UNDATED (CNN) -- We watch them on YouTube and post their pictures on Facebook. But is it time for dogs to have a social network of their own? The brains behind a New York startup think so.
Making new friends can be hard, even when you're as cute as Bandit. Bandit's owner Anthony McGhee says, "He had plenty of friends back in San Francisco. But now it's time for him to meet new friends in New York."
McGhee used the startup site MatchPuppy.com, to find puppy play dates, an indication that perhaps social networking, has gone to the dogs.
Site founder Michael Chiang says the original business plan was to help with puppy love, connecting owners looking to breed their pets. But eventually the team decided "just friends", was ok too. Chiang says, "We realized there was a bigger need in the market to help dog owners kind of facilitate play dates online."
Matches are made by neighborhood, breed and age. Some pet owners we spoke with expressed the same "human" concerns about online matchmaking. Shameika Bloice says, "I would be a little concerned, you know, because I don't know the dog."
But others like the idea. Lexi Herman says, "It'd be great to meet some other people who have breeds similar to him." Brian Huseman says, "If there's a way for dog owners to interact and maybe set up playdates later, I could definitely see some value in that."
And Chiang says the social benefits aren't for the pups alone. Chiang says, "Dogs are a great icebreaker, and using a website like ours -- you find new relationships, new friends, so definitely the human aspect of it is very strong."
So far the site is limited to New York, but Chiang says other cities are being eyed as the next dog-meet-dog worlds.