Why we built PoopieMate
Hi, we’re the family behind PoopieMate. Here’s how the app came to be, from the very beginning. It’s a bit of a long one.
Bunhong-i, from a kennel by the field
Our dog is now four, a 13 kg white Jindo mix. There’s a little Bichon in her somewhere — her fur curls slightly.
When we first met her, she lived on a short chain in a kennel next to a farm field. She hadn’t been looked after properly, and back then she was called “Bunhong-i” — little pinky. After a rescue and a stay in foster care, she became part of our family.
Her personality showed from day one. She’s a scaredy-cat around strangers, loud voices, trucks and moving ladders — but the bravest of us all in front of food. She loves carrots and chicken breast, and when she’s hungry she politely offers a paw. She’s independent and kept her distance at first, but now her favorite people are Mom and Dad.
A dog who never goes indoors
Maybe because she spent so long outside, our dog never poops or pees indoors. Not on a pad, not even when she’s been holding it for hours. When she wants to go out, she brings us a shoe from the doorway.
So rain or snow, she goes out three times a day. On every walk she has one mission: find the best poop spot. Crunchy dry leaves, soft dirt, or a patch covered in pinecones all pass the test.
The calls we made every day
We’re a working couple, so we split the walks. The trouble came after. Who took her out this morning? Did she poop? How many pees? Who’s going tonight? We had to check by phone or message every time.
“Did she poop?” “Who took the morning walk?” “Who’s going out tonight?”
On busy days we missed calls, asked the same thing twice, and sometimes she got walked twice — or not at all. For a dog who only goes outside, when she last pooped is a health question too. We always wondered whether she’d been holding it all day.
Turning that call into a button
So we decided to turn that call into a single button. One person logs a poop or pee and everyone in the family gets an alert right away. A daily timeline shows who walked and cleaned up, you can ask someone else to take the walk on a busy day, and send a heart when they’re back.
In summer we always worried about hot pavement, so we added a walk safety score that combines her body type, coat and age with the weather. The potty gauges, filling up with her rhythm, let the whole family notice when she’s been holding it a little too long.
Poochie looks just like her
Our mascot Poochie comes straight from our dog: a poop-shaped face, big floppy ears, a foodie and a scaredy-cat who offers a paw when she’s hungry. Every time Poochie waves on the app’s screen, we think of her waiting at the door with a shoe in her mouth.
If your family shares one dog, we hope PoopieMate cuts down on the “Did Poochie poop?” texts, even a little. And today, as always, our dog is out looking for the best poop spot.