If you have Amazon Alexa in your home, you already know her many useful applications. What some may not know is that there are tons of Alexa skills for dog owners used through Amazon Echo which can help in your pet's care, health and training.
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What is Amazon Alexa?
Before we dig into Alexa skills for dogs and owners, Alexa is a home virtual assistant created by Amazon.com, primarily used with Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot devices, and their Fire TV stick and Echo Spot.
Amazon Alexa performs voice-based commands and interaction, makes to-do lists, plays music, videos, podcasts and audiobooks, tells weather, news and sports updates, allows shopping through Amazon and more. Many of these applications can be specifically tailored to dog owners.
Currently it's the most popular and best selling item on the site, and the most reviewed, with some devices having over 300,000 reviews. You don't have to buy their most expensive device either, but instead start with Amazon Echo Dot which is cheaper and still allows you to try these Alexa skills for dogs.
16 Alexa Skills for Dogs and Dog Owners
1. Relax My Dog
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“Alexa, Open Relax My Dog”
This is by far the most useful and my favorite among Alexa skills when it comes to dogs and owners. If you have ever been a parent to an anxious pup then you know that sometimes things can get really tough. You may also know that sometimes all your dog needs is some relaxing music to help them to calm down and refocus. That’s exactly what this “Relax My Dog” Alexa skill does, and it's extremely effective.
Once enabled on your device, all you have to do is ask Alexa to “Start Relax My Dog” and she will play relaxing and soothing music that’s specifically designed to calm down your anxious pup (actually, it helps with relaxing people, too). I love that you can use a timer function with this skill so if you know that you’re going to be out of the house for two hours, you can have Alexa play the app for three hours to be sure that it plays for the whole time you are out. They also have a YouTube channel here with more tunes.
How does “Relax My Dog” work and why is it effective? Because sounds and music works similar on dogs as it does on humans. In fact, there's actual scientific data proving how calming music for dogs is effective for anxiety. Samantha has also interviewed the creator of “Relax My Dog” sounds and tunes on her podcast episode here. I recommend you listen to understand better how it works, and enable it on your Amazon Alexa device right way – you know you'll need it sooner or later for calming down your dog.
2. Doggy Doggy
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“Alexa, ask doggy doggy to call the dog with whistle”
If you have shy dogs that prefer to hide when you have company or sleep under furniture, use this skill to call for your dog to come out to play. Doggy doggy is a specially-designed pet call that encourages your lazy pup to get up and release its zoomies upon hearing Alexa's cue. So, if you struggle with getting your Fido's attention, then this skill might be for you.
3. Basic Dog Training Commands
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“Alexa, open Basic dog training commands”
Basic Dog Training Commands isn’t a replacement for actual dog training classes because real classes offer much more than obedience – think about the socialization, too. That said, this free app is perfect for first time dog owners or those new to dog training. It's a great opportunity to start on the very basic canine obedience commands early and to practice them at home between the real dog training classes.
4. Dog Breed Quiz
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“Alexa, Play Dog Breed Quiz”
Whether you are researching which dog breed is best for you and your family before bringing a new dog home or whether you just want to learn more about the different dog breeds in general, this skill can help and it's entertaining to listen to. The Dog Breed Quiz app will test your existing knowledge about dogs and different breeds, then teach you things you didn’t yet know about those and other dog breeds from all over the world. It's fascinating to listen to in your free time.
5. Dog Facts
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“Alexa, tell me a dog fact.”
Speaking of fascinating and educational things to listen to from Alexa, if you’re interested in learning more about the canine species in general, the “Dog Facts” skill is a great place to start. Once installed and activated, this Alexa skill will read off randomly selected dog facts that range from the questions you’ve always wanted to be answered to things you never even knew you wanted to know. For example, do you know why your Poodle curls up when she sleeps? I won't tell you – you'll have to ask your Alexa!
6. Dog Trainer
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“Alexa, start Dog Trainer.”
If you’re getting into Alexa skills for dog training, then Dog Trainer is a quick skill that can assist and help you get started. Dog Trainer for Alexa is a funny and playful way to entertain your dog. Tell the trainer your dog's name. The trainer will then ask the dog to come to him, sit and lay down in front of him. It might need your help the first few times, so go get some treats before starting. Make the dog execute the commands Alexa gives him, and reward him with a treat when he does so. Repeat three to five times, and they will be good on their own.
7. Dog Trivia
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“Alexa, start Dog Trivia”
After you've tried the “Fascinating Dog Facts” skill, you might think you know it all about dogs already. Care to test your knowledge? Then enable Dog Trivia skill – it will test your general dog trivia knowledge to see just how much you know with a series of multiple-choice questions about canines. Our favorite thing about these Alexa skills is that even if you don’t know as much as you thought you did, you still get to learn new dog facts.
8. Dog Challenge
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“Alexa, tell Dog Challenge to play a game”
Dog Challenge is an unusual but fun Alexa skill that helps you to hone your dog knowledge by asking you to guess a dog breed based on a description and that dog’s bark. The game aims to have you guess five dog breeds correctly in a row and if you do, you go down in the Daily Dog Expert Hall of Fame. If you don’t… well, you still learn how to better identify dogs and different breeds without seeing them and, who knows, it may even help you to identify the breeds that make up your lovable mixed breed pup, too.
9. Al the Dog Trainer
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“Alexa, launch Al the dog trainer”
Al the Dog Trainer is an Alexa skill developed by a team from Longoriahaus Dog Training (a Houston-based dog training company) that’s designed to work just as though you had a dog trainer right there to help you tackle your dog’s problem behaviors. To use this skill, just ask the Al dog trainer your dog training question and it gets delivered right to him. From here, Al will work on a solution to your training question that works for you and your dog and you can tune in to his live Facebook show every Wednesday at 8 pm. CT. to get the answer to your question.
Over time, as Al gets more questions from users of the Al the Dog Trainer skill, the skill will be updated and you will get instant access to many of your questions. Basically, the more people use these Alexa skills and participate in questions, the quicker the database grows, making it a free-to-access instant Q&A from a professional dog trainer. I love this idea because it helps you to contribute to the development of a skill and you get to help other dog owners learn how to tackle problem behaviors that you’ve faced before.
10. Dog Summer Safety Tips
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“Alexa, open Dog Summer Safety Tips”
We have already headed out of summer by now, but it’s never too early to start brushing up on your dog summer safety tips for next summer. Developed by RichLin, the skill is activated by simply asking Alexa to “open Dog Summer Safety Tips” and she’ll give you some great tips on how you can keep your dog safer when temperatures start to soar again, how to keep a dog cool and protect from the sun, among many other advice.
Even if you think you already know everything there is to know about summer safety for dogs, this is a good refresher and a great way to teach others who are less receptive to advice how to be a better dog parent.
11. JustAnswer Dog Help
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“Alexa, launch Just Answer Dog Help”
Just Answer is another one of those question and answer veterinary Alexa skills, and it is my second favorite after “MyPetDog” because it provides on-demand answers from skilled dog specialists and veterinarians instead of making you wait for answers or giving you answers pulled from Wikipedia.
Once installed and activated, all you need to do is ask Alexa a question about your dog. Alexa will then scan the skill for the answer to see if it’s already in the database of thousands of professionally answered questions. Don’t get confused thinking that this is a live call-in app or anything of that nature; it’s an archived information app, but it’s still a fabulous one to have on hand when you need answers to dog health related questions.
12. Furbo Dog Camera
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“Alexa, ask Furbo to toss a treat.”
As you can probably guess from the name, unlike some of the other Alexa skills on our list, this feature requires you to have a hardware device (the dog camera) as well as an Alexa powered device at home for the two to work together. If you don’t already have the Furbo HD Treat Tossing Camera, it's one of the best ones out there and they've recently updated it (you can find it here). Our editor-in-chief Samantha has also previously tested and reviewed the Furbo dog camera as well as many other pet cameras here.
Now, once you have the Furbo pet camera already, then the Furbo Dog Camera Skill for Alexa is a great way to expand the camera's features and a perfect way to schedule events throughout the day even when you’re not at home. Once activated, you can ask Alexa to perform actions like “Toss a treat every 30 minutes between 9 am and 5 pm.” You can keep your pup happy while you’re at work and make sure you don’t forget to set up Furbo before you head out – Alexa will do that for you.
13. Big Bark
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“Alexa, Play Big Bark”
We love these types of Alexa skills because they are designed to entertain your dogs at home. Simply ask Alexa to turn Big Bark on and it will play a variety of dog barks that will stimulate your Fido's curiosity. You can get the full experience by using Big Bark on all Alexa devices with a screen, like the Echo Show.
14. DogDays
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“Alexa ask Dog Days How old is my large dog born on January 1, 2010”
Dog Days by Fred Van West is a simple Alexa skill that will help you to be a better dog owner by calculating exactly how old your dog is in human years. Many people think that our dogs age at a rate of seven years per human year, but this just isn’t the case. Our dog's actually age at variable rates depending on their size and breed as well as other variables.
This Amazon Echo app will give you an exact calculation of your dog’s age every time you ask. Once enabled, all you have to do is ask Alexa to “Ask Dog Days how old is my small dog, born on…” and fill in the date with your small dog’s birthday. Of course, you can use medium and large dogs, and some other variables too.
15. LINK AKC
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“Alexa, ask Link Collar to check today's activity”
In order to get use out of the Link AKC Alexa skills, you have to purchase the actual Link AKC smart dog collar. It's not the best of smart dog collars out there and we've previously compared many others to it; however, it's the only one that can be linked with Alexa skills. If you don’t have the collar yet, you can purchase one here for $99.
If you do have the smart dog collar already, all you need to do is install and activate the Alexa skill. From there you can ask a variety of questions pertaining to the data and settings on your dog’s Link AKC collar. For example, you can check on your dog’s daily activity level, find out how many more minutes of activity you need to log with your dog to meet their daily activity goal, you can even find out your dog’s location if your backyard or your house are a little too large or if your mobility is limited.
16. Calm My Dog
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“Alexa, calm my dog.”
The last on our list of useful Alexa skills for dogs and dog owners is another dog-calming app that works wonders on your Fidos at home. With a sound length of 1 hr 32 mins in infinite loops, this skill plays relaxing music to help your dogs and puppies stay calm and sleep peacefully even while you are away from home.
Interestingly, the sound in this Alexa skill is composed by the company's in-house team of producers, which is backed by 8 years of research. To date, their music is used by over 10 million dogs and puppies around the world.
In conclusion, this is similar to a lot of content we publish here on the site, and we love these types of dog Alexa skills especially for families preparing to adopt a new dog and for anyone doing their due diligence before bringing their new dog home.
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