Today I thought I’d share my five favourite dog apps — smartly written programs that have been helping me to take care of my furchild and juggle a hectic schedule at the same time. I run with a Galaxy III (the only phone I’ve ever truly loved…and on a sidenote if anyone can direct me to some truly cute cases for it, please hollar!), but most of the apps that I use are available for iPhones too.
1. Petfinder app (ANDROID // iPHONE)
If you’re thinking about adopting a new furry friend into your family this is a must-have app. It essentially gives you the entire Petfinder database of adoptable pets on your phone in a clean, modern interface that allows you to easily browse, comment and save your favourite profiles.
What I like best about this app is that you can save your searches, bookmark the pets you are interested in and share profiles through your various social media channels. If you ever run in to anyone who says they “would rather just buy a puppy because they don’t have the time to adopt,” tell them about this app. Complete, efficient and effective pet searches right at your fingertips.
2. Pocket (ANDROID // iPHONE)
This app has changed my life. Every day we are bombarded with (let’s face it) a rather wonderful, yet obscene amount of information. It is impossible to read everything you want to read at once, so this app creates a digital ‘pocket’ in which you can comprehensively store, sort and flag content for future consumption. What I love best about Pocket is its easy filtering system, quick touch bookmarking option and versatility. Just like their adorable dog-friendly promotional video says, you can use this app anywhere — even at the dog park!
3. Veriwalk (ANDROID // iPHONE)
I don’t run a dog-walking business, but I was so impressed with this app’s concept that I just had to include it in this list! Veriwalk keeps track of your petsits and dogwalks via GPS, sends your clients real-time updates, and helps you manage your business.
According to Veriwalk, “Dogwalkers’ clients are often busy, urban professionals who pay a premium for their pooch to be walked while they’re gone. They might not have time to run home to walk their dogs, but they still care deeply. So it’s helpful for them to see when, where, and for how long their dog was walked via SMS. They can even check up on their dogs in real time. It’s a security blanket (for both owner and dog) while they’re apart.”
When activated this app will trace the walk route, duration and allow the walker to upload notes and photos for the pup parent to review. Pretty clever, don’t you think?
4. Petsie Dog Breeds
This app is a great on-the-go resource for learning about various dog breeds. It comes fully loaded with cute pictures, fun facts and an easy to navigate design. I find this is a wonderful resource to consult when working on the road or to flip through just for fun while waiting for the pesky bus.
5. Paw clicker
Okay, at first this app will seem a bit silly, like something akin to the digital coin toss. But let me explain! A lot of pet parents, like myself, choose to clicker train their pups. As Rory grew up I transitioned away from the clicker and instead started snapping my fingers — a perfect plan I thought because I never leave my hands at home, whereas I might forget the clicker. However, I later learned that my guy can’t snap his fingers, at least not very loudly, so we were faced with a problem. Enter the Paw Clicker! You simply activate the clicker, push the button and voila — you are a clicking machine!
What apps are you drooling over at the moment?
(opening image via)
Hi Laura,
That was a great little post. Its so fun to see what kind of cool apps are out there for our pups. You captured the essence very well of these 5, so I was wondering what you might think about the product that my startup, Ridogulous Labs, is building.
Actually, a few of the features above (veriwalk and clicker) will be included in our App as well. But the real game changer is the “smart collar” we are building that will allow us to communicate, track, monitor, engage, train, etc. our dogs in a whole new way. With this, we will bring our dogs into this wonderful, wireless world we all love living in!
We are narrowing down the initial feature set, but its hard because of all the cool ideas that are out there. With the data that we’ll be receiving from these devices, the possibilities of what we can do with it is really unlimited.
But enough from me, I’d love to hear what you think! If you check out our page at http://thatsridogulous.com/our-crowdfunding-campaign/ you’ll see really what we mean.
We are planning our crowdfunding launch for April 15th to raise the money to make this vision a reality and would love any feedback or support you and your team can give!!
Thanks so much, from one dog lover to another!
Cheers,
Skelly
Hi Skelly!
Thank you so much for your comment! Please feel free to email me with more information about your company!
:)