LeashMates

Where dog lovers find their people

What people open LeashMates for

Meet dog owners near you, for whatever you're actually after.

Learn the story Make friends Dating Dog socialising Lost dog alerts Local dog trainers Local dog businesses

Hover an icon to see what it does, or click through to read more.

Learn the story

One nervous rescue dog, and the walk that turned out to be impossible to find.

Make friends

Dog people are the kind of people worth knowing, and you already have something in common before either of you says a word.

Dating

If your dog already vets everyone you bring around anyway, might as well let LeashMates do some of the work upfront.

Dog socialising

No more risky, unpredictable trips to the dog park. Match on size, breed and temperament, and meet one dog at a time.

Lost dog alerts

Every dog owner's worst two minutes is realizing their dog is gone and not knowing who to even tell. Now you don't have to figure that out alone.

Local dog trainers

The recall that never took, the leash that pulls. Find someone nearby who has met dogs like yours.

Local dog businesses

A filterable list of dog-related and dog-friendly businesses, as far out as you set the range.

Why people download it

LeashMates is a social app for dog owners. It starts with the dogs, and how far it goes after that is up to you.

Walks your dog will actually enjoy

The dog park is a lottery, and for a lot of dogs it is one they keep losing. LeashMates matches on size, breed and temperament so your dog meets one dog at a time, chosen on purpose.

If yours is nervous, reactive, elderly, tiny or simply particular, this is the whole point: both owners get to say no before anyone is standing in a field together.

The hardest part of meeting people is already solved

You have the conversation starter and it is on the end of a leash. Match with owners in your neighbourhood, agree on a date and time, and get to know each other through your love for dogs.

Nobody has to explain why they left the party at nine, or why the dog comes on holiday. Dog people already know.

Date someone who gets the 6am walk

Dating is a separate mode with its own feed, and it is off until you turn it on. Switch it on and you are shown to other dog owners looking for the same thing, with the temperament and lifestyle questions already answered.

Turn it off and you are straight back to walks. Dating mode is part of Unleashed, the app's paid tier.

Lost or found a dog? The neighbourhood knows in minutes

Post about it and everyone using LeashMates within 5 km is alerted instantly. Drop a pin on where it happened, so the search starts where the dog actually was rather than at anybody's front door.

Anyone who spots the dog files a sighting: where, when, and a way to reach them if they choose to leave one. It goes straight to the person looking.

A trainer who has met a dog like yours

The recall that never took, the leash that pulls, the dog who cannot be left alone. Find trainers working in your area, listed with what they actually specialise in rather than whoever ranks first in a search.

Train dogs for a living? Get listed

Every dog-friendly place within your area

A filterable list of dog-related and dog-friendly businesses around you. Groomers, vets, daycares, boarding, pet shops, and the cafés, patios and pubs that actually let dogs in.

Filter it down to the kind of place you need, and set how far you are willing to travel for it.

Run one of them? Get listed

🐾 How it started

One nervous rescue dog. One big idea.

Hi, I'm Heidi, founder of LeashMates. This whole thing started with one very good dog: my rescue pup, Lotti.

Heidi laughing with Lotti outdoors on a sunny day
Me & Lotti, the whole reason this app exists

Lotti is smart, sweet, and endlessly loyal, but she's also a nervous soul who doesn't do well when things move too fast or get too loud. So off-leash dog parks? Hard pass. All that chaos is just too much for her. But put her one-on-one with the right dog in a calmer setting, and she completely lights up.

Lotti sharing a chew toy calmly with a friend, one-on-one
One-on-one play, exactly how she likes it

The problem was finding other dog owners who wanted the same thing: relaxed walks, low-key playdates, dogs meeting dogs on their own terms. It felt nearly impossible, and I had a hunch I wasn't the only one.

Lotti smiling with her tongue out, mid-play
This is what "lighting up" looks like

So I built LeashMates. It started as a simple way to match dog owners for one-on-one walks and playdates based on breed, size, and temperament. But somewhere along the way, it grew into something bigger: a place where dog people find their people.

Lotti exploring the rocky shoreline on a walk
Exploring the shoreline, on her own terms

Heidi & Lotti 🐾

Get LeashMates

Free to download. Start meeting local dog parents today.