From responsibilities and training to food allowance and meal planning, these free tools for dog owners make it easier to be a good pet parent for your furry companion.
A dog is a man's best friend, but once you invite one into your home, that best friend needs taking care of. You have to understand their needs, figure out their behaviors, and ensure healthy growth. Whether you're a first-time pet owner or not, these apps, sites and ebooks all help in different aspects of how to take care of your dog, and even have fun together.
1. DogLog (Android, iOS): Track Your Pet's Activities as a Family
DogLog is an app for pet owners to note all the important information about their dog, get reminders about things like vet appointments, and log daily or weekly activities. You can even add family members to create a "pack" who takes care of the dog.
Create and log events like food, treat, walk, poop, pee, grooming, medicine, training, and so on. In packs, the person who adds the event to the app will be credited with having done it. Of course, you can take photos and share them, between your pack or to your Feed where anyone can see it.
You can even track your pet's weight and temperature as they grow and age, and log their vitals. All these statistics are available in the main profile, if you or the vet needs to analyze it.
DogLog also includes reminders. The free version allows for up to three pets. It's handy to have one app installed on the phones of everyone in a family or house so that the pup's needs are attended to.
Download: DogLog for Android | iOS (Free)
2. Pet Expertise's Dog Training (PDF): Free Ebook to Teach Basic Dog Behaviors
Having a dog is a responsibility not to be taken lightly. If you're a new pet parent, or even adopting a new puppy after having some before, go through this free ebook by Pet Expertise. It talks about the basics of taking care of a dog, how to teach it to behave, and other important dog-raising information.
The book starts with unlearning what you think you know about dogs, and making you realize what your pet needs from you. This includes things like clicker training, treats, socializing the puppy, and other information you need to know before you start training.
The second section is all about teaching your dog the basic things that every dog needs: name response, come, drop, leave, sit, stay, and leash manners. Finally, you can move on to solutions for common problem behavior like nipping and house-training.
It's only 35 pages, yet Pet Expertise's free dog training ebook covers everything you'll need to know in a succinct manner. And if you need more than this, check out the best free online dog training courses to teach your pup tricks and behavioral cues.
Download: Pet Expertise's Dog Training Guide (PDF)
3. Dog Food Calc (Web, Android, iOS): Create a Meal Plan for Your Dog or Cat
Dog Food Calc is a robust meal planning app for dogs and cats. It recommends following raw-food diets like BARK or Prey and is primed for that, but you can just as easily use it for cooked items.
Use the web app to begin as it's the easiest to set up a plan for your dog. Choose the items you are going to feed the dog and the quantities of each. Then set how many times a week these will feature in your pet's meal. It's a little tedious to do this process the first time, having to add and delete items for each meal. That's why we recommend doing it on the desktop site.
Once you're done, Dog Food Calc will determine the nutrition your dog is getting, split across several sub-categories such as protein, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Change quantities as per the nutritional requirements of the dog.
The shopping list tab creates an instant weekly list of items you need to buy based on the meal plan you chose. The feeding plan gives you a meal-by-meal rundown of all meals in the week. If you set it up well, Dog Food Calc could quickly become one of the essential apps for dog owners.
Download: Dog Food Calc for Android | iOS (Free)
4. What Foods Can My Dog Eat? (Web): Safe Foods and Drinks for Dogs
You may have set up a regular meal plan for your dog, but let's face it, those furry beasts aren't going to stick to it. When you have a snack, they're going to sit in front of you, making puppy eyes and licking their lips. But is it safe for you to share the snack with a dog?
What Foods Can My Dog Eat (WFCMDE) is a simple website to search for an item. If it's allowed, the page will turn green, banned items turn it red, and ambiguous items are yellow. For each type, you'll get a small snippet of information about the safety and the harmful effects. For example, yogurt is allowed in a moderate amount, while seedless pumpkin is fine but not pumpkin pie filling.
You can quickly browse WFCMDE's entire list of ingredients and common questions about what dogs can and can't eat or drink. All of the information is sourced from the ASPCA, so it's reliable. In fact, turn the site into an app, it'll be a resourceful bookmark to refer to. And if you have a cat, check out the sister site What Foods Can My Cat Eat?
5. What Is My Dog's Birthdays? (Web): Calculate Your Dog's Seven Birthdays a Year
They say dog years are seven times that of a human year. But then it stands to reason that you should be celebrating seven birthdays for your furry friend, not one. What Is My Dog's Birthdays (WIMDB) is a fun little app to calculate all seven birthdays in a year.
Just key in your dog's name and their birthdate (or their "gotcha date" if you adopted them at a later age). The app spits out the next seven birthdays for your dog, including the date you provided. You can also add an email reminder to get a notification a week before any birthday.
Make a Doggie Apps Folder on Your Phone
This variety of apps will enable you to quickly find reliable information for your dog or capture great moments. Any pet owner knows how dogs can instantly turn into a streak of lightning, so don't waste time searching for apps.
A simple tip is to create a homescreen folder for these dog-friendly apps on your phone. It'll keep everything within reach whenever you need it.
