There's an app for that: Doggie playdates can be arranged on Tindog. Photo / Thinkstock
Puppy love is now just the swipe of a finger away.
Dog owners around the world are signing up to Tindog, a new smartphone app that allows canine lovers to organise playdates for their pet pooches, or even potential hook-ups for themselves.
When West Aucklander Penelope Joyce, 19, first heard of Tindog, she laughed. The idea of a dating app for dogs seemed so ridiculous.
But the same thing that draws many people to Tinder eventually brought Joyce to Tindog two months ago - desperation.
Her 6-month-old pitbull cross, Taylor, needed to play with other dogs to become properly socialised.
But like that mischief neighbourhood kid all the parents disapprove of, nobody wanted to let their dog play with a pitbull cross.
Tindog had solved that dilemma, with Taylor now enjoying a playdate every couple of weeks with a variety of canine buddies.
"Taylor has so much energy, I try and match her with dogs that are just as active," Joyce said.
"Dogs tend to play a bit rough, and they need to keep up with Taylor constantly running and wrestling."
Working at Pets in the City, a pet boarding and daycare business in East Auckland, meant that Joyce met a lot of fellow dog owners - and she said many of them have started using Tindog.
She said some also used the app to find potential breeding partners for their dogs.
"When I first started using it there was pretty much just the people who'd recommended it to me," she said.
"Over the past couple of weeks it's really picked up quite quickly and there's a lot of users now."
A homicide investigation has been launched after family members fell ill from the cake.