Once you’ve set up your borrower profile it’s time to take a look around your local area for your pawfect match. We’ve designed this guide to help you make the most out of using our platform and ultimately help you find your dream canine companion. 

This guide will cover:

• Your borrower profile
• Search filters
• Activity scale
• Liking
• Membership
• Messages
• The ‘Welcome Woof’

Your borrower profile

The first thing dog owners will see when looking for a borrower is your profile, so it’s very important to give them as much information as possible to help them decide if you are a suitable match for their pooch. Check out our top tips for creating your borrower profile.

Search filters

We have several search filters that can help you narrow your search to find a suitable match.

You can sort your searches by nearest, newest, last updated or most active. 

If you’re looking to spend time with a dog at a particular time, like weekdays or weekends, you can check the boxes within ‘Available on’.

Our other search filters include dog size, what a dog is good with (children, dogs, cats) and membership type (Basic/Premium).

Activity scale

Our activity scale is useful to see how often members are on the site and replying to messages. But don’t rule out sending a message to potential dogs and owners if they aren’t as active though, it may just mean they’ve not received a message recently.

Liking

Liking a dog lets an owner know that you think their pooch is pawsome, and that you’re interested in spending time with them. It’s worth noting you can only like profiles via the website and not on the app at the moment (our tech team are working their tails off to add this feature so watch this space!)

To like a dog, go to their profile and click the little heart just below their photos. The heart will turn pink once you have favourited them. 

Keep an eye out for new pooches in your area and like any you think you might want to help.

Go Premium

Basic memberships on BorrowMyDoggy are a helpful way for new members to have a look around and see if there are suitable matches in their area. Once borrowers decide they want to message owners and meet some pawsome pooches, they need to become Premium members.

Why do I need to be a Premium member?

Safety is our top priority at BorrowMyDoggy. A Premium borrower membership is just £12.99 a year and this includes safety verification, insurance (for both the dog and third party) and access to our 24/7 vet line. 

Not only can you message owners with your Premium membership, but because they know you’ve been through all the safety checks, and the insurance and vet line are in place, owners are much more likely to message you too.

Go Premium now

Messages

There’s no rule on BorrowMyDoggy about who sends a message first, so if you see a dog you like go ahead and take that first step. 

Sending a message to an owner and their dog is the ideal opportunity to introduce yourself and explain why you think you could be the perfect borrower for their dog.

To message an owner, go to their profile and click ‘Send message’ on desktop and ‘Message’ on the app.

Want help with writing the perfect message? Check out our top tips for messaging dogs and their owners.

You’re welcome to message anyone you like, basic or Premium, but if the owner is a basic member they’ll need to complete our safety checks before they can reply. Sometimes this can take a little while, but owners often go Premium and get in touch after seeing a message from a borrower who would love to spend time with their dog. 

You can tell if an owner is Premium from the gold ‘Premium’ banner and crown.

We recommend sending multiple messages. The more owners you message the more opportunities you have to get to know someone, and more importantly their dog, to find out if they are the right match for you. You can always borrow more than one dog too - if you have the time!

The ‘Welcome Woof’

Once you've messaged with a potential match, got to know them and feel comfortable, you’re ready to schedule your first meet and greet, which we call the ‘Welcome Woof’.

This is an opportunity for an owner, borrower, and dog to get to know each other better and share important details. Find out more about the ‘Welcome Woof’.

If you ever need any support or would like to talk with us about your experience please reach out to our Help Team.