Dog owners and professionals to be given stronger voice on UK pet care

Dog owners and the professionals who care for their pets are being invited to share their experiences as part of a new research initiative examining the UK dog care industry.

Rosie Robinson at a recent event in the Houses of Parliament, which was organised by The Animal News Agency and Wildlife Guardian

Ethical dog care directory Yappily has launched Yappily Pulse, an independent research community designed to discover what is working across the sector, what is causing problems and where improvements could be made.

The initiative will use surveys to hear directly from dog guardians and those working throughout the dog care industry.

Research will cover areas including animal welfare, qualifications, professional standards, regulation, licensing, business pressures, affordability and access to services.

Dog trainers could be asked for their views on training standards, while home boarders may be invited to share their experiences of licensing.

Pulse will also examine the challenges facing dog walkers as they run their businesses and the experiences of guardians trying to find suitable care for their pets.

Rosie Robinson

Rosie Robinson, one of the founders of Yappily, said: “The people working with dogs every day know what’s happening on the ground. They know what works, what causes frustration and often what could be better.

“We want Pulse to give those people a voice. If lots of professionals are experiencing the same problem, we want to know about it and we want to be able to show it with evidence rather than anecdotes.

“The same goes for dog guardians. Their experiences matter too, and bringing both sides together could tell us a lot about where the dog care industry is working well and where things need to improve.”

The findings will be published openly and made available to charities, researchers, industry bodies, local authorities and other organisations involved in dog care and welfare.

Pulse will concentrate on five broad areas: dog guardianship, dog care businesses, dog welfare, industry trends and community experiences.

Surveys will also respond to new issues as they emerge, allowing the research to reflect changing concerns within the industry.

Individual responses will remain confidential, with the findings reported collectively.

Rosie added: “We don't want to carry out research just for the sake of publishing a report. We want it to be useful.

Nathan Dunleavy

“If the evidence shows something needs to change, we want it to help start that conversation. If it shows something is working well, we want to highlight that too.”

Yappily Pulse forms part of the platform’s wider work to encourage higher standards in dog care and help guardians find qualified, welfare-led professionals.

Every professional listed on Yappily is manually reviewed and commits to the platform’s welfare-first Code of Ethics.

Yappily also publishes dog care guidance and industry news and produces The Yappy Hour Podcast, hosted by Nathan Dunleavy.

For more information, visit www.yappily.co.uk