"People Will Post Off-Topic On The Tricks Sections And Get Upset"

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Service journalism on the internet was a genre I sort of ignored until it was gone. Today Kelly Conaboy did something useful and reviewed the various apps that exist for training your dog. My problem is that my dog generally wants to do what I want her to do, and she isn't very motivated by food. Anyway I thought about using an app and this is what I needed to read about it.

The sleek Puppr app comes with a virtual clicker, a tool used in dog training to audibly reinforce positive behaviors. Its primary free offering is trick tutorials, which are separated into categories (“basics,” “useful,” and “charming,” among others) and which reviewers typically praise. (Though the praise — “I love this app and it has helped me so much!” — is frequently coupled with a complaint about the community sections, like “People will post off-topic on the tricks sections and get upset if you try to inform them on the rules and report you”.) GoDog is somewhat heavy-handed monetarily; it has some free computer-generated trick tutorials, but the user is constantly reminded that they could get more with in-app purchases. 

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“If you're using an app to teach your dog to sit, stay, lie down — that's one thing,” DeWillems said. “But I definitely don't recommend apps for more severe issues, anything that goes more into the behavior-modification realm, like separation anxiety, reactivity, aggression, resource guarding, fear, or generalized anxiety,” she said. “All of those are very, very risky.” 

—Kelly Conaboy, Tap! Swipe! Sit!, Sherwood News

Imagine using an app to try to convince your dog not to maul something! Anyway, helpful stuff.