Site launched to help Edinburgh pet owners find dog-friendly restaurants, shops and venues

Dog Furiendly is a new digital community and website for 8.5 million dog owners across the UK.

Dog Furiendly is already a big hit in Wales where it was launched last year by entrepreneur Adele Pember. She was inspired to source places she could take her Chihuahua/Jack Russell terrier cross, Charlie, who suffers from separation anxiety.

Adele, who grew up with dogs, couldn’t bear to leave little Charlie at home when she and her husband went out. She decided to collate a list of local businesses where she could take her beloved four-legged friend. She said: “Charlie is such a confident dog when he’s with us, but when he’s alone he’s timid and scared.

“We tried everything to change his separation anxiety, but eventually we just thought we’d take him everywhere. He’s our little diva now.”

Adele, 28, researches places to add to the listings on her site, but her enthusiastic community of dog owners around the UK keep her updated on new locations and events almost daily.

Dog Furiendly also has 25 brand ambassadors across the UK, with two in Edinburgh, who actively find new places for the site as well as help organise local events.

Now working on the site full time, the former marketing executive and graphic designer used her skills – and those of her web designer husband – in building the website and getting the attention of her dog-mad pack, which runs into the thousands and is growing.

Adele has organised Easter egg hunts, pub crawls and cinema events in Wales that have been a big hit with dogs and their owners. Scottish meet-ups and events are in the works. Dogs are “surprisingly calm and quiet” during film screenings, but Adele said it turned into “madness” when a cat comes on-screen. The hot ticket is to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey which always gets the tails wagging, according to Adele.

Alison and her German shepherd cross Tyree, who live in the Capital, are already members of the online platform. Alison said: “I’m so pleased this website is expanding to Scotland. Finding dog friendly places will be a walk in the park.

“Their social media community has already encouraged me and Tyree to explore new places and we will add our own finds to help the community too.”

Dog Furiendly will expand into Ireland and England next and Adele is busy working on an app. With an estimated 640,000 dog owners in Scotland who could benefit from the site, Adele said she was “really excited to bring the site to Scotland” and hoped one day the site would go global.

The launch event will kick off at BrewDog in Lothian Road on Sunday, July 29 at 6pm when dog lovers and their furry friends will take part in a big doggy quiz. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home. More information is available at www.dogfuriendly.com.