But what happens if he doesn’t like your dog?
A few years ago, Casey Isaacson was dating a guy who tried his hardest to be a dog person for her. He really tried, she says. But eventually, the red flags came flying up when he told Casey that he didn’t even want her tiny, non-shedding cutie in his apartment. And when he started putting towels down on the couch so the dog couldn’t touch anything, Casey knew it wouldn’t work.
“It was crazy," says her sister, Leigh of the dog-hating sociopath — sorry — of the man. “It was the reason my sister and I launched Dig together.” The two were baffled by what roadblocks could pop up in a relationship if two people couldn’t see eye to eye in this area. The stars may align, but if your new love hates your first love, that’s a problem.
Yeah sure, there’s Tinder, there’s FarmersOnly.com, there’s Christian Mingle, but thanks to the Isaacson sisters, there’s an app to find someone to accept both you, your pooch and the life you live together.“Understanding someone's dog-forward lifestyle is a hugely important factor in compatibility, because it is much more than just loving dogs." — Leigh Isaacson
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The app is called Dig, The Dog Person’s Dating App. Users have their own profile as well as a section for their dog’s profile, if they have one. (Dig is for dog lovers, not necessarily dog owners.) So you can check out his or her pooch as well as … whatever else you wanna check out.
“Understanding someone's dog-forward lifestyle is a hugely important factor in compatibility, because it is much more than just loving dogs," Leigh says. "When you're talking about your dog, you're actually talking about your lifestyle, how much money and time you spend on things like walking the dog and boarding, how much you travel and a host of different important topics that come up.”
The app has features that helps users plan dog-friendly dates, tips from vets and trainers, deals from dog companies, and the ability to search profiles based on age, distance and even dog size. It’s also LGBTQ friendly. All the dogs they use on their campaign are up for adoption from Louisiana shelters. The sisters recently held an event, Dig Dallas, which was free and dog friendly, featuring treats from local dog companies as well as adoptable dogs from the SPCA of Texas.
The Dig app is an unsurprising natural progression in a dating world that offers increasingly tailored choices. One study by rover.com suggests that over 53% of millennials would break up with their significant other if he or she didn't like their dog, while 24% of those surveyed said they'd continue to date someone they didn't like as long as they liked the owner's pet.
A different and more recent study conducted by the dog-walking company Wag! found that 86% of people would rather give their partner the boot over their pet. So get to downloading that app.
