5 Best Pet Apps For Breeders To Check Out

There’s so much work that goes into raising a litter of puppies — from the moment a dam is pregnant all the way up to delivering the dogs to their forever homes. Luckily, technology has come a long way over the last decade to aid in the process. There are a plethora of smartphone-based pet apps that give breeders assistance on everything from tracking growth to buying kibble.

In addition to apps, there are online resources available for breeders. One of the best resources for breeders seeking to establish their legitimacy is Responsible Pet Breeders. Members of this site are considered to be the most ethical and responsible breeders in the United States.

Here is our list of the five best pet apps for breeders to use while raising a litter of puppies.

5. Breedera — Breeder Diary App

Breedera is an app with multiple functions. For puppies, this includes tracking weight, feeding times, treatments and estimate whelp dates. For adult dogs, it helps breeders plan heat cycles. The app can seriously cut down on the time you spend filling out spreadsheets and paperwork, giving you more time to spend with your dogs!

Features

For Planning a Litter:

• Heat cycle calculator — the app allows you to log and forecast your bitch’s heat cycles and a visual countdown ensures you don’t miss any important dates.
• Mating logs — you can create detailed records of matings, including tie dates, notes and an estimated whelp date
• Dog health management — the app makes it easy to log weights, temperatures, diet, treatments and more.

When Expecting a Litter:

• Pregnancy countdown — track your dam’s progress with all information stored in a central, secured location.
• Dam health management — monitor physical changes in your dam and share data with your vet.
• Waitlist management — the app helps you monitor your adoptee waitlist so you know your puppies are going to the right now.

Benefits

• Breedera helps you track each puppy and share data with potential customers.
• It’s a quick reference on how the animals are progressing. This comes in handy when you are working with prospective buyers and want to give them an update.
• Using a litter diary app shows you’re a responsible breeder and you care about the well-being of the puppies.

Price

The basic version of the app is free to use and has no in-app purchases. However, for the full experience Breedera has a “Complete” tier which costs around $12 a month or $130 for an annual plan.

Takeaway

Sometimes pet apps can become overwhelming with too many unnecessary or redundant menus and information. We love Breedera because it’s easy to use and has a simple interface with only the most important and necessary features. It’s particularly helpful for breeders tracking their litter’s first 12 weeks of life.

4. Red Cross Pet First Aid — On-the-Go Health Reference

In addition to an app for human first aid, Red Cross’s Pet First Aid App is a comprehensive reference guide for any of your health questions or concerns. It’s a one-stop shop with everything you need to know about keeping your puppies happy and healthy.

Features

Prepare

The Prepare section includes informative guides on a variety of subjects including:

• Preventative Care and Well-Being
• Spaying and Neutering
• Travel Guides

Learn

This section includes educational topics like “Know What’s Normal.” There’s information on how to check the dog’s breathing rate, its capillary refill time and determining if a dog is dehydrated.

The rest of the Learn section provides specific information on various issues that can arise in pets like allergic reactions, blood sugar emergencies, choking, heart emergencies and poisoning.

Emergency

The Emergency section includes helpful tools like a vet hospital locator and allows you to program your vet’s phone number. This section is a bit redundant with the Learn section because it includes the same emergency first aid guides.

Quizzes

This section tests your knowledge with quizzes on bite wounds, bleeding, blood sugar emergencies, CPR, heat related issues and treating shock.

Pets

The Pets section is customizable and allows you to add each of your pets. Each pet profile includes standard information like its name, age, weight and tag ID. You are also able to include medication notes, upcoming vet appointments, vet notes and miscellaneous tips.

Benefits

The main benefit of the Red Cross Pet First Aid is that it’s a one-stop location for everything you need to know about pet health. The emergency tool is helpful when you ship puppies to a customer through a pet transportation service. If necessary, the app can help the driver identify any issues with the puppy while en route and locate a vet hospital.

Price

The Red Cross Pet First Aid app is free to use and has no in-app purchases. It’s available on Google Play and the Apple Store.

Takeaway

The Red Cross app is comprehensive but can be overwhelming to navigate. Once you find what you’re looking for it has lots of great advice and tutorials.

The Pet-Friendly Hotel Locator is a cool feature. It comes in handy when you need to transport the puppies out-of-state using a pet shipping service through a marketplace like CitizenShipper.

3. PetCoach — On-Demand Vet Care

Petco created PetCoach to provide on-demand vet advice for an affordable price. We love that the app doesn’t require a subscription. Instead, you simply pay a one-time fee to get care within a specified period of time.

Features

Though its main function is on-demand vet care, there are several additional features of the PetCoach app:

Education Center

The Education Center has trending articles at the top of the page. Below those articles are guides arranged by section:

• A Questions and Answers area with topics like “Where do ticks hide on dogs?” and “How can I tell if my dog is in pain?”
• Behavior & Training and Health sections feature helpful articles.
• The Nutrition section has weight management recommendations and a Healthy Weight Calculator.
• Can I Give My Pet? discusses what foods are safe and healthy.

Pet Profile

The pet profile includes the pet’s history and can be linked with your vet’s office. The app allows you to set reminders for laboratory work, prescriptions and appointments.

Database of Pet Owner Questions

One of the best features of PetCoach is a section with thousands of pet owner questions that have been answered by vets. It also includes a news feed that auto-populates with articles.

Benefits

The biggest benefit of PetCoach is the advice given by experienced vets. Almost any issue you can think of has been addressed on the app.

Cost

It’s free to use the app and create pet profiles. The Ask a Vet section has two payment options:

• You can chat back and forth with a vet for $20. You can upload multiple photos and will get a response within six hours.
• The other option is to ask a single question for $5. You can include one photo and will get a response within 12 hours.
• The app has a satisfaction-guaranteed policy — if you’re not happy with the service, they offer a refund.
• If you’re a Petco insurance policyholder you can submit unlimited questions and start consultations free of charge.
• Seamless medical record integration is coming soon for Petco insurance policyholders.

The app is available on Google Play and the Apple Store. PetCoach also has a desktop site.

Takeaway

PetCoach is similar to the Red Cross Pet First Aid app. What sets it apart is the ability to speak directly with vets and get a personalized answer to your question.

2. Chewy — Retail Pet Supplies

The Chewy app makes it easy to keep your pet supplies well-stocked. The biggest benefit of this app is its Autoship function. When you sign up to have your pet supplies automatically shipped, you’ll never run out of your favorite dog food or important prescription medications.

Features

Discover

The Discover feature is essentially an online pet supply marketplace. It’s easy to navigate and is broken down by category. You can shop by species or by brand. Our favorite category is “Today’s Deals,” where you can find great discounts on pet products.

Health

The Health feature allows you to sync with your vet. When you sync with your vet, pet prescriptions and diet food/vitamins will be auto-filled and sent to you.

My Pets

The My Pets section is where you create a profile for your pets. You can include details about your furry friends like name, gender and breed. There are sections for medications, allergies and health conditions.

Benefits

Chewy’s biggest benefit is how convenient it makes shopping for your pet. When the pet store is on your phone, you can shop from literally anywhere.

Using the Autoship function, you’ll never have to deal with late-night runs to the store to pick up kibble! Pick your items, set a schedule and the delivery comes right to your door. As an added incentive, Chewy takes 35% off your first Autoship order.

Cost

Chewy is free to download and use. It’s available on Google Play and the Apple Store. It has a desktop site with the same features as the mobile app.

Takeaway

Think of the Chewy app like a digital pet supply store. Raising a litter of puppies is time-consuming and using pet apps like Chewy cuts down on trips back and forth to the store. The app is helpful for breeders in rural areas with limited access to large pet store chains.

1. Whistle — GPS Pet Tracking

Whistle gives you real-time updates on your pet’s health and location. There are three trackers available, each with different functions.

Features

Whistle is different from the other pet apps on our list. It’s not a stand-alone app; it needs to be paired with a physical device that’s placed on the dog. There are currently three Whistle devices:

Whistle Fit

• It is used for dogs of all sizes.
• The device tracks health only and doesn’t have GPS.
• It has a battery life of 20 days and is waterproof up to six feet.
• The tracker monitors licking, scratching, sleeping and drinking, and tracks distance traveled, active minutes and calories burned.
• It provides a weekly activity report and monthly stats.

Go Explore

• It is designed for dogs over 25 pounds.
• It tracks health and has GPS.
• The device has a battery life of 15 days and is waterproof up to three feet.
• The tracker monitors licking, scratching, sleeping and drinking, and tracks distance traveled, active minutes and calories burned.
• It provides a weekly activity report and monthly stats.
• The device has GPS tracking using AT&T network and Google Maps, plus escape alerts.

Whistle Switch

• It fits dogs that are as small as five pounds and larger.
• This device tracks health and has GPS.
• It boasts 24/7 battery life.
• The device is waterproof up to six feet.
• The tracker monitors licking, scratching, sleeping and drinking, and tracks distance traveled, active minutes and calories burned.
• It provides a weekly activity report and monthly stats.
• The device has GPS tracking using AT&T network and Google Maps, plus escape alerts.

Benefits

The main benefit of Whistle is how easy it makes it to track your puppies. The app and devices are helpful for digitally tracking the animals’ vitals and activity. Trackers with GPS ensure you know where the puppies are at any time.

Cost

Each model has a different subscription cost:

Fit

• $64.95 for the device with a subscription that costs $59.40 annually

Go Express

• $129.95 for the device with a subscription that costs $99.00 annually

Switch

• $179.95 for the device with a subscription that costs $99.00 annually

The app is free to download and available in the Apple Store and Google Play.

Takeaway

Using Whistle for health and GPS tracking shows potential buyers you’re serious about the well-being of your litter. The downside of this app is that it can be pricey to use a tracker on every puppy in the litter.

Conclusion

It’s difficult when you have out-of-state buyers that can’t travel to pick up their new puppy. In these cases, you’ll have to use a pet transporter. Cost is certainly one factor to consider, but more importantly you need to trust that the transporter knows how to ship puppies.

CitizenShipper is the best choice for these circumstances for several reasons:

• It’s free and easy to post a shipment on CitizenShipper.
• You can communicate directly with drivers to confirm every detail about the shipment.
• CitizenShipper is the only transportation service that offers a pet protection plan.
• It’s the safest, most reliable option because drivers are pre-screened, feedback-rated and background-checked.
• Because the drivers bid against each other for your business, you’ll save a significant amount of money compared with traditional pet shipping businesses.

Log onto CitizenShipper and create a free listing for shipping your puppy today!