It can be hard to know the best time to go to the dog park, but a Halifax man is hoping to make that decision a little easier. Wayne Brown created the app Dog Park Now as a solution to a problem he had been dealing with. “It’s always been a struggle to find out how busy the parks were, what was going on. I looked online and couldn’t find anything to find that information,” said Brown. The app launched at the end of June and has already seen quite a bit of growth. “I’m really impressed with how things have gone,” said Brown. “We’re almost at 1,000 users.” Dog owners are able to look up the park before they go and then check in when they arrive to help the next round of visitors. “The check-ins are happening daily. You get a better idea of what the parks are like before you go.” Dog Park Now started in Halifax, but the app now maps 52 off-leash parks across Nova Scotia from Yarmouth to Sydney. “I’m still in disbelief on that and the fact that we are now right across Nova Scotia, and that’s only because we have other dog owners that have recommended the other parks throughout our province,” he said. “As they continue to come in, we’ll continue to update the map as well.” Tracking activity is the main feature of the app, but it also includes lost dog alerts. “If a dog goes missing, everybody in that local area will get a notification and we’ll see if we can find that dog a little quicker,” said Brown. The app isn’t just a hobby for Brown; he’s turned it into a new career. “I have an extensive background in the insurance industry. I’ve done personal line insurance and commercial lines for the last 15 years, and I walked away from it all to build Dog Park Now,” he said. While his five-year-old Jack Russell terrier Peanut was the inspiration behind the app, that’s not the only reason he made this decision. “I have a son that plays lacrosse and I want to show him that if you believe in something, you have to take your chances and give it your all.” Brown hopes his app will eventually be available across Canada. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
