There has been a lot of talk about the DogSpots that have been popping up around town. “A DogSpot is a smart sidewalk sanctuary, providing your dog a safe and cozy home away from home while you briefly go somewhere they aren’t allowed.” We heard some good feedback about them so we decided to try it out with our dog Mika!
We needed to pick up some popsicles, so we stopped at Bridge Street Market because they have a DogSpot right in front of their main entrance. We just needed to run in quick, but of course we would never leave Mika in the hot car, and tying Mika up is not an option because she is reactive on leash – she also could chew through the leash in a second. Honestly, I was also a little nervous of how she would do inside of the DogSpot which my kids renamed, “the cooler”. The first step to using the DogSpot is downloading the app. Now, if you’re like me, you may have your kids with you and it may be on a hot day and your dog starts panting and your kids start wondering what’s taking so long…all to say, setup took longer than hopefully normal – I recommend installing the app and completing the information from your air-conditioned car, and not on the hot sidewalk. After downloading the app you need to fill out your information as well as your dog’s, and state whether your dog is fully vaccinated or not. You also have to enter your credit/debit card information – DogSpot charges 30 cents per minute. You then will be asked to create a key code for locking and unlocking the door. Information displayed on the DogSpot advertises that the box is cleaned daily, which was nice to see before putting Mika in there.
After setting up the app, I unlocked the DogSpot door and Mika happily walked in and sat down on the little pad included inside. I locked the door and we were on our way to getting popsicles. The app was really neat because it showed the temperature inside of the box, and live video footage of Mika and how she was doing. At first Mika sat there and looked out the window, panting just a little. Then she laid down, and then she put her head down on her paws as though she was going to take a nap – I couldn’t believe it! She seemed very relaxed and content, which I did not foresee happening. What’s nice is you can see if someone comes up to the window to look at your dog, which nobody did, but we could see people walking by on the sidewalk. Mika was lying down relaxed the entire time that we were in the store. When we came out to get her, she was very calm and happy to see us. Unlocking the DogSpot was easy, you just enter the same code you created in the beginning.
My overall review of the DogSpot is that I was pleasantly surprised! It’s definitely worth trying to see if it’s a good fit for your dog. If you have tried the DogSpot, please let us know how your experience was!
DogSpot locations: Bridge Street Market, 405 Seward Ave. NW, and Family Fare Supermarket at 2755 Lake Michigan Dr. NW