We're Andre, Lisa and Shea — the people behind the PawPaw app.
Why we built the PawPaw app.
Shea came into our lives and immediately became the centre of our world. She's a Maltese with strong opinions, boundless energy, and a deeply complicated relationship with the delivery driver. From day one, we were head over heels for her.
But loving a dog — truly loving one, the way you love a family member — means spending a lot of time trying to understand them. Is she anxious right now, or just tired? Is that bark playful or stressed? What does that look mean, the one she gives us at 6pm every day?
We're both dog people to the bone, but we still found ourselves guessing. And the more we learned about dog behavior and development, the more we realized how much owners are left to figure out on their own.
So we built PawPaw.
Not just something fun — though wait until your dog "explains" why the vacuum cleaner is a personal attack. The PawPaw mobile app is a real tool for understanding your dog's behavior, development, wellbeing and personality, and what they might need from you on any given day. It turns everyday moments into daily insights, and pairs them with dog training guidance you can actually use at home.
Because the dogs in our lives aren't pets. They're family. And family deserves to be understood.
Meet the dog who started it all
Shea
Shea is a Maltese with the energy of a dog twice her size, a bark she discovered and immediately weaponized, and an ability to make absolutely everyone she meets feel like the most important person in the room. We still can't explain how she does it.
She is obsessed with tennis balls, deeply suspicious of pigeons, and has a very specific look she gives you when dinner is three minutes late. She is not subtle. She is also the entire reason PawPaw exists — because watching her, loving her, and constantly wondering what was going on in her head made us want to build something that could actually help.
She is not a pet. She is family. And that's exactly who PawPaw is built for.
The humans behind the PawPaw app
Two dog lovers who got tired of guessing about dog behavior — and decided to build something better.
Andre Barrett
Co-founder
Andre has spent years watching Shea closely — learning her signals, her moods, her quirks. That curiosity about what dogs are really communicating became the foundation of PawPaw.
Lisa
Co-founder
Lisa brings a deep understanding of dog behavior and dog training, and of what owners actually need — not more guesswork, but real insight into how their dog is developing and feeling day to day. She writes most of the PawPaw dog behavior guides.