About Us

About DogTipper

Do you love to include your dog in your daily activities and travels? Of course you do! Our love of including our dogs in our travel and everyday errands inspired us to launch DogTipper in 2008.

I’m Paris Permenter, co-founder of DogTipper along with my husband, John Bigley. Based in Austin, Texas, we’re longtime travel guidebook writers, day trip afficionados–and, most importantly, devoted pet parents. We love taking our dogs on our day trips and daily excursions, whether that’s a fun day trip to a local lake or river, a lunch at a dog-friendly patio restaurant, or just running errands with our four-legged family members.

DogTipper provides tips for dog day trips, wherever you may live. You’ll find tips on keeping your dog safe on your outings, choosing dog-friendly destinations, and making sure your dog enjoys the day trip as much as you do. And, for those of you who live in Texas, are new to the state, or are planning a getaway to our home state, you’ll find a special Texas travel section covering dog-friendly day trips in the Lone Star State.

About Us

Visiting the Old Yeller statue in Fred Gipson’s hometown of Mason, Texas.

We share our homes and our hearts with rescue dogs. In 2008, we adopted Irie and Tiki, and they inspired us to launch DogTipper that same year. After Irie’s loss to cancer in 2018, we adopted Bärli, and he quickly took to day trip travel.

John and I came to the pet writing world after 20 years as travel guidebook authors. We’ve written over 35 guidebooks and 2,000+ magazine and newspaper articles covering destinations ranging from Jamaica to Jordan, the Bahamas to Borneo–as well as numerous guides to Texas including Day Trips from Austin, Day Trips from Houston, Day Trips from San Antonio, Texas with Dogs, Texas BBQ, and Insider’s Guide to San Antonio. Most recently, we authored The Healthy Hound Cookbook (Simon & Schuster) and Texas with Dogs (Open Road).

Along with DogTipper and its sister site, CatTipper, we also founded the PawZaar online boutique featuring jewelry and accessories that celebrate our pets, all while helping sponsor a homeless dog or cat waiting for a forever home.