ANDERSONVILLE — Andersonville resident Patricia Henderson said she's been told that her Pooh-Pee Tracker mobile phone app "is the greatest dating app" around.
She said Pooh-Pee, which debuted last month, is useful for setting up play dates between pooches — or linking dog lovers looking to meet other dog lovers.
Henderson's app allows users to geotag where their pet does its business, see a map of where other people's dogs favor leaving their ... waste, and then connect with other pet owners via the app and on other social media platforms, including Facebook.
"The person who uses this app, they want to meet somebody they've seen in the neighborhood with a dog. And through the app you can friend them," Henderson said.
A nine-year resident of Andersonville, Henderson is a geophysicist in her late 50s who worked in the oil industry for more than 30 years. She also founded Poopy Products, a line of pet waste management products and Cygany, a pet product manufacturing company. Her companies make everything from earth-friendly dog poop bags to litter box liners for cats.
The dog lover described herself as "a technical nerd." She said anything she does, she tries to "technologize it," as a friend once put it, although Henderson admitted, "I don't even think that's a word."
The dog lover's inspiration for Pooh-Pee came as she was walking her two dogs. She noticed how one of the dogs would always run "three houses down, past two bushes, smell the third bush and pee on it after," Henderson said.
"He's just got to pee over this other dog. I kept wondering who the heck that dog is. It just drives him nuts," said Henderson. "I wondered if there was a way I could create something to see who goes where and be able to connect with them, and thought maybe my dogs would want to play with their dogs."
She also noticed that every time she walks her dogs, she sees people "with a leash in one hand and a phone in the other."
"And I thought, there must be a way to bring the reality of our products to somebody else walking their dog, as well as have some fun," she said. "We're using technology to bring our products to the user — anybody walking their dog is going to need waste management items."
The app includes pet photo galleries and allows users to create profiles for their pets. It also shows nearby stores and online locations where owners can buy pet products, including products sold by Henderson.
Five percent of all revenues from the app, which costs 99 cents, go to the Anti Cruelty Society, an animal welfare organization. Henderson said the app has been downloaded more than 100 times since its September debut, and that folks as far as Europe have even given it a try.
To download the Pooh-Pee Tracker App, click here.
