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Updated November 10, 2026

DogLife: the BitLife game where you live as a dog

DogLife is the BitLife spin-off where you live as a dog. See the price, how aging works, tricks, breeds, adoption, puppies, and CatLife.

Lifesim, Inc.

What is DogLife in BitLife?

DogLife is a separate app from Candywriter, the studio that makes BitLife. Its full name on the App Store is “BitLife Dogs - DogLife”. You live the life of a dog, from puppy to old age, in the same text style as BitLife. It is not a mode inside BitLife. You download it on its own.

The App Store calls it “an all-new text life simulator from the makers of BitLife”. You can start as a family pet, a street dog, a shelter mutt, or a purebred puppy from a pet store. The store page names breeds such as Labradors, French bulldogs, German shepherds, golden retrievers, corgis, and Huskies.

The first version in the App Store history, version 1.0, is dated November 2, 2021. GamingOnPhone also reported a November 2021 release. The app is on iPhone, iPad, and Apple silicon Macs, and GamingOnPhone says that it is on Android too.

New to the main game? Read what BitLife is first. This guide covers the dog spin-off only.

Is DogLife free?

Yes. DogLife is free to download. It has ads and four in-app purchases. The US App Store listed these prices when we checked on November 10, 2026:

PurchasePriceWhat it does
Top Dog$4.99Unlocks the breed picker, free trick practice, and the editor for hidden stats
Dog Lover$2.99Lets you pick a dog breed
Cat Lover$2.99Lets you pick a cat breed
Time Machine$0.99The store page lists the name and the price only

Older guides give lower prices. Levelwinner listed about $3 for Top Dog in February 2022. Prices change, so check the store page before you buy. The breed and trick details in the table come from the Levelwinner and Gamezebo guides.

BitLife has a similar model. Our guide Is BitLife free? compares the BitLife purchases.

How do you play DogLife?

You tap Age to move your dog forward in time, read the events, and pick your answers. Each tap of Age moves your dog 3 months, not 1 year as in BitLife. Levelwinner and GamingOnPhone both report this. A dog life is short in years, so each age step is smaller.

The stats

The main screen shows four bars: Happiness, Health, Cuteness, and Love. Cuteness takes the place of Looks in BitLife. The game also keeps hidden stats. Levelwinner lists Discipline, Smarts, Willpower, Karma, Aggression, Respect, and Craziness, among others. Top Dog lets you edit some of the hidden stats, but not Love, Aggression, Respect, or Craziness.

Where your dog lives

A dog life starts in one of four places: a household, the street, a shelter, or a pet store. Each place gives different events. Levelwinner notes that only shelters have riots. A dog in a household can try to escape through a padlock mini-game.

What replaces jail

Animal Control replaces jail. If your dog bites or kills a person, Animal Control usually takes it. Levelwinner says that a dog that kills a person will likely be put down.

Systems that BitLife does not have

DogLife adds a Scent Database and a Dominance Hierarchy. The hierarchy ranks your dog against other animals, from Omega up to Alpha. Charlie Intel also lists the In Heat mechanic as new compared with BitLife.

How do you get adopted in DogLife?

Start in a shelter if you want a home fast. When a visitor comes, use Tricks or Attention to show yourself. Then use puppy-dog eyes or nuzzle the visitor. Tryhard Guides lists these steps.

  1. Start a new life and pick the shelter, or wait until your dog ends up in one.
  2. Train a trick as soon as the game allows it. See the next section.
  3. When a visitor shows interest, pick Tricks or Attention.
  4. Follow with puppy-dog eyes or a nuzzle.

A street dog has a harder time. Tryhard Guides suggests that you train tricks and age up, and wait for a person to notice you.

How do you teach your dog tricks in DogLife?

Open Activities and pick Tricks. Gamezebo says that tricks unlock at about 6 months of age. Each practice costs one video ad, unless you own Top Dog. The game caps the number of practices at each age, so you master a trick over several age steps.

Gamezebo lists 14 tricks:

  • Shake Hands, Roll Over, Speak, Play Dead, Spin Around
  • Wave, Give a Kiss, Beg, Bow, Give Hugs
  • Fist Bump, High Five, Twerk, Sing

You can master more than one trick in one life. A trick also helps when a shelter visitor comes, as the section above shows.

Can you pick your breed or play as a cat in DogLife?

Yes, but only with a purchase. A free life gives you a random breed. To pick a dog breed, you need Top Dog or Dog Lover. To pick a cat breed, you need Top Dog or Cat Lover. Gamezebo counted 59 breeds in November 2021: 43 dog breeds and 16 cat breeds, with Mutt among them.

So yes, you can play as a cat in DogLife. Levelwinner says that you can live as a dog or a cat. Version 1.5 also added Custom Pets, so you can add your own real pets to the game. The App Store version notes list it.

Some App Store reviews complain about the breed paywall. Players asked for a free breed pick and for the choice of a female dog.

Can your dog have puppies, and how does a DogLife life end?

Yes. Your dog can mate and have a litter of puppies or kittens. Gamer Tweak lists 60 achievements. Three of them are about age and family:

  • Birthing Company: give birth to a litter of 3.
  • Fertile Furball: have 30 offspring in one lifetime.
  • Quarter-centenarian: live to 25.

A dog with 0% Health is critically injured. Animal Control can also end a life, as the section above shows. We found no page that confirms that you can continue as your puppy after death, as you can with a child in BitLife.

Ribbons

Version 1.5 added ribbons, the same end-of-life labels as in BitLife. Levelwinner counts 23 ribbons. Examples are Ordinary, Wasteful, Bad Dog, Alpha, Omega, Fertile, Killer Dog, and Unlucky. A dog that is put down young gets Wasteful. For the BitLife list, see every BitLife ribbon.

Is DogLife the same as CatLife?

Almost. CatLife is a second spin-off from Candywriter. Its full name is “BitLife Cats - CatLife”, and its version 1.0 is dated January 3, 2022. It has the same model: free, with Top Cat at $4.99, Time Machine at $0.99, and Cat Lover and Dog Lover at $2.99 each.

One App Store review of CatLife says that it “IS DogLife, just a few different options and more ads.” Because DogLife already lets you play as a cat, most players need only one of the two apps. Pick DogLife if you want dogs first. Pick CatLife if you want cats first.

People who ask for a sequel often mean these two apps. Our page Is there a BitLife 2? covers that question.

How is DogLife different from BitLife?

FeatureDogLifeBitLife
You playA dog or a catA person
One tap of Age3 months1 year
Looks statCutenessLooks
PunishmentAnimal ControlPrison
Main goalsA home, tricks, rank in the pack, puppiesA career, money, a family, fame
Main purchaseTop DogBitizenship and God Mode

A dog has no job, no school, and no bank account. So a DogLife run is shorter and simpler than a BitLife run. Players who enjoy the BitLife careers and crimes may find DogLife thin. Players who want a light, funny game in short sessions often prefer it.

For more BitLife detail, see BitLife God Mode and how to play BitLife on a PC.

Is DogLife okay for kids?

The US App Store rates DogLife 16+, for frequent mature or suggestive themes. A dog can mate, fight, bite people, and be put down. Parents who want the details can read our guide to the BitLife age rating. The main app has a similar rating for similar reasons.

DogLife has a 4.6 out of 5 average from 63 thousand ratings on the US App Store.

Is there a dog life simulator with more depth?

DogLife is the best known text dog life simulator, and it is free. If you want a pet inside a bigger life, the big life sims have pets. Read how to get a pet in The Sims 4, Paralives pets, and Does inZOI have pets?.

LifeSim, the game we make, does not let you play as a dog. You play a person in a real city. You can adopt a pet from an animal shelter and look after it. If you want to be the dog, stay with DogLife.

If BitLife and DogLife feel like the same choices again and again, our list of games like BitLife has other options. Our page on LifeSim as a BitLife alternative says where our game fits and where it does not.

More BitLife guides

Sources

New to life sims? Read what a life simulator is, or play LifeSim, a free online life simulator on a real map of Earth.

Sims 4 database

Look it up in the Sims 4 database, read from the game files: cheats, traits, careers, moodlets, deaths, packs, challenges, recipes, popular mods, pack finder, and the death odds calculator.

Step by step: all Sims 4 how-to guides.

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