Breed data for owner content

Once you know a pet's breed and life stage, the breed datasets give you something specific to say to its owner every week: a fact about the breed, a health tip, how much exercise suits it now. This guide covers the four datasets most apps start with. Each one is keyed by the same breed ID that breed identification returns.

Dataset	Endpoint	Good for
Characteristics	`GET /breeds/{breed_id}`	Profile pages: size, lifespan, temperament
Facts	`GET /facts/breed/{breed_id}`	Light, shareable content
Health tips	`GET /health-tips/breed/{breed_id}`, `GET /pets/{pet_id}/health-tips`	Breed health advice, with sources
Exercise by life stage	`GET /exercise-by-lifestage/breed/{breed_id}`	Weekly activity guidance that changes as the pet ages

Which datasets your key can read depends on your plan. GET /accounts/features lists what's enabled: facts need full_breed_schema, health tips enable_health_tips, and exercise by life stage exercise_by_lifestage.

Characteristics

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/breeds/115

Weight, height, life span, temperament, origin and breed group. See Breeds for the full response.

Facts

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" "https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/facts/breed/115?limit=5"

Or one at random, for a "did you know" slot that changes each time:

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/facts/breed/115/random

See Facts.

Health tips

By breed:

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/health-tips/breed/115

Or for a specific pet, chosen from its breed, life stage and photos (the pet needs at least one photo):

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/pets/{pet_id}/health-tips

Breed tips come from our curated dataset; add ?include_sources=true to get the citations behind them. The per-pet endpoint mixes those breed tips with tips written for that pet by the model, marked personalised, which have no sources and are not vet reviewed. See Health Tips.

Exercise by life stage

Three stages per breed: Puppy (Kitten for cats), Adult and Senior. Ask for all three, or just the pet's current one:

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thedogapi.com/v1/exercise-by-lifestage/breed/115/stage/Adult

{
  "id": "aB3xY9mK12",
  "breed_id": "115",
  "species_id": "2",
  "lifestage_key": "Adult",
  "lifestage_label": "Adult",
  "age_range": "2-7 years",
  "daily_total": "120 min",
  "sessions_per_day": "2 sessions",
  "intensity": "…",
  "terrain_distance_guide": "…",
  "mental_enrichment": "30-60 min/day - scent work, advanced obedience, agility.",
  "breed_specific_note": "…"
}

Add ?include_sources=true for the citations behind each entry.

The stage names match life_stage from estimated age. The age bands don't quite: estimated age switches to Adult at 12 months for every breed, while each breed's exercise entry has its own age_range (a large breed can stay in Puppy to 15 months). When you have an age in months, compare it to age_range rather than relying on the label alone.

Turning it into a programme

A pattern that works: pick one dataset per touchpoint and change what you send as the pet moves between life stages.

When	What to send	From
First week	Breed profile and two or three facts	Characteristics, Facts
Monthly	A health tip for this pet	`GET /pets/{pet_id}/health-tips`
Monthly	This stage's exercise guidance	Exercise by life stage
Every few months	A prompt to do a body condition check	Body condition score
At a life-stage change	What changes now, and why	Exercise by life stage, Health tips

More datasets

Dietary risks, dietary recommendations, allergens, grooming schedules, vaccinations, behaviour guidelines and full breed predispositions are also available. They use the same breed IDs. Contact us to add them to your plan.

Characteristics​

Facts​

Health tips​

Exercise by life stage​

Turning it into a programme​

More datasets​