New research initiative launched to survey standards across the UK dog care industry

Ethical dog care directory Yappily has launched Yappily Pulse, an independent research community set up to examine how the UK dog care industry works in practice. Announced on 3 August 2026, the initiative invites both dog guardians and the professionals who work with them — trainers, home boarders, dog walkers and others — to share their experiences through ongoing surveys, with the stated aim of building an evidence base rather than relying on anecdote.

Pulse will focus on five broad areas: dog guardianship, dog care businesses, dog welfare, industry trends and community experiences. Topics range from professional standards and licensing to affordability, access to services and the qualifications behind the advice owners receive. Individual responses will remain confidential, with findings published openly and made available to charities, researchers, industry bodies and local authorities. Yappily co-founder Rosie Robinson said the aim is to give people working with dogs day to day, and the guardians who rely on them, a way to show what is working well and where problems persist.

The UK dog care sector — training, boarding, walking and related services — has long lacked a centralised, evidence-based picture of its own standards, which makes it harder for regulators, charities and owners alike to identify where the real problems lie. How much difference Pulse makes will depend on participation and on what is done with the findings once published, so it is best treated as an initiative worth watching rather than a settled picture. For breeders and owners, it is a reminder that the wider infrastructure around a dog's life, not just its breeding, remains an area with real gaps in evidence.