Packmates

About Packmates

It started with a big, spotty dog.

We’re Callum and Jemma, and this is Patch. He’s the reason Packmates exists, so it’s only fair he gets the first photo.

Patch, a tall white dog with black spots and black ears, standing on the lawn with his head tilted towards the camera.

Meet Patch.

Patch is a rescue. He arrived as a wobbly, oversized puppy and kept growing until he was mostly legs, with a coat that looks like someone flicked a paintbrush at him. He is soft as anything. He sleeps upside down, leans on your knees while the kettle boils, and has never met a person he didn’t want to say hello to.

The trouble is, not everyone knows that when they see him coming. Walk Patch anywhere and you’ll spot it: the owner who scoops up their terrier, the family that steps off the path, the lead that suddenly gets shorter. He’s a big dog, and big dogs make people nervous before they’ve had the chance to be anything else.

We understand it. We’d just rather people got to find out who he actually is.

Patch fast asleep on his back on a sofa, all four legs in the air.
Patch, in his usual position.

Why we built Packmates.

Two things kept happening on our walks, and after a while we couldn’t stop noticing them.

So we built what we wished already existed: a place where dog owners can meet up and enjoy their dogs, with others.

  1. People were afraid of Patch.

    Not because of anything he did. Just because of his size. Every meeting started from a step back, and we found ourselves apologising for a dog who was only wagging.

  2. People were walking alone.

    The same faces every morning, headphones in, dog on a lead, nobody to talk to. Lovely dogs, lovely owners, and hardly any of them walking together.

The humans (and the dog).

A small family, one very large dog, and a lot of walks.

  • Patch standing beside a grey sofa in the living room, looking straight at the camera.

    Patch

    Chief sniffing officer

    Tests every kind of walk personally. Big, gentle, and convinced that every sofa is his.

  • Callum sitting in a stubble field, nose to nose with Patch.

    Callum

    Builds Packmates

    Writes the code and fixes the bugs. Still loses every staring contest with Patch.

  • Jemma crouching down with her hand on a young Patch, who is sitting in front of her looking at the camera.

    Jemma

    Photos and words

    Takes the pictures, writes the words and keeps Patch’s cuddle quota topped up.

  • Amaiya grinning at the camera with Patch as a puppy cradled on her lap.

    Amaiya

    Puppy wrangler

    Has been carrying Patch around since he fitted on her lap. He doesn’t fit any more, which hasn’t stopped either of them.

  • Hayden lying on the sofa with his arm around Patch, both looking at the camera.

    Hayden

    Honest reviewer

    Packmates’ toughest tester. If a screen confuses him, we change it. He and Amaiya are also the people Patch waits by the door for.

What we care about.

  • Nobody has to walk alone.

    If you’d like company, you should be able to find it close to home, from people whose dogs suit yours.

  • Big doesn’t mean scary.

    Size is one line on a dog’s profile, next to energy, lead manners and how they are around other dogs. You meet the whole dog, not just the silhouette.

  • You stay in charge.

    Meeting points are public places, organisers choose who joins, and anyone can be reported or blocked. Nobody walks with anyone they haven’t said yes to.

Come and walk with us.

Packmates is in open beta across the UK. Post a walk, join one nearby, and if you spot a big spotty dog coming the other way, that’ll be Patch. He’d love to say hello.

Open PackmatesFind walks near you