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THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• Debunking the myth that breed type determines behavior

• Turning your backyard into a private dog park 🐶💸

• Where Millennial pet parents dump their cash 💰

• Getting your dog inked ✒️ on your epidermis

DOGGYDEX™

Winner: DoggyDex 🏆

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

DEBUNKING THE MYTH THAT BREED TYPE DETERMINES BEHAVIOR

We're sure you've all heard how different breeds are more likely to act specific ways. Retrievers are friendly, Pit Bulls are aggressive, German Shepherds are easy to train, and the list goes on.

I'm just a teddy bear

Now, there's some research that casts some doubt on these age old beliefs.

In a recent Umass study, researchers combined survey results from 18,000 dog owners and 2,000 canine DNA samples to take a look at whether dog breed was a good predictor of a dog's personality.

Their findings? 🔎

Almost none of the behaviors we associate with dog breeds—from lovable Labradors to pugnacious Pit Bulls—are hard-wired. Aside from a few ancient traits, environment and parent genetics seem to play a much larger role than pedigree. 

They found that breed is a much stronger indicator for physical characteristics.

Now for a very brief history lesson for us regarding the origin of dog breeds — 

Genetic research shows that the change from prehistoric wolf to dog happened about 10,000-15,000 years ago, though we didn't start purposely breeding dogs until roughly 2,000 years ago, as we started looking for specific work roles like hunting, guarding and herding. (end of lesson)

What's interesting about this is thanks to the power of DNA sequencing, and the close relationship between pet dogs and their owners, these types of studies in dogs have the potential to identify genetic areas in the dog genome that could lead to new insights into similar genes within humans. 

So additional knowledge about dog DNA 🧬 could help unlock new info about people.

In summary, it's much more useful to know a dogs upbringing and parental behavior to judge how they'll behave rather than their breed stereotypes.

TURNING YOUR BACKYARD INTO A PRIVATE DOG PARK 🐶💸

Public dog parks were designed to be a place where dogs could both expel energy and socialize with other local pups.

They've become quite popular, in fact there has been a +40% increase in the development of dog parks since 2009. They are seen as a basic amenity nowadays in city and suburban developments.

However some experts argue that dog parks might do more harm than good and can actually backfire, especially in regards to socialization.

Entering a dog park means you take on some assumptions:

• Trusting that every owner in there is monitoring their dog closely.

• All dogs have a good temperament and proper training to be there in the first place.

• No dogs are carrying a disease that could spread to your dog.

Let's imagine all of the above are respected, well some owners just aren't great at reading their dog's body language and may not be able to tell when a fight is about to break out, and accidents do happen after all.

"Awww...when he does that it means he likes you."

These uncertainties coupled with dog owners who know their pups aren't sociable has led to many searching for public dog park alternatives.

Introducing Sniffspot, the Airbnb of dog parks!

SniffSpot allows dog owners to book local backyards to safely exercise and train their dogs without all of the distractions. 

This is HUGE for dogs lacking their own backyard and for those that don't necessarily play well with others.

This is also pretty big for landowners with wide open spaces that like to make money doing pretty much nothing.

If you think this sounds like you then ask yourself...

Do you:

• Have a backyard? ✅

• Like dogs? ✅

• Like passive income? ✅

If yes, then it's probably worth signing up as a host.

A man by the name of Rick Powell, has turned his 5-acres in Oregon into a private dog park that's earning him $4,100 per month. 

The numbers:

• Sniffspot was found in Seattle in 2018

• They're in 1,500 cities with +7,000 hosts

• +10,000 bookings/month

• Sniffspot takes a 22% commission on fees

There are virtually no competitors to them on a national scale. (sniff sniff, is that opportunity we smell?)

GETTING YOUR DOG INKED ✒️ ON YOUR EPIDERMIS

The no-look tattoo, impressive

We're suckers for pooch tats - so we wanted to highlight an artist that has done some incredible work lately...

Her name is Jia, of Paw Tattoo SF. She specializes in micro pet portraits and does 600+ a year. You can follow her on IG (@paw.tattoo)

There are so many dog tattoos and a plethora of styles, which got us thinking of doing a tattoo residency on the newsletter.

Which just means, we'll share an artist and their work for the next few weeks.

Let us know your thoughts. 👇 (select one below)

WHERE MILLENNIAL PET PARENTS DUMP THEIR CASH 💰

Millennials are now the generation of dog owners.

According to a survey by YPulse, a whopping 76% of 20-38 year olds have a pet, with more than half having a dog. Since millennials now outnumber boomers, they've become the largest market for pet products.

Millennials rn

Top that with the fact that more than previous generations, millennials view their pets more as family/children.

This makes it no surprise that they are willing to spend on their pets' happiness and health (or at least cuteness).

He takes after his dad

This has lead to a steady rise in the pet industry, which saw an increase:

• from $245b to $261b from 2021 --> 2022 (source)

It's growing at a healthy 6% rate. Most of this growth has been seen in e-commerce, which has skyrocketed since 2014 while retail sales has experienced modest increases:

What we have also been seeing for the past few years is a shift in the market to accommodate the habits and values of this new majority of pet owners.

Here are some of those Millennial characteristics driving the change:

• Very comfortable with online and social media shopping 🖥️ 🛍️

• More health focused than previous generations 🥦🥕

• Socially conscious consumers 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

• Desiring multiple options per category

This has spawned growth in a number of product categories, such as high end food, supplements, toys, and more.

One of our questions was, which categories have millennials been spending on outside of the basics (food, vet, etc)?

According to the same YPulse survey, toys and treats lead the way:

We here at Dogonomist have an entrepreneurial streak in our fur, so we think about this info in the following way — 

Dog ownership has grown significantly in the last few years, which has also increased the pet product market. This is driven by a generation that more than ever cares for their dogs at a family level, and is more health & social conscious.

This means that more niche and high quality products will have a fighting chance against the large corporations.

So if you are a dog parent that goes the extra mile by making your own food, toys, clothes, treats, etc, chances are that other owners would be interested too.

Maybe it's time for a side hustle!

KIBBLE BITS:

• World's first pet-first social media app: purrch is dedicated to building a community for everyday challenges pet owners face together.

• Therapy dog comforting students: Sherman is comforting students after their teacher suddenly passed away.

• Dog food taster job: Somewhere in Canada you can make $34k/yr by tasting dog food and evaluating texture and flavor.

Every week we love to shoutout a pooch that has made another trip around the sun. Happy 6th Birthday 🎂 to Chewie the best sidekick Bill could ask for!

That's a wrap for this week. Be sure to stay tuned for next week, where we bark about the business of dog influencers.🤑🤑🤑

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@dogonomist).