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Pretzel and the Puppies

Good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Balanced

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Apple TV+

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Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies follows a dachshund family whose five pups solve everyday problems in the town of Montgomery. The tone is upbeat and warm, made for preschoolers, with gentle lessons in problem-solving and kindness.

The pups lead the ideas and try them out.
Inclusive solutions let every friend join in.
Warm, supportive parents who guide without taking over.
Celebrates perseverance and trying again.
Energetic, fast-paced and excitable in tone.
Mild competition appears in races and games.
Occasionally mildly tense for the youngest viewers.

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Score Breakdown

Images follow each other quickly throughout, so there is little time to pause and take in what just happened, and several episodes lean toward the stimulating side for this age. The sound is sometimes soft and supportive and at other times clearly present and attention-grabbing, while the visuals stay calm and well organized from start to finish. This combination of fast pacing with orderly pictures means the series asks for active attention rather than offering quiet, restful moments. The youngest children in this age range may find the tempo a little intense, even though nothing on screen is harsh or chaotic.

Every episode follows one clear question from start to finish, such as how the smallest pups can join a race or how to cool down on a hot day, so a young child can always tell what is happening and why. Events build in a logical chain where each idea grows out of the one before, and cause and effect stay easy to follow, like ice melting into water or a flimsy box getting smushed. The repeated try-and-check structure anchors the story so the through-line never gets lost. The one recurring caveat is that new ideas, characters and objects sometimes pile up close together, which can be a lot for a young three-year-old to hold at once.

The emotional tone stays warm and steady across every episode, with no villain and no real danger for a child to absorb. When a character feels disappointed or worried, like Nana whose class is cancelled or Gus who is lost, friends reassure them right away with lines such as 'Don't worry, we'll help you,' so sadness never lingers. Adults stay patient and supportive, modelling kindness rather than blame, and small frustrations are settled in the same scene they appear. The main thing to note is the constant high pitch of excitement, with frequent cheering and yipping that keeps emotions running hot, though it always springs from joy rather than distress.

The puppies drive the problem-solving themselves in every episode, naming a problem, trying an idea, watching it fall short, and adjusting until something works, whether inventing smaller race carts or drawing a map for a new neighbor. This trial-and-error process is spoken aloud and easy for a child to recognise and copy, and it models real persistence and cause-and-effect thinking. Adults guide, approve and lend a hand without taking over, so the initiative stays with the children most of the time. In a few episodes a grown-up supplies the key turning idea, as when Mom suggests making fresh kibble, which softens the challenge a little, but the pups still carry the solution out in clear, visible steps.

Sentences stay short, concrete and easy to follow, and useful new words like 'mural,' 'vote' or 'allergy' are introduced inside situations that explain them plainly. Much of the dialogue carries real content, naming ingredients, giving directions or talking a plan through step by step. Playful dog wordplay such as 'paw-wesome,' 'my snout is sealed' and 'rainbow-licious' gives the characters personality, though some puns will pass over the youngest listeners. The main softening note is the steady stream of excited exclamations, the 'Woo-hoo,' 'Yip yip' and 'Yum,' that carries energy more than meaning and thins out the informative talk.

Most of what happens transfers straight to a child's own day: mixing paint, making prints, planning a party, cooling off with a hose, drawing a map or playing games that include a friend who cannot join the usual way. The activities have a clear purpose and visible steps, and the social world of family, neighbours and community jobs mirrors real life closely. The main limit for this age is the fully imagined frame, a town run entirely by talking dogs, with the occasional touch of magic like a host conjuring crayons, which keeps the world a step removed from everyday surroundings. Even so, the practical, copyable activities and the lessons about helping and including others carry genuine value.

More information

This is a world made up entirely of dogs, where variety shows through different breeds, sizes, colours and ages rather than human cultural or ethnic backgrounds, and the stories center on one dachshund family, so the range of lives a child sees stays narrow. Where the series is consistently stronger is in how it shares out roles: Greta is the town mayor while Pretzel cooks and cares for the pups at home, both boy and girl pups take turns leading the problem-solving, and feelings and tasks are not pinned to any one character. A few episodes go further on physical difference, with one pup spending a whole story in a recovery cone and another character moving around in a wheeled cart, both fully part of the group. The result is even-handed and free of obvious clichés in its behaviour, even if the visible diversity remains limited.

Each episode keeps both feet in everyday life, with the pups painting a mural, visiting a grandmother, cooking a meal or welcoming a new neighbour, all situations a young child recognises. The one imaginative leap is that everyone in the town of Montgomery is a talking dog who works, votes and runs a small government, but this stays light and consistent with almost no magic to track. There is no villain anywhere across the series; problems come from real situations like hot weather, a food allergy or a wiggly puppy, and the characters solve them together. For a young preschooler this gentle blend of recognisable routines and a steady make-believe world is a comfortable fit.

Settle in next to your child and you will find this an easy watch, just do not expect much written for you. The animation is polished and warm, the sunlit dog town is pleasant to look at, and the stories actually go somewhere, following a real little arc from problem to invented solution rather than looping in place. The jokes, though, are gentle dog puns pitched squarely at the kids, so apart from the occasional deadpan bulldog or a running name-muddling gag, little is aimed your way. The bright, excitable puppy voices and the repeated chants and refrains are the main things likely to wear on a grown-up ear over a full sitting, but nothing here grates badly. Comfortable company for the couch, not a series that rewards your full attention.

Some episodes pack several short stories into one video; each story gets its own review.

Season 1

10 episodes

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Make Your Bark

recommended age co-watching from 2

In the town of Montgomery, the Doxie family of dachshunds, parents Greta and Pretzel and their five pups, walk Mom to her job as mayor and notice a dull, blank wall that no dog wants to be near. Paxton suggests painting a mural, the city council votes to approve it, and the pups gather paint and try out designs at home. When they cannot agree on a single picture, they decide to let every dog add a paw print instead. The wall fills with colourful prints, dogs gather to play nearby, and Paxton is proud to have 'made his bark.'

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pup to the Races

recommended age co-watching from 2

In a sunny park, a litter of small dachshund puppies discovers the kibble cart derby but learns they are too short to reach the steering lever and brake of the big carts. Led by Pedro, they try one idea after another, stretching themselves, testing different boxes and wood, and finally building tiny carts they push instead of ride, using doggy discs as wheels. They race the new carts successfully and create a pup cart derby of their own. The episode closes with the pups and their parents celebrating and a short song about making your own spark.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Treat Yourself

recommended age co-watching from 2

At Kibble Fest in the town of Montgomery, the Doxy dachshund family arrives to taste new kinds of kibble. One pup, Puck, does not want to try anything, so his brother Pedro and the rest of the pups help him search for a flavor he likes. When nothing works, Mom and Mr. Kibble invite the pups to make a fresh batch, and Puck chooses the ingredients himself. He tastes the kibble he made, loves it, and Pedro is praised for helping him try something new.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pups on Parade

recommended age co-watching from 2

A family of dachshunds in the dog city of Montgomery learns at breakfast that their city is turning 100 today. The pups decide to throw a surprise birthday party and set about gathering decorations, ordering treats from Kibble Market and finding a place big enough. When they realise they forgot to invite any guests, they run through the streets calling everyone to come. The celebration turns into a city-wide parade, ending with the birthday song for Montgomery.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Do the Doxie

recommended age co-watching from 2

Pretzel, a dad dachshund, takes his five pups to visit their grandmother Nana while Mom is at work. They discover that Nana's exercise class is closed, so the pups set out to find another way for Nana and her neighbourhood friends to move their bodies. After trying gardening and a tea party, they land on a dance party. The episode ends with everyone, including Mom, dancing the Doxie together.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Hot Dogs

recommended age co-watching from 2

On the hottest day of the year, a family of dachshund puppies finds it is too hot to play their favorite game, Puck Duck. With help from their dad, the pups try one idea after another to cool down, from finding shade to playing with ice and water. When the ice melts and the water soaks away, they combine a hose and watering cans into a big sprinkler they call the Cool Down Play Zone. They invite every overheated dog in Montgomery to join, and the whole neighborhood cools off and plays together.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Bowl Them Over

recommended age co-watching from 2

The Doxy puppies bring their friends Dylan and Delilah to The Bowl, a restaurant run by Jules, only to find the friends are allergic to wheat and cannot eat anything on the menu. Disappointed, the group heads home and recreates the restaurant as a 'Doxy Bowl,' then experiments in the kitchen until they invent a wheat-free dish of rice, beans and cheesy chews. The friends love it, and when Jules tastes the dish she adds it to her own menu. The episode ends with everyone able to eat at both restaurants.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Cone-Do

recommended age co-watching from 2

Delilah, a young dachshund, arrives wearing a cone after hurting her paw and keeps bumping into things during tag and fetch. With Pretzel and her friends she rides a train to the park to find a game that works for her. There she discovers the cone helps her hear faraway sounds, which lets her find a lost pup and reunite it with its mother. The friends turn the discovery into a new game called Hear and Seek, and Paxton makes his own cone so he can play too.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Welcome Waggin'

recommended age co-watching from 2

A new dog named Gus Growler moves to the town of Montgomery with a long list of things to buy but keeps getting lost. The Doxy puppies and their parents, dad Pretzel and mom Greta the mayor, first tell him directions and then give him a tour, but he gets lost both times. Finally the pups draw him a colorful map, and with it Gus finds the kibble market, the bed shop, and the post office. The pups hang the map outside City Hall so it can help other new dogs in town.

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pretzel and the Puppies

Groom Games

recommended age co-watching from 2

At Gigi's grooming palace, a group of puppies get their fur trimmed before heading out to play fetch with the Red Zoomer ball. One puppy, Dil, is too excited to hold still, so his fur keeps covering his eyes and he cannot be groomed or see. His friends invent stay-still games, a balance game, Pippa Says, drawing, and pretending to be a statue, to help him calm down. Once Dil holds still, Gigi finishes the trim, he can see again, and everyone goes to the park to play.

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