective and then we are going to be putting a real focus on building up as much useful content for our community as possible. As we are based in Yorkshire there is a natural focus on that region at present and then as soon as possible, we will be pushing out our reach as far and wide as we can.
The best thing is dog owners and businesses can be on the app for free and it’s not just us as a business that can help it grow but the community itself by sharing and helping to spread the word. Our aim is to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for dog owners everywhere so they have choice and information at their fingers tips and we believe the community will get behind us in helping to make that happen.
I love your campaigns #LawsForPaws and #k9cleanup … what other campaigns are you planning?
Our focus for 2021 is just the two campaigns at this stage as they are really important to us.
Laws for Paws is all about raising awareness about the lack of appropriate legislation surrounding dog theft and its penalties. We are aiming to bring together dog businesses all over the country in a united voice. And support the great work already being done by Pet Theft Reform. You can find out more about the campaign here.
The K9 Cleanup is something we did last August and after its success, we are doing it again this August bank holiday weekend. It’s all about dog owners doing their part to help clean up our beautiful countryside. We know that dog owners and dog walkers across the UK collectively walk many miles a day. So if we all did a little bit here and there to collect rubbish as we went we know we have the power to make a huge difference.
If anyone wants to find out more about the campaigns and how to get involved or to get the app please visit the K9 Nation website.