How Pupgrade works.

Both. Pupgrade adapts by age bracket (puppy, young, adult, senior) and by the specific problems you pick. Adult and senior owners are an under-served market, most apps are puppy-first and lose users at 6 months. We don't.

We include the standard prevention protocols (add-food-don't-take, sub-threshold desensitization, etc.) but explicitly route serious cases to a credentialed behaviorist. Pupgrade replaces a $3,000 board-and-train, it doesn't replace a board-certified veterinary behaviorist for clinical cases.

Anytime, in two taps. Your progress data stays, if you come back later, your dog's mastery levels are still there. No cancellation friction, no "are you sure" loops.

Treats by default (high-value for new behaviors, kibble for known ones, intermittent reinforcement long-term). Marker word "Yes!" by default; clicker as a power-user option. No food-skepticism dogma, no "treats are bribery" framing.

Each of those is built around one trainer's brand or one feature (Pupford = curriculum, Puppr = celebrity tricks, Dogo = routine). Pupgrade is the only app where the routine, progress tracking, and focus-area taxonomy are wired into a single loop, your 6 PM training block automatically picks the next un-mastered skill from the problems you chose to fix. See the comparison table above.

Yes. The 75-skill curriculum is breed-agnostic on mechanics, sit is sit, recall is recall, and the focus areas cover the behaviors every breed produces. Per-dog adaptivity (planned) will eventually tune recommendations based on how dogs of similar backgrounds actually respond, not based on breed stereotypes.

Modern positive-reinforcement training is more effective than aversive methods (the research is settled), and aversive tools commonly produce fear, redirected aggression, or learned helplessness. Pupgrade rejects them by name. The Sound Toolkit gives you the beeps, tones, and whistles owners reach for in "beep-only" collar modes, built into the app, not strapped to the dog's neck.

Three focus areas of your choice, 25 foundation and starter skills, the daily routine (manual, you pick what to work on each block), read-only access to the Examples Library, and the basic Sound Toolkit (clicker). It's a full enough experience to fix one or two specific problems without paying. Most apps lock everything behind a paywall, we don't.

All 12 focus areas (75+ skills total), the Routine ↔ Progress auto-loop (the actual differentiator, your training blocks auto-pick the next un-mastered skill), the full Sound Toolkit, failure-mode diagnostics with the 6-prompt troubleshooting flow, write access to the Examples Library, multi-dog profiles, and discounts in the vet-curated Shop. $11.99/mo or $89/year.

Pupgraded is a subscription ($11.99/mo or $89/yr). Forever Home is a one-time $199 , same features, but you pay once and own it. Includes future curriculum additions. Worth it if you'll own dogs for the next 3+ years.