Times when dogs used to help manin protecting his home and herds of sheep,or in hunting, are almost gone. Nowadays, pet dogs have become members of the family and in some cases they are the single companion with whom one shares their loneliness. The barking friend can even serve as an inspiration and make someone dwell on the meaning of life. Dogs are fun and it is this characteristicthat inspired two young Bulgarian women to create a mobile phone application through which animal owners can quickly and easily connect and communicate with each other.

The DOGLAR application is entirely Bulgarian developmentand is already used by hundreds of dog owners in Sofia. Users have been expecting the new version of the app running on Android.

In addition to entertainment, the DOGLAR mobile application serves for transmitting useful information to the owners of the animals. It is usually associated with regulated places for walks; places that should be avoided because they pose a risk to the dog, as well as more useful data fordog owners. "At the moment you log into the application itself, you see profiles of dogs that are physically close to you. The application allows one to search for dogs by their breed, remoteness and sex of the animal," PavlinaDesheva, co-author of the social platform for dogs says:

"When you create a mobile application, you strive not to focus on just one geographical territory, but look for world market. There are over 220 million pet dogs in the world excludingthe homeless ones. To research the Bulgarian market, we launched our website through which people who have interest in such an application could leave their mailing address. Currently over 2,000 people are waiting for our new version. In recent years I have been vice president of a large organization in Bulgaria for start-up businesses in the field of ‘smart technologies.’ Then I met my partner BilyanaSlaveykova and we created our mobile application. I would not say it is easy to create such a product and present it to potential investors. On the one hand you have to believe completely in what you do, but on the other, you have to know that if you failed, then it would be a lesson. Furthermore, it would take at least five years to assess whether there is potential in this idea."

"Of course, people are those who use the dog app and it is designed according to their needs”, Pavlina Desheva says:

"Our motivation to create a mobile application for dogs and their owners was that while people walk their dogs they have social contacts and get acquainted with others like them. People say that when they walk their pets, they are more willing to meet and talk to strangers on the street or on the Internet. According to a survey, 90% of dog owners give Christmas gifts to their pets and many admit they would risk their lives if necessary to save their dogs."

When creating DOGLAR the creators used existing social networks as a model. They invested a lot of work, time and energy into the project:

"When we met as a team there were no similar applications, but now others are starting to emerge. This is normal as one should know that if you have an innovative idea, there are at least a hundred people in the world thinking the same at the same moment. The only thing that is important at this point is being faster and more flexible. That is what we are trying to do."

English version: Alexander Markov