Technology has completely changed the way we live and how we interact with the world. This is even true when it comes to our pets. Apps on our smartphones can make it easier than ever to order our dog’s treats, line up veterinarian visits, or even find someone to watch our dogs while we spend a weekend away.

This year, there are more apps for dog owners than ever before. Granted, they may not all be worth having! But we’ve scoured the internet and found the best of the best, which is what you’re about to see on this list. The following 26 apps are absolute must-haves for dog owners. These apps will simplify and improve your life, helping you to spend more quality time with your beloved canine.

Pet Care Apps

1. Pet First Aid

Created by the American Red Cross, the Pet First Aid app for dog owners helps you take care of any emergencies your pet might encounter. If you have an emergency, the app will give you step by step instructions for how to handle it. It will also help you locate the nearest animal hospitals to ensure your dog gets the care needed. If you’re traveling, you can also use this app to help locate pet-friendly hotels. Furthermore, you can set vet visits, create pet profiles, and identify toxic substances that your dog shouldn’t eat.

2. PetDesk

This app’s goal is to help your dog live a longer, healthier, happier life; the same thing you want. It helps you manage your pet’s health and simplifies your pet’s care by tracking everything in one place. It keeps track of your vet appointments, helps you find new pet care providers, and syncs with your calendar to provide reminders and important messages.

3. 11Pets

11Pets was built with one purpose in mind: to simplify your pet’s care. It keeps track of appointments, medication schedules, vaccinations, and more all in one convenient place. You’ll also get automatic reminders for important things like remembering to administer medication or set up important vet appointments.

4. PetCoach

Thanks to PetCoach, you can ask a vet anything you want at any time right through this convenient app. On the other side are certified US veterinarians, pet nutritionists, and other experts to answer your dog-related health questions. There’s also a massive ask and answer section with thousands of questions that you can search through to find the solution to any problem you’re currently having with your canine. Plus, you’ll find hundreds of informative articles on topics that dog owners will find helpful. Altogether, it’s one of the pet apps you won’t want to be without this year.

5. Pawprint

This all-in-one pet health tracker keeps all of your metrics together, simplifying your pet care. You can even get official medical records from your veterinarian through the Pawprint app. This makes it easy when your dog needs care in the future since you’ll always have all of their medical records at the tip of your fingers. This app also keeps track of all of your dog’s vaccinations, medications, and vet visits so you don’t have to write it all down and hope you don’t lose the paper!

6. iKibble

Has your dog ever eaten something that you thought was toxic? The worry can make you sick and it can be difficult to find out the right information. But with iKibble, that’s all in the past. This app will tell you whether the stuff your dog just ate was toxic or safe. It’s got hundreds of different foods listed, so you’re likely to find whatever it is that your pooch got into! You can also use it to see if it’s ok to feed your dog certain foods that you might be unsure of. Unfortunately, this one’s available on iPhone only.

Dog Tracking Apps

7. Whistle

Whistle is an app and a collar that allows you to easily track your dog’s whereabouts. If you happen to have a canine escape artist, then you’ll benefit greatly from the collar that will always let you know where your dog is. Just pull up the smartphone app and you’ll see your dog’s location marked on the map. This one’s a bit pricey though since you have to pay for a collar and a subscription. But if you want to ensure you never lose your beloved dog, then this app is invaluable.

8. Tractive

You’ll have to purchase the Tractive tracker for your dog if you want to use this app, but after that, there are no subscription fees to worry about! With the app, you can see your dog’s location on the map in real-time so you never lose them. The battery on the tracker lasts for up to 5 days and you can always see how much life is remaining through the app. You can even map a safe zone such as your backyard so that you’ll get alerted whenever your dog enters or exits the safe zone which makes it one of the best apps for dog owners.

9. Animal-ID

If your pup is an escape artist, you’ll want to consider the Animal-ID digital passport. This app has a lot of handy features, including the ability to register your dog’s microchip information and keep track of your dog’s medical information and calendar. If your dog wanders off, you can activate a lost pet alert. When someone scans the QR code on the dog tags, they’ll see your contact information — and you’ll see the GPS location. Pretty cool, right?

Apps to Find Dog Watchers and Walkers

10. Rover

Kennels can be expensive and are often fully booked when you have to plan that last-minute trip and need someone to watch your dog. But with Rover, those days are done. Using this app, you can easily locate a local who will be happy to watch your dogs for the duration of your trip. And it’s usually much more cost-effective than a kennel and your dog will be in better conditions. Rover also offers dog walking in case you’re unable to get out and give your pooch the exercise it needs.

11. Wag

Have you ever needed someone to stop by your house and let your dog out when you got held up and weren’t able to make it? Or was there ever a time you needed someone to watch your dog while you left on a sudden important trip? Although those used to be very difficult situations to contend with, they’re now much simpler thanks to Wag. With this app, you can schedule anything you need for your dog such as a pet sitter, a walker, or even just someone to stop by and let the dog out. And you’ll be able to see your walker on GPS so you can ensure your dog gets the exercise needed.

12. TrustedHousesitters

With 24/7 support, TrustedHousesitters is the app that makes it simple to find someone to watch your dog and your home overnight. The app helps you find qualified sitters that you can trust at a moment’s notice. And since you can do it all right from your smartphone, it couldn’t be more convenient. You can message potential sitters right through the app, making it easy to find someone to watch your dog and/or home just once, or as a regular thing.

13. Pawshake

Finding adequate accommodations for your canine can sometimes be the most frustrating part of planning a trip. But with Pawshake, it no longer has to be. This app has a large and continuously growing base of trustworthy pet sitters that have all been thoroughly vetted to ensure that your pet is in good hands. You can also read detailed profiles on every potential sitter before making your choice, even reading about their qualifications and read reviews that other users have written about each individual sitter. Best of all, there’s no subscription fee or booking fee when using Pawshake.

14. DogHero

Finding somewhere to board your dog can be an uncomfortable task. Many boarding facilities are uninviting and don’t look like the most comfortable accommodations for your dog. But with DogHero, you can find the perfect private boarder near you where your dog will get all the comforts of home, in someone else’s home. The best thing about this app is its deep vetting process; less than 20% of potential sitters get approved. And the ones that do make it have a great track record: 98% of DogHero’s sitter’s reviews are 5 stars.

Dog Training Apps

15. Puppr

Celebrity dog trainer Sara Carson teaches over 70 lessons the Puppr app, helping you to train your dog from the most basic of commands to more advanced obedience training. There’s no need to go hire an expensive trainer and travel to their facility three times a week to train your dog. With the Puppr app, you can simply pick what you want to teach your dog, watch the training module, and then train your dog in the comfort of your home.

16. iTrainer Dog Whistle and Clicker

One common method for dog training employs a clicker or whistle as an alert to the dog that you want a behavior to stop or continue. But most clickers have just one or two sounds available and they’re an extra device that you have to carry around with you everywhere that you want to train your dog. But with the iTrainer Dog Whistle and Clicker, things are suddenly more convenient. This app has over 40 different sounds to choose from, including loads of different clickers, squeakers, and a whistle with a variable frequency you can customize. The bad news: only iPhone users will have access to iTrainer.

17. DOGO

This app is your all-inclusive training tool for teaching your dog over 100 different tricks. The app will provide you with a personalized training program to follow that will allow you to reach your goals in record time. From obedience training to impressive tricks, this app has it all. You can even take videos of your dog performing the different commands and get feedback from professional trainers. And if you have any problems or concerns, that professional help is always available at the touch of a button.

18. Tracking-Dog

Do you train dogs to track with you on the hunt? It’s a difficult thing to do, but like many things, technology can make it easier. The Tracking-Dog app aims to help simplify the process of training a dog to track. It records your dog’s movement through GPS, tracks the items they’ve found, saves tracks you’ve done together, and more. If you’re training a dog to track, the tiny fee you’ll pay for this app will repay itself many times over.

Dog Travel Apps

19. Bring Fido

If you’ve ever brought your dog along on a vacation before, then you know how difficult it can be to find pet-friendly attractions, accommodations, and everything else. But Bring Fido simplifies the entire experience by gathering all the pet-friendly resources you could hope for into one simple smartphone app. You can find all the best local attractions that are welcoming to dogs. Plus, you can find, research, review, and even book pet-friendly hotels right from the app! Bringing Fido has never been easier.

20. SpotOn.pet

Ridesharing services have been around for quite a while now, but most ride-share drivers aren’t interested in having your dog in their care. This can pose a problem when your pooch is in tow and you really need to go! Thankfully, SpotOn.pet has created a solution. This ride-sharing app uses only drivers who are willing and wanting to pick up you and your pet together. Many of these drivers will even have pet-specific amenities like carriers and safety harnesses.

21. BarkHappy

This is a location-based app that will show you all the dog-friendly locations near you. You can use it to find parks, stores, bars, restaurants, hotels, and more; all that are welcoming to your dog. You’ll even be able to take a look at each place’s pet policies and amenities so you never have to guess what you’re taking your pet into. Plus, you can connect with other dogs nearby by creating a profile, effectively making this social media for the canine-obsessed!

Dog Community Apps

22. Dig

Are you looking for a significant other that loves dogs as much as you do? Does your partner need to be as in love with your dog as they are with you? If so, then Dig is the app for you. This is the app that lets dog lovers and their pooches meet, mingle, and connect. If you’ve been having a hard time finding a soulmate who meets not just your standards but your dogs as well, then Dig might be the app to finally help you find love.

23. Dogs ‘n’ Parks

Now there’s an app to not only help you locate dog-friendly parks where your pooch can play, but it will also help you to find other playmates for your pup! You can arrange to meet at the park and see how your dog gets along with others. Then, you can take notes and even set the app to give you notifications when dogs you like or don’t are going to be at the park so you can plan accordingly.

24. Meet My Dog

Meet My Dog is the ultimate social media app for dog lovers. You can use it to meet other dog owners and dogs that are a perfect match for you and your pooch. Use the app to find dog-friendly parks, see who’s there, share photos of your dog, and even chat with other dog owners through the app. And with the newsfeed, you’ll always be in the loop about local dog happenings that you won’t want to miss!

Miscellaneous Dog Apps

25. Dog Scanner

Have you ever seen a dog and wondered what it was? If you have, then the Dog Breed Scanner app is for you. This app allows you to take a picture of a dog so the app can scan it and identify what breed it is. With a library of 167 different dog breeds, you’ll likely find the one you’re looking for!

26. Human-to-Dog Translator

How often do you look at your dog and wonder what they’re trying to tell you or what they’re thinking? If you find yourself wondering this often, then you might want to try the Human-to-Dog Translator app that will help you finally figure out exactly what your dog is feeling. This app will help you identify your dog’s mood through facial expressions and body language to bring you closer to your best friend than ever before.

Final Thoughts

This year, pet care is easier than ever before. Whether you need to book a vet visit or a hotel you can find an app that will make it easy. From training your dog to getting professional veterinarian assistance, it’s never been convenient to care for your pet because now you can do it all from your couch with these time-saving and invaluable must-have apps. Hopefully, these have helped to simplify your life and give you more quality time with your beloved dog.

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• 7 Best Apps to Stop Your Dog From Barking
• 7 Best Dog Walking Apps & Websites – Reviews & Comparisons

Featured Image Credit: Dean Drobot, Shutterstock