When Brian Galea adopted his Border Collie named Dash, the sweet dog had just about every fear in the book. “He literally could not walk over a manhole cover,” he says. “He hated skateboards, loud cars — if I took him to a store and the P.A. system came on, he would freak out.” Six years later, Dash is a therapy dog who hugs strangers and fetches soda from the fridge. Galea cast aside his goal of becoming a physician to instead earn an MBA and launch Snoot. “The app is particularly critical in the vulnerable days and weeks after someone has rescued a dog,” he says. Organized into such topics as food and health, socialization and manners, barking and chewing, and the ever-important potty training, the app’s self-paced, positive-reinforcement lessons include step-by-step videos and corresponding product recommendations that keep Snoot free. “Anybody can get into it, anybody can advertise,” he says. “Usually dog owners don’t even know to ask about credentials or method, which is something that I really want to fix.” Available on Google Play and Apple app stores; SnootApp.com.
