Smidge

Smidge

5-minute dog training

Twenty-nine commands, a hundred and one short lessons, and a clip of every one so you can see it before you try it. Watch, put the phone down, run the reps. Most lessons take under a minute.

Get it on the App Store

iPhone · Free to start · No account, no sign-up

Why five minutes

Dogs trained in brief sessions spread out need fewer repetitions to learn a behaviour, and hold onto it better weeks later, than dogs drilled for longer stretches.

That is the research this app is built on, not a productivity slogan. It is also not a promise that training is over sooner: in the study the spaced group took longer in calendar time. What short sessions buy is fewer reps to get there, better retention, and a habit that survives a real week.

What is in it

Twenty-nine commands in three rings, a hundred and one lessons. The six in orange are free forever.

SitDownLeave itPawNameComeStayStandPlaceSettleDrop itLoose leashTouchWatchWaitTake itHeelFind itFetchUpOffSpinRoll overBowBack upMiddleChin restQuietIn

One lesson, one page

A looping clip of the exact hand movement, the steps in order, the two or three things that usually go wrong, and a button to mark it done. No timers counting at you. No streak to break.

The home screen: today's plan and the skill shelf A lesson page: clip, instructions and tips The library of all twenty-nine skills The plan built from the dog's age

What is free, and what costs

Six skills, free forever

Sit · Down · Leave it · Paw · Name · Come

  • All twenty-eight lessons in those six, not previews of them.
  • No card and no trial. Nothing expires.
  • These are the ones a dog needs to be safe and livable. Come especially, because a recall is what stops a dog going into a road.

Smidge Pro · $12.99/mo

The other twenty-three commands

  • One plan. No annual, no lifetime, no weekly.
  • The price is shown in full before you buy. Nothing is pre-selected.
  • Cancelling is a button in Settings.

The rules it holds to

Reward-based, always

Every method follows LIMA and the Humane Hierarchy. Nothing here asks you to frighten, startle, hurt or physically force a dog, and no lesson puts your hands on a dog to make a behaviour happen.

It says when it is the wrong tool

Biting, guarding food or objects, reactivity, and distress at being left alone are not training problems with app-sized answers. Smidge asks about them first, and points you to a certified professional instead of selling you a lesson. That routing is free and always will be.

Your data stays on your phone

No account, no sign-up, no email address. Your dog's profile and training history are stored on your device and nowhere else, and Delete everything in Settings means it. Works with no signal, which matters in a park.

Any age, and it says so

An eight-week puppy and a nine-year-old rescue do not need the same plan, so Smidge asks your dog's age before it builds one. Adult dogs learn perfectly well, and the app says that rather than implying you missed a window.

Every clip is generated

No dog was filmed for this app. The lessons are illustrated with generated video of one consistent dog, which shows you the mechanism. It is a demonstration, never evidence that a method worked.

Nothing is designed to trap you

No countdown timers, no pre-ticked boxes, no streak built to be broken, and no skill advertising a price it cannot open. A free tier that is actually free is the whole point.