It started with a dog
named Lukah.
Two knee surgeries, two recoveries, and one question we couldn't shake: why is it so hard to find someone truly qualified to look after your pet at home?
A recovery that
changed everything.
Lukah is our dog. He's big and dumb and we love him completely. A few years ago he tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee, and what followed was honestly one of the more exhausting periods we've been through as pet owners. Weeks of daily medication, dressing changes, wound checks, trying to Google whether something looked normal or not. We got there, but it wasn't easy.
Then, about a year later, he tore his other cruciate ligament.
A week after it happened, we were supposed to be leaving for a trip we'd had booked for six months — so one of us stayed home to take care of him. That part was easy. Of course we stayed. What we didn't expect was how hard it would be to actually find decent help, even with one of us there. Lukah couldn't easily travel. He was too sore to move far, which meant we needed someone who could come to us. Someone who knew what post-surgical care actually looked like: medication management, dressing changes, knowing what a problem looks like before it becomes one.
What stayed with us wasn't that there was nothing out there. It was something more specific. There are thousands of qualified Vet Nurses across Australia who do exactly this kind of care every single day — confidently, clinically, without a second thought. But that expertise basically disappeared the moment their shift ended. There was no easy way for pet owners to find them, and no real way for Vet Nurses to offer that help outside the clinic. That felt like a strange gap to leave open.
So we built Lapdog to close it.
Two problems.
One answer.
Pet owners
need someone who actually knows what they're doing. Especially when their pet has medical needs, anxiety, or is recovering from surgery.
Vet Nurses
have real skills in medication, monitoring, and animal care that go largely unused outside the clinic. They deserve a way to put them to work on their own terms.
Lapdog brings them together. It's a place where qualified Vet Nurses can offer professional pet care in your home, and where you can find someone you actually trust with your animals.
Vet Nurses carry an incredible depth of knowledge. Too often, that expertise never leaves the clinic. We wanted to change that.
Built on simple principles.
Qualifications matter
Every sitter on Lapdog is a qualified Vet Nurse. No exceptions.
Home is best
Pets heal faster and stress less when they're in their own space, with their own things around them.
Providers deserve more
Flexible work, fair pay, and a place that actually values what they know.
Lukah's fully recovered now. Both knees, rock solid.
Now Lapdog is ready for Melbourne.