Many of us live in increasingly busy times that mean we don’t always have as much free time as we’d like, especially when it comes to finding that spare hour in the day to exercise. Dog owners also need to find the time to take care of their beloved pooch and ensure they’re well cared for and well trained. Why am I reminding you of all these responsibilities? Because, fortunately, there’s an app that combines the two!

It’s called Thank Dog! and it comes from the people behind Thank Dog! Bootcamp, an exercise bootcamp that also ensures your dog is well trained.

The bootcamp routine is the brainchild of Jill and Jamie Bowers. Jill Bowers explained it better than us when we asked her how it all came about: “I’ve been a dog trainer for 11 years and during that time, I became 40 pounds overweight. I have a Doberman who loves to exercise and when I decided to finally lose the weight, I joined a bootcamp. I got so into the bootcamp style workout, got trained for a fitness dvd due to my success story of losing 40 pounds. My poor pup didn’t get the exercise she needed (she got a little hefty after a while too, ha!) because my dedication to my own fitness regime made me too tired. So, long story short, I needed to change that and created the nation’s first obedience and fitness bootcamp for dogs and owners.”

The bootcamp has been a great success with Jill taking personal training certification and working with a bootcamp instructor to ensure the class was perfect for both dog and owner alike. As Jill knows, “dogs learn faster with repetition and consistency” as well as while having fun so classes were “made up of 10 min intervals and it’s a total of 30 minutes of cardio and 30 min of strength training”. Jill’s own dog, Quinn, is now “the most exercised dog on the planet”, thanks to this, as you can see from the photo.

The next logical step after setting up the bootcamp was to create an app in the form of Thank Dog! Mobile.

Currently available for free, with additional content unlockable for $2.99, the app combines cardio training, strength training and the all important dog training. It’s all exactly how things would be if you attended the Thank Dog! urban bootcamp.

Users are taught through 20 1 hour routines to exercise at the same time as training their dog important obedience commands, while still having fun, of course. A resistance band is required alongside the app but that’s all that’s needed to get fitter. Exercises include things such as doing shoulder presses while commanding your dog to stay or jogging while ensuring your lovably mutt is staying near your heel.

It all sounds like a fantastic idea to me and Dog Whisperer himself Cesar Milan has also backed the program. Why not give it a go for yourself? Let us know how you – and your doggie – get on!

$0.99

Thank Dog! Mobile

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-08-06 :: Category: Healthcare & Fitness

Canadian-based Incubator Games recently announced that its upcoming iOS match three puzzle Feeding Time will be available sometime in March for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices. Introducing cute and furry little critters such as kitties, doggies and bunnies, the game’s trailer reveals that the game is not a traditional match three puzzle. Instead of getting rid of like objects and more filling in from the top, Feeding Time allows players to attack from all sides. The video also seems to point towards huge bonuses since pets can eat bones or carrots from either side.

And instead of matching blue blocks with blue blocks, players must utilize the game’s intuitive eating mechanic where players match various animals with their favorite snacks. For example, dogs can only eat bones and cats can only eat fish. Players will also be able to challenge their friends on the global leaderboards and if they’re lucky, no pet will go hungry again.

Dogs are great. Cuddly, sweet, faithful and never judgemental. How intelligent are they though? Dog fans may now be able to figure out this very important question thanks to a new app by the name of Dog IQ.

According to the app, dogs have different kinds of intelligence just like humans do. These types are: problem solving ability, social intelligence, awareness, sense and the ability to learn and adapt. Dog IQ helps determine how mentally adept the user’s dog is by providing a well rounded overview of all of these types.

Each test offered by the app consists of 11 simple and fun questions testing the above abilities. Taken from a pool of 30 questions, there’s enough room for trying the test numerous times. Indeed it’s encouraged with a history page allowing users to monitor their dog’s performance over time.

Dog IQ looks to be a fun entertainment app to finally see if dogs really are smart or not. It’s out now priced at $0.99.

$0.99

Dog IQ

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-09-17 :: Category: Lifestyle