Quick Links:
Sign Up | View Profiles | View a User’s Photo Gallery | How Browsing Works | Adding Someone To Your Favorites | Private Messaging | See Your Matches List |Posting and Viewing Photos | Searching For Users by Name | Searching through posts |Viewing a User’s Dog Details From Dog Photo Area | Viewing a User’s Profile Details from Dog Photo Area | Viewing Your Own Dog Photo Gallery Profile and Followers | Update Your Profile Details and Dog Details | Find People Located Near You | Find and Schedule Events | Check-In
Reporting Offensive/Abusive Posts | Reporting Harassment /Abusive Users
| Contact Us – Send us an email for help, bug reports, suggestions, etc. |
To start using myDoggySocial’s mobile app, you’ll need to download and install the app.
Sign Up
To register, provide an email address and your first and last name. You don’t have to use your real name if you don’t want to – you can use an alias. The name you input will be the name that is displayed on your public profile.
You have to provide a valid email address. The app will send you an activation link to the email address you registered with. You need to click this link to verify that you did sign up for an account. Your email address will never be displayed to other users.
Once you’ve activated your link, go back to the app and log in using the email address and password you provided during registration.
You’ll be prompted to enter some details about yourself. These details will help you to connect and match with people who may be interested in you. You can change any of these settings in the app at any time later on, if your relationship status and preferences change.
Next, you can put in one of your dog’s profile details. If you don’t have a dog, just select “I don’t have a dog” and you can type “n/a” in the Dog’s Nickname field. You can always add more dogs later, or delete and re-add details. Please note that all fields are currently required to be filled in – including Health and Additional Details regarding your dog’s temperament with people and other dogs. If you do not wish to enter anything in these fields, simply type “n/a”, “.” or “none.” Click “Save” to save your dog’s profile details.
Now you’re ready to connect with other dog lovers!
View Dog Lover Profiles
If you want to start browsing through ALL the users available on the app, head straight to the “Match Maker” menu from the home screen, by tapping on the Match Maker icon. If you tap on the hamburger menu (top left corner of the screen), you will see additional menu options – you can tap on “Notifications” to see a listing of all notifications relating to the Dog Photo section (likes, comments, follows).
Click “Browse Profiles” to begin. You’ll see profile cards. If you tap on their name, you will see additional info regarding themselves and their dogs.
View User’s Photo Gallery
While you are in the Match Maker, and browsing through user profiles, if you tap on their name and see their secondary profile screen (see below), you can tap on the Dog Photos icon in the user’s profile card. You will be taken to their connected Photo Stream profile and can see all the photos and videos they have posted relating to themselves and their dogs. These are photos and videos that they have posted in the Dog Photo section – it is an easy way to view all their posts in one place.
The more photos you yourself post, the easier it is for other dog lovers to understand more of your personality, hobbies and traits. It’s the perfect ice breaker to connect and converse without the awkwardness of the standard, “Hey, how YOU doin?” or “How’s the weather” lines. You’ll be able to make new friends, find potential loves, or just pass the time looking at adorable photos of puppies, dogs and the people who love them. If a user is offering services or products, you’ll easily be able to see their photos relating to sales and discounts all in one place if they’ve posted anything.
Browsing
From the Match Maker section, you can tap ‘Next’, ‘Do not Display This User Again’ or ‘Add to Favourites’ (green thumbs up button). The default setting is to show “All Users”. (You can change your preferences to search by different criteria – head to the “My Profile” section and tap on the “Match Criteria” tab.) As new users register on the app, you will see their profiles display here.
Left: Tap ‘Next’ or swipe left or right to pass their profile (They won’t be notified of this). When you return to this match maker screen, their profile will continue to show up again (in case you want to revisit their profile and send them a Favourites alert at a later date).
Right: Tap the green thumbs up icon if you would like to send them an alert saying you’re interested in their profile. (They’ll get a message stating you’ve added them to your favorite list). Their profile will disappear from this browsing list and will be listed under your Favorites list instead – you can see a listing of all your favorite profiles in the additional menu section (tap the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left corner of the screen) for easy access to their information.
Adding someone to your favourites lets a user know that you’re interested in communicating or meeting with them. It’s just an icebreaker of sorts. You can chat with them once you’ve matched (when they’ve added you to their favourites list as well).
Match: If they add you to their favourites as well (thumbs up) or if they “Accept” your match request, you both “Match” and now know that you’re mutually interested in each other – this sometimes makes it easier for someone to reach out and ask for a puppy playdate or for advice or general communication.
Do Not Display This Profile Again: If you do not wish to see a user’s profile in the Match Maker browsing screen again, tap on this button to dismiss their profile permanently. You can see a list of the users you have dismissed in the Additional Menu section.
Adding to Favorites
When you add someone to your favorites, they’ll get a message alerting them that you’ve added them to your list of interesting profiles. If they add you back, you’ll be a match and can message each other. Tap it again to remove them from your favorites – you won’t be able to see each others messages unless you’re both matched. From the Match Maker section, tap the button “Browse Profiles”. You can add a user to your favorites list by tapping on the green ‘thumbs up’ icon on the bottom right.
You can also add a user to your favorites from the Dog Photo Section and Events/Check-in Map. Tap on their display profile picture, then tap on their username. You’ll be taken to their profile card, where you will see a “heart” icon. Simply tap this icon to add them to your favorites.
If you know their username (or part of it), you can search for them first:
Tap their display photo, and you’ll be taken to a screen showing their followers and who they’re following. Tap their username under their profile photo to be taken to the following screen (their profile card):
You can tap on the heart to add or remove them from your favorites list. They will not get a notification stating you’ve removed them from your list, but they will be notified anytime you re-add them. When you have matched, you’ll see the blue chat icon display on their profile card. You can tap on this to send them a private message.
Viewing Your Matches & Private Messaging
Please be sure to read the section above regarding how to “Add to Favorites”. From the Match Maker section, click on the hamburger menu (top left) to access additional menu options: you will see “My Matches”. You can also view your message inbox from this menu under “Messages”, or you can go to the chat box directly from a user’s profile by tapping on the blue ‘Chat’ icon on their profile card. You’ll have to be matched first in order to message each other (this means that you have both added each other to your favorites list).
Your mutual matches will be listed here (that means you both liked each other’s profiles/sent an “Added to Favourite List” notification by clicking the green thumbs up button.). You can tap on their display photo to privately chat with them.
Click on “Notifications” to see all your activity. If you tap on the display photos of other users, it will take you to their profile details.
You can see a list of all your private messages under “Messages”.
Posting and Viewing Photos & Videos
If you go back to the home menu and tap on “Dog Photos”, you can see photos and videos other dog lovers on the app have posted.
To create a new post, tap on the icon located on the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Viewing a User’s Follower/Following list: While browsing through posts in the Dog Photo section, if you tap on a user’s profile photo, you can see their Photo Stream Profile and a list of their followers and people they themselves are following.
Searching For Users From the Photo Stream Section
If you’d like to view a user’s profile, but can’t seem to find them anywhere even though you remember their name, you can search for them in the Search field next to the magnifying glass icon. Head to the Dog Photo area by tapping on this icon from the Home Screen:
You can search by username here:
and then select the “User” tab to view results for users matching the name you searched:
You can search using partial names as well, such as “myd” or “ke” (to bring up mydoggysocial or Kevin, Kelsey, etc.) If you tap on their display photo you will see their followers/following lists. From there, tap their name text under their display photo to see their user profile and dog profile details.
Or you can search through posts for keywords and hashtags (ie. german shepherd or #germanshepherd) and view the “Post” tab to view results relating to your search terms.
Viewing More Profile Details From the Dog Photo Stream
If you are in the Dog Photo area, you can tap on a user’s display photo to see their followers/following list. If you then tap on their name text (under their display photo), you can see their additional profile details regarding themselves and their dogs. This way, you can easily find out the name and breed of their dog(s), and also a little bit about themselves
Click here for a helpful “How To” video: Viewing Profiles from the Dog Photo Section.
Viewing Your Own Photo Stream Profile (View Your Followers and Following List)
If you tap the hamburger menu (top left) when you are in the Dog Photo area, you can view your own Photo Gallery profile by then tapping on “My Profile”.
Update Your Profile Details and Your Dog’s Details
From the home menu screen, you can tap on the “My Profile” icon. Here, you can update your profile details.
Under the “General” tab, you can change your profile details, such as the gender that you identify yourself as, enter your date of birth, update your marital status and your purpose for using the app. You can also provide a summary about yourself and your dog that users will see on your profile card in the “About My Dog and I” field.
Under the “Dogs” tab, you can add or delete your dog profile details. Please note that all fields are currently mandatory and they all need to be filled out (ie. including “Additional Details Dogs, Health, etc.). If you do not wish to type anything in these fields, simply type “n/a” “.” or “none”.
Under the “Match Criteria” tab, you can filter results by dogs, or humans, and select your desired criteria. See below for info regarding the “Location” field.
Find people near you
To narrow your results by distance, from the Home Screen, tap on the “My Profile” icon.
From the My Profile screen, you can then tap on the “Match Criteria” tab.
Please note If a user visits your profile and you have not input your location, they will not be able to narrow their own search results to find you. The only way they will see your profile is if they select a search filter of “All Users”. When you enter your location address here, your exact location address will never be shown to other users – they can only narrow down your proximity by the number of miles away you are (this is different than the Check-In feature in the Events screen), so you can safely use any location in this field.
For distance, you can “Search All” to get results for people all over the United States and Canada, regardless of their location. Or, you can select “Miles” and then slide from 0 to 100 miles to search for people who are up to 100 miles away from your current location. When you choose your criteria, tap “Save” and then head back to the Match Maker, you’ll see an updated list of profiles that have been narrowed according to your search criteria.
If you’re searching for humans, you can filter users based on their purpose as well – do they want to find a date, find a friend, socialize their dog, find a dog walking buddy, or are they offering dog products and services. You can narrow this search to your local area within 100 miles of your location, or view people from all over the United States and Canada.
If you’re searching by dogs, you can filter according to dog size (if you have a small dog, you can look for other users who also have small dogs for a better doggy playdate match!). If you would like to search by dog type, you can do this too – find other police dogs, show dogs, services dogs and see if they can share valuable tips and advice regarding training or health for your similar dogs.
Tap Save and then tap the icon under “Take Me to Match Maker” to go back to the match maker area to see your updated results. Or, tap the icon under “My Dog Photos Profile” to be taken to your dog photo follower/following list.
Find and Schedule Dog Related Events
Head on over to the “Events and Check In” screen by tapping the button from the Home Screen. You will see a map of your general area.
View Profiles Nearby: You will be able to see a list of users who are currently ‘Checked In’ to a location near you.
Schedule or Find Meetup: You can find dog related events and meets by tapping here. You can create an event of your own for others to join. If you or others wish to indicate that they have an interest in attending your event, you can select the checkbox “I will/might attend this event” and tap the save button. You can un-check it anytime if you decide not to attend.
Checked In/Out: Tap this to check yourself in or out of your current location. Please note that your exact location address will be displayed to everyone on the app – use common sense and never check in when you’re at home or at a private residence. Don’t check in at isolated areas or areas that are not well lit and/or unsafe. It is your responsibility to use reasonable precautions concerning the safety of yourself and of others.
The dog forum area is a discussion area where you can just chat, get advice and just generally socialize for longer lengths of discussion.
Reporting inappropriate/offensive content
You can report a photo you find offensive or inappropriate and an alert will be sent to the myDoggySocial admin. A warning may be issued to the offender, with repeat reports against the same user possibly resulting in the admin banning their account.
Reporting Harassment or Abusive Users
If you feel that you are being harassed by any user, please send a message to reports@mydoggysocial.com with details and a member of our team will respond to your concerns with a solution.
Contact Us By Email
Need to report an abusive/harassing user? Want to report a bug/error with the app? Got suggestions? We’re all ears! Send us a message using the contact form below.
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