How an LA man made a social media empire by rating people's dogs

There's no doubt about it; dogs are the best. 

"It was basically love at first sight," said dog mom Chloe Gardner. 

That's why Gardner gives her dog Pork Chop all the finer things in life.

"Right now, he's eating alligator," Gardner said. "I'm a Florida girl, so I want him to know where he comes from."

If Gardner had to rate her pup on a scale of one to 10, she said she'd name him "the most perfect dog ever."

While he could get a perfect score, there's only one source for professional dog ratings: "We Rate Dogs," the brainchild of founder Matt Nelson.

"I think we're up to 23 million followers across all the platforms," Nelson said. 

Nelson started We Rate Dogs as a niche comedy social media account while he was a freshman in college. 

"I realized that every joke I told that was about dogs did way better than any of my other jokes," Nelson said. 

Once he started rating dog pics, people immediately started submitting photos of their pets for consideration. 

"The dogs are always rated 12 to 15 out of 10," social media manager Jen Martinez said. "They're always higher than 10 because all dogs are perfect."

Martinez is in charge of the editorial team at We Rate Dogs. They scour every part of the internet to find special dogs to feature. While funny viral moments, like when a dog politely asked a drummer for his stick mid-performance, might get a 12 out of 10, the top honors go to dogs doing heroic deeds. 

"Frida, she was a Mexican search and rescue dog, and she found, I believe, over 50 people in her career," Martinez said. "She retired in 2019, and that's when we rated her 15 out of 10."  

That top score inspired the name behind Nelson's nonprofit, the 15 out of 10 Foundation, which taps into the massive influence of the We Rate Dogs audience. It raises money for dogs with medical and behavioral issues who are unlikely to be adopted from shelters across the country. 

"When we fundraise for a dog, the next week you're going to see that dog's story through to their adoption and potentially beyond the adoption until they're fully healed."

One example is Gordough, a dog tied to a bench outside a shelter in Texas, who had crusted-over infections and was sluggish due to an untreated thyroid condition. 

"That was the main thing we were waiting on, can we financially handle rescuing a dog that could have problems always?" owner Alec Azar said.

The 15 out of 10 Foundation helped Azar pay for Gordough's medical bills, alleviating some of the uncertainty surrounding his adoption. 

Sarah Hammel, spokesperson for the Austin Humane Society, remembers Gordough from his time at the shelter. She said the foundation has helped them heal and find homes for 75 dogs. 

"Now, we are seeking out dogs that might need extra medical care because we have that safety net," Hammel said. "15 out of 10 will help us."

Hammel said 15 out of 10 helps adopters have the peace of mind that they won't face an upfront financial burden with their best friend. 

Chicago-based animal rescue One Tail at a Time is another one of their partners. They said most people don't dump their dogs just because they didn't understand the commitment.

"As the economy suffers, as housing suffers, as healthcare suffers, as our society suffers, animals suffer too," spokesperson Heather Owen said. "It's all connected."

Nelson agrees that the reason shelters have become overcapacity is much more complicated. 

"There's just so many intricacies to how we ended up with shelter overcapacity," he said. 

However, there are people everywhere who care, like Gardner, who saved Pork Chop from the euthanasia list because of a kennel cough. 

"Just because he had a cold, he could have been put down," she said."It's just heartbreaking."

And sometimes, it's the stories that tug at the heartstrings that have the happiest endings.

Donations from followers are the primary source of funding for the dogs in need. For more information, please visit the We Rate Dogs social media pages.