Item of the Day: Swifto

I am obsessed with my pets. Henry Littleboots, the handsome, gray Lothario I found wandering the streets of San Francisco has been my companion for over five years. Frankie, his little sister, is a nine-month old Jack Russel mix with a winning personality and the cutest spots you’ve ever seen. Our brood is rambunctious, and we rarely all sleep through the night.

Though my boyfriend and are good at taking turns for walkings and feedings, sometimes being a pet owner is not a total joy ride. A couple of weekends ago we had to leave town for a wedding, and literally high-fived each other outside our doggy day care place like two horny parents, dropping the kids off at summer camp.

Of course, the day care/boarding place we send them to is one of those free-range, open run spaces with a web-cam that allows us to check in on the pets all day. They send us pictures when we ask, and provide stories about how Henry wooed all the employees, and Frankie made friends with all the other puppies. I may be hands off in a lot of areas in my life (laundry, mostly) but when it comes to my pets, I am all tiger.

Which is why I am pretty stoked about this new company, Swifto. They hook you up with trained, vetted, insured dog walkers who are lugged into an app that lets you track their route on your phone. That way you know if your dog is getting walked the correct amount of time, and avoiding the areas you don’t want your pooch to play in. As a pet owner and former dog walker myself, I think it’s pretty genius.

And I’m not the only one. Swifto raised $2.5million in venture capital bones last week. This sort of ‘track your service as it happens’ model has worked before, with companies like Uber, My Cycles, and even some food delivery programs.

You guys are way smart. What are some things you’d like to be able to track? The location of your keys? The wait at a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations? Henry Cavill’s every move?

Leave your brilliant ideas in the comments!