Two Toronto neighbours handing over a dog's leash at golden hour, the golden retriever waiting between them

Now in Toronto · Invite only

Localpetcaringnetwork

Join Tailmate, a local community of pet lovers. Exchange care, earn points, help a shelter and build friendships.

Find Tailmates

Or join the waitlist in your neighbourhood.

1,200 tailmates

Verified members in Toronto

4 neighbourhoods

The Beaches · Birchcliff · Leslieville · Regent Park

$3,720 raised

For local pet rescues in 2026

The premise

Yourneighbours'pets.Yoursparehours.Nomoneybetweenyou,onlytime.Thisishowaneighbourhoodtakescareofitself.

Toronto LifeNOW MagazineThe Globe & MailToronto LifeNOW MagazineThe Globe & MailToronto LifeNOW MagazineThe Globe & Mail

How it works

CareforalocalTailmate.Earntimebackwhenyouneedit.

Two neighbours exchanging a dog leash on a Toronto doorstep

Step 01

Sign up and meet your Tailmates

ID, address, and vet record checked once. Then a quick Meet & Greet with anyone you'd sit for.

~ 4 minutes · invite only

A woman walking two dogs down a golden Toronto street

Step 02

Sit, walk, host. Earn Tail Credits.

1 credit per hour, 4 for a dog walk, plus 6 for each overnight. Multi-pet bonus when it's already a full house.

Earn ~28 credits a week as a hybrid worker

A neighbour reading at night with a cat asleep against them

Step 03

Spend credits when you need care

Need a midday walk on office days? A weekend away? Spend only the credits you've collected. No invoice, no daycare fees.

Average wait to find care: under 90 minutes

Step

010203

/ 03

Noinvoices.Nosurgefees.

Twocurrencies.Onerule.

The ledger

Two currencies.One rule.

Tail Credits · for owners

Earned giving care.Spent receiving care.

1 credit = 1 hour of care at your home

Day careper hour · 7am to 7pm+1
Walk a tailmate's dog30 to 60 min+4
Overnightpast 7pm+6
Last-minute requestunder 12h notice+5

Credits never leave the community, can't be bought, and have no cash value. The only way to get them is to give them.

Impact Credits · for Pet Lovers

Time given.Donations made.

10 impact credits = $1 donated to a partner shelter

5 walks a weekregular Pet Lover$8/mo
10 walks a weekactive Pet Lover$16/mo
Annual donationper regular Pet Lover$96
MembershipalwaysFree

For tailmates who love pets but don't own one: retirees, students, remote workers, between-pets. Every walk, every sit, every visit converts to real shelter funding the platform pays out monthly.

They never mix. That's the point.

Find your fit

Three kinds of tailmates.Same neighbourhood.

A healthy Tailmate community needs a mix. Each archetype solves a problem the others can't.

A hybrid worker at his desk with a golden retriever asleep in the sun

Starring

The hybrid worker

You're WFH 3 days a week with your dog. Office the other two. Sit a tailmate's pet when you're already home, and earn credits for the walks you'll need next week.

+0 cr/wkaverage net

0 crbanked per month

A weekend earner at home on the sofa with her two cats

Also starring

The weekend earner

You're in the office Monday to Friday. Daily care is sorted, but trimming 1 to 2 daycare days a month would be a win. And weekend sitting is free money, you're home with your pet anyway.

+0 cr/moaverage net

$0daycare saved a year

A retired Pet Lover greeting a jumping terrier in a Toronto park

And introducing

The Pet Lover

You don't have a pet, but you have time, and you'd love to spend it walking dogs. Every hour you give converts to a real cash donation to a Toronto pet rescue.

$0/yrdonated · regular

$0membership, forever

Casting now

Which one are you?

Every founding cohort mixes all three. Claim a spot and your neighbourhood opens faster.

Join the waitlist

A shelter volunteer forehead to forehead with a rescue dog

Walk a pet, support a shelter

Timegivenhereturnsintovaccines,food,andfosterplacementsdownthestreet.

$3,720raised for 2 Toronto-area pet rescues

372vaccine doses funded

62months of shelter pet food

18foster placements sponsored

0walks & sits completed · 10¢ per Impact Credit

“Tailmate members funded 372 vaccine doses, 62 months of shelter pet food, and 18 foster placements in 2026, without a single dollar passing between members.”

Toronto Humane Society · Partner rescue

5% of every membership goes to the shelter fund10 Impact Credits = $1, transparentFull ledger published every January

Toronto · launching now

Thefirstfourneighbourhoods.

We grow one neighbourhood at a time. Each starts with around 20 founding members: a mix of hybrid workers, weekend earners, and Pet Lovers. Add your name to the waitlist.

Suggest a neighbourhood

Loc. 01Open

The Beaches

Founding cohort · 84 members

Loc. 02Open

Birchcliff

Founding cohort · 67 members

Loc. 03Filling

Leslieville

Founding cohort · 52 members

Loc. 04Soon

Regent Park

Waitlist · 124 tailmates

Member stories

Whatitlookslike,inreallife.

“I'm in the office two days a week. Sofia next door is fully WFH but our dogs don't get along. She walks Loki separately at noon, and on Fridays I host her cat. We've never exchanged a dollar and we're better neighbours for it.”

Marco · The BeachesHybrid worker · 42 sits completed

“I retired, lost my golden last spring, and wasn't ready for another dog. Tailmate let me walk again, and the time turned into vaccines at the shelter where my Cody came from. That meant something.”

James · BirchcliffPet Lover · $214 raised in 2026

“I work in office full-time, but weekends I'm home with Pip anyway. Hosting Ana's two cats on Saturdays earns me enough credits to skip daycare on Wednesdays. We're saving close to $1,700 a year, and Pip has new friends.”

Sara · LeslievilleWeekend earner · 14 sits this quarter

Membership

Freetostart.

No commission, ever. The only money on the platform is the membership fee, and 5% of every dollar of it goes to the shelter fund.

Most chosen

Member

$10/month · $80/yr

Unlimited bookings & messaging
Full Tail Credit ledger & history
Trust Score & verified badge
Priority support & incident protocol
5% of every dollar goes to local shelters

Become a member

Register

$0/forever

Profile creation & verification
Browse the neighbourhood directory
Earn starter Tail Credits (25)

Create a profile

Pet Lover

$0/forever

Sit dogs & cats, earn Impact Credits
Every 10 credits = $1 to a partner shelter
Choose your shelter from a curated list
Personal annual impact report

Join as a Pet Lover

Trust isn't bolted on

Six layers, before a single sit.

Email, phone & ID verified

Government-issued ID before your first booking, encrypted under PIPEDA.

Address & vaccination records

Required for in-home or overnight bookings, reviewed before activation.

Mandatory Meet & Greet

A short in-person or video intro for the humans and the pets.

Trust Score

Ratings, sits, cancellation rate and verification level, visible to your tailmates.

2-hour incident protocol

Documented response if anything goes wrong, Trust team review within 24 hours.

Annual impact report

Credits exchanged, hours given, dollars donated, animals helped. Every January.

Community1,200 verified tailmates in Toronto

NeighbourhoodsThe Beaches · Birchcliff · Leslieville · Regent Park

Between members$0, no money ever

NeverInvoices, surge fees or gift cards

Powered byNeighbours helping neighbours

Care,traded.Notsold.

Invite-only at launch · No money between members · Pet Lovers free, forever

Founding members keep a permanent badge and 20 bonus credits. Your neighbourhood opens once 20 verified tailmates join, usually about three weeks.