Move over Airbnb, there’s a new crowdsourcing app in town. Sniffspot allows dog lovers to share their yards with other dog owners. For a fee, members can register their backyards as private dog parks that are rented by the hour.
The app, which was launched in Seattle, is quickly catching on with dog lovers, and some members report making $2500 a month renting their yards as puppy playgrounds.
Michael Walker, his wife Courtney, their two small children and a Bernedoodle named Raja, have rented their urban half-acre fenced backyard to other dog owners for about eight months in the small town of Groveport, Ohio.
The Walkers moved in here in May of 2022.
“A family member told us about this interesting website where you could rent out your back yard and thought our yard would be great for it,” Micheal Walker remembered. “I wrote him off for a while.”
Then in December of 2022, Walker thought about the idea again.
“I just googled renting your backyard for dogs and Sniff Spot came up,” he said. “I thought, you know what, let me just take some photos and put them up and see if it does well.”
Every month they’ve had more and more people.
“So we’ve had yet to have a slow month,” Walker said. “We closed it down for 2 months in the spring to make all the changes to it and now it’s really starting to take off again.”
Walker’s "Pup Park" has a 5 star review on Sniffspot and rents for $12 an hour. The yard features a plastic molded playset and swing for young children, and an open, grassy backyard with a tall, solid-wood privacy fence. In the corner of the half-acre yard is a small garden shed for guests and their dogs.
“We put out dog treats in the sniff spot shed over there,” Walker said, pointing to the garden shed. “We have water for the humans, I put out chips and popcorn (and) different things depending on the season. We have dog bowls, and dog toys, and the guests clean up after themselves. So it’s been a blessing.”
When asked how the family dog Raja feels about sharing the yard with strangers, Walker said that she’s a pretty mellow dog.
"We have the ability to block out time for our family to use it as well,” he said. “We’ll usually have to close the blinds because our dog will look out the window at the other dogs. She won’t bark. She doesn’t bark at them. She just watches them play.”
His wife Courtney was apprehensive about having people over.
“When he first brought this up to me I was like, I don't know,” she said “But it’s been nothing but pleasant. Everyone’s been very respectful and kind.”
Micheal is in the Columbus Fire Academy but Courntey is usually at home most of the time when people come over to use the yard.
There are some regular customers who have bought Sniffspot passes that they know well and will let rent the yard on Sunday mornings when they are at church.
“And we have cameras, too, that cover the backyard,” Walker said, “so that makes us more at ease with it.“
The Walkers also give people the option of having dog parties.
“We actually just booked our first one in August,” Walker said. “It’s her dog’s first birthday. They are going to have 6 adults and 4 or 5 dogs I think. So that’s pretty cool. We’re just testing that out. We throw in water, we throw in fire pit usage, and they get it for two hours”.
Additionally, the Walkers offer dog amenities for an extra fee.
“We’ve had the pup pool, a little plastic pool we fill up with water, that’s been a hit with dogs. [A] pup splash pad they can rent for ten or twelve bucks. It’s all a big hit. “
Sniffspot started out on the West Coast and is gaining momentum across the U.S.. Walker said he is looking forward to more people becoming aware of the app, especially people with reactive dogs that don’t like to go to dog parks.
He feels this is a good alternative for them.
“We took our dog Raja to the dog parks at first, because there is one literally a mile from here, and it's a great one,” Walker said. “But some dogs will try to bite her and stuff, and she didn’t like that. We decided to do our own thing and make our backyard into a little safe haven for her. Then we realized that we could bless other people with it, and it just provides a little income passively for us."
The Walker’s are putting all their Sniffspot income into a separate account that they plan to use for vacations. His wife likes to travel so next spring, they have plans to go on a cruise.
“And at this rate it should pay for the whole thing,” Walker said. “Which is kinda amazing.”
