“There’s an app for that” is a catchy phrase. In fact, the slogan plays an important role in Apple Computer’s promotion of their iPhone. The tagline has become so popular it’s now become a part of our culture, making its way into general conversations and even into pop music.
So it stands to reason that, when it comes to being a responsible pet owner, well… there’s an app for that.
There are apps to assist you in locating dog parks, finding pet-friendly hotels and comparing dog walkers and pet sitters. There are apps for tracking your pet’s health, practicing various training methods, illustrating grooming techniques and reminding you of feeding times or medication requirements. There are even apps that help you select the most nutritious and specific foods for your pets; foods like CANIDAE and FELIDAE.
There is a website called Mashable Tech that lists the most popular apps for pet owners. There are also helpful apps listed on Yappler. I’ve tried some of these apps, but not all. Here’s a rundown of some current recommendations.
Apps to keep your pet healthy and strong
Cat Doctor: Expert veterinarian advice for your cat, right at your fingertips. Cat Doctor is organized into critical topics so it’s easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. There’s also an informative video hosted by a cat-specific veterinarian with over 30 years of experience.
Pet First Aid: An app that keeps all of your pet’s important medical records in one place. It also provides illustrations and videos of what to do in case of a medical emergency. The cool thing about this app is you can reach the information when you’re offline so if you get into trouble while hiking the back roads with your four-legged pal, you can access advice immediately.
Pet Vet Records: Here’s a way to track your pet’s health and share their medical records and files with your vet. This app is good for someone who moves frequently, because you can easily transfer your pet’s health information from one vet to another.
Apps to help train your dog
Dog Whistler: This app teaches you to train your dog or teach him new tricks using their whistles. Within the app, you can customize the beeps and tones to a frequency and sound pattern that appeals to you and works for your pet.
Clicker Training: I’ve never used clickers when training my dogs, but I know people who swear by it. The basic of this training method is that when your pet does something right or demonstrates good behavior, he gets a click and a treat. This app not only helps you train your dog, but is also full of training tips and techniques. I’ve heard people say clicker training works for cats, horses, birds and guinea pigs.
iPottyTrain: Yep, the app does just what you think, it helps you housetrain your pup. Additionally, it will track your pet’s daily food and water intake as well as his elimination routines so you can schedule the times to take him out. This would work for pups and for senior dogs that need more frequent monitoring.
Dog Tricks: With the use of videos and photo tutorials, this app shows you how to teach your dog tricks. It also functions as a progress tracker so you know how far along you and your canine pal have come.
Apps to make life easier
Petometer: Like a pedometer, this app records how long you’ve walked with your pet and where you’ve gone. This is helpful if you’re trying to build up to longer walks, because you can check your dog-walking history and schedule walk reminders.
iLocate Pet Grooming: If you and your pet are active travelers and Fluffy likes a haircut now and then, there’s an app that locates pet groomers wherever you happen to be, anywhere in the country. Not only does the app find the pet grooming service for you, you can also contact them with one touch.
Fido Factor: This app lets you locate pet-friendly places across America. You can find hotels, restaurants, shops and boutiques that allow you to enjoy the company of your pet while visiting their establishment. This little app can be a big help when you’re planning a vacation with your dog. Petcentric is another app that does this.
These are just a few of the millions of apps available for pet owners; some are practical and some seem a bit far-fetched. There are apps that play soothing music specifically designed for your pet and his auditory needs, apps that help you become a better pet photographer, and apps that link a wide audience of animal lovers into a social network. Whatever you can imagine —‘there’s an app for that.’ Have I missed any good ones?
Photo by Sarah Jones
Read more articles by Langley Cornwell
Just genius! I am going to check some of these out!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool! Thank you, Langley. We, too, will check these apps out. :)
ReplyDeleteVery good info. Thanks for sharing.We are going to paw at Mom to check them out for us.
ReplyDeleteWe use MapMyWalk for our walks. But this one sounds good too.
Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
You always give such good information!!!
ReplyDeleteI live in Tallahassee Florida. It has been summer here since March. It went from winter right into summer in 2 days. So we have had a very very warm spring but the plants don't know it is spring and they have thought it was summer since the second of March and they have been in overdrive to get things done!!! P;ease come!!!
LOL now I’ve seen everything!! Perhaps those nice people at Apple will one day do apps appropriate for outside the US :)
ReplyDeleteReally nice list. I'll have to download some of these once my data plan resets for next month.
ReplyDeleteI tried some of the ones on the list and some are better than others. Fido Factor seems like a good idea but in our small town it has little to no real effect. Kind of sad really.
Petometer on the other hand is pretty handy. One of our Border Collies was gaining a little too much weight so with that app we could track how much exercise she gets and how much we walk her. Glad to say that she is at a healthy weight now!
Great list & information. I will have to check them out.
ReplyDeleteI love dogs and I am a proud owner of four of them. I found this cool app which lets me share pictures with no hassles of uploading and downloading. The best part is I can choose people with whom I want to share the clicks unlike other websites where everybody can see every others’ upload. I do not feel like uploading every click in FB but I do feel like sharing each one of them with my friends and near ones. I clicked a series of pictures of my dogs being trained and to my surprise the clicks got uploaded as when I clicked my camera. This app provides a constant stream where I can go on adding pictures to the album created. Its really cool and served the purpose tremendously.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend LiveAlbum for all dog lovers for the fun part of it.