23 SepThis new app will make your dog steal your iPad

Our friend Laura Tallardy designed a new app, App For Dog, based on the work we've been doing at School For The Dogs teaching dogs to manipulate iPads with their noses. The app has three parts to it. One turns the screen into two buttons. These can be programed to say anything: Yes/No, Right/Left, Eat/Sleep, whatever. You can teach your dog to touch the part of the screen where the button you want them to push is, or, with some effort, you can even teach them to recognize the words. Or you could just set it to Yes/No and have them touch where they will in order to answer important questions about how you should lead your life.

Another part of the app turns the entire screen into a clicker. This is useful for teaching “touch.” Usually, when we teach a dog to touch something with their nose, we (the humans) click when the touch happens, then follow it with a reward. This takes some timing on the part of the trainer. The app registering the “touch” for you with a click takes some of the work out of the job.

Lastly the app has a painting function. Here, a flash of color registers on the screen whenever your dog makes contact with it. The result is clearly high art.

App For Dog is available in iTunes and Google Play, and also on Amazon and Kindle,and the Nook.