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Make Your Bark

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This episode is one video with 2 short stories. Each story gets its own review and score.

Good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Balanced

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Make Your Bark

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Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2

Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 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...

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https://slowscreen.com/en/series/pretzel-and-the-puppies/s1/e1a-make-your-bark

https://slowscreen.com/en/series/pretzel-and-the-puppies/s1/e1a-make-your-bark

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Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 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...

Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2
Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2

slowscreen.com

Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 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...

Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2
slowscreen.com

Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2 - Slowscreen

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Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2 - Slowscreen

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Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2
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Subject Pretzel and the Puppies: Make Your Bark | Good, co-watching from age 2

Good · Co-watching from age 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...

https://slowscreen.com/en/series/pretzel-and-the-puppies/s1/e1a-make-your-bark

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This program is stimulating. It actively demands attention and can feel intense. For the recommended age, this may be on the more intense side. The pacing is fast. Images follow each other quickly, leaving little time to pause and take in what is happening. The sound is clearly present and regularly draws attention. The visuals are calm and well-organized.
One clear thread runs the whole way through: a dull gray wall becomes a community mural. Events follow a clean order, spotting the wall, having the idea, getting it approved, gathering paint, trying pictures, then choosing paw prints, so a young child can always tell what is happening and why. Each step produces a predictable result, like the council vote leading straight to permission. The only stretch that packs a lot in is the opening, where several town characters are named in quick succession.
This episode is emotionally steady and kind throughout. There is no villain and no real danger, and the warmest thread is how the family treats Paxton: when he gets overwhelmed deciding what to paint, his parents reassure him with 'it's okay, don't get yourself all tied up in knots,' and his siblings cheer him on with 'Congrats, Paxton.' Tone stays even from start to finish, and the one small wobble of frustration is soothed in the very same moment it appears. Adults stay supportive and consistent, never mocking or dismissive.
The story is driven by a child's own idea, Paxton proposing 'We should paint a picture on this wall,' and the pups carry the problem-solving from there. They try sample paintings, hold a vote, hit a wall when they cannot pick one, and then adjust to a better plan where every dog adds a paw print, which is a real worked-through process with a visible change of approach. The parents guide and approve rather than take over, leaving the thinking to the pups. The caveat is that the grown-ups smooth the path at each stage, so the challenge never gets very demanding.
Sentences are short, concrete and easy to follow, with useful new words like 'mural,' 'city council' and 'vote' introduced inside a situation that explains them. The dialogue stays clear and is used correctly, and dog wordplay such as 'a tail-wagging idea' and 'make your bark' adds colour, though a few puns will pass over the youngest listeners. A fair amount of the talk is cheering and exclamations ('Yeah!', 'Bow wow!', 'Woo-hoo!') rather than information. Overall the language fits a young preschooler well.
Almost everything here transfers straight to a child's own day: mixing paint colours, making paw or hand prints, choosing by a show of raised paws, and pitching in to improve a shared space. The activities have a clear purpose and visible steps, and the social world, a family, a market keeper, a mail carrier and a city council, mirrors real neighbourhood life. The imaginative layer is simply that the characters are dogs who talk and walk like people, while the setting and tasks stay grounded. That keeps the real-world connection strong for this age.

More information

This score shows how inclusively the series portrays diverse people, families and cultures. Scale: Limited → Varied → Rich → Inclusive.
Montgomery is a town made up entirely of dogs, and the variety comes from different breeds, sizes and colours along with a spread of community jobs rather than from human cultures. The Doxie family sits at the centre: Greta is the town mayor while Pretzel stays home with their five pups, so leadership and caregiving are not tied to one gender. Pups of both genders put ideas forward, and the wider community settles decisions together by voting at city hall. The main limits are the all-dog cast, which leaves human cultural and ethnic variety out of the picture, and a story built around a single family household.
This score shows whether the series stays close to everyday reality or leans into fantasy. Scale: Fantasy → Mixed reality → Realistic.
The world of Montgomery is a recognizable town with a market, a city hall, a mail carrier and a neighborhood park, and the pups spend the episode on everyday tasks like painting a mural, voting and brightening up a dull wall. The one imaginative leap is that everyone in town is a talking dog who walks, works and runs a small government, but this stays light and friendly with no magic involved. There is no villain anywhere; the only problem is a blank, boring wall and the puppies' indecision about what to paint, so tension comes from situations rather than a bad guy. For a young preschooler this gentle mix of real-life activities and a consistent talking-dog world sits comfortably in range.
This score shows how enjoyable the series is for parents watching along. Scale: Tedious → Tolerable → Pleasant → Enjoyable.
For the adult on the couch, this sits in comfortable middle ground. The animation is polished and the mural story actually goes somewhere, following Paxton from a gloomy wall to a community project with a council vote along the way. What is missing is a layer written for you: the humor stays in gentle dog puns pitched at the child, and the repeated 'paws up' chant can wear thin on a loop. Easy enough to share without irritation, but it will not hold a grown-up's attention on its own.

Themes

Behaviour

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.'

Season 1

10 episodes

Pretzel and the Puppies
S01 E01 Story A

Pretzel and the Puppies

Make Your Bark

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E01 Story B

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pup to the Races

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E02 Story A

Pretzel and the Puppies

Treat Yourself

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E02 Story B

Pretzel and the Puppies

Pups on Parade

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E03 Story A

Pretzel and the Puppies

Do the Doxie

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E03 Story B

Pretzel and the Puppies

Hot Dogs

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E04 Story A

Pretzel and the Puppies

Bowl Them Over

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E04 Story B

Pretzel and the Puppies

Cone-Do

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E05 Story A

Pretzel and the Puppies

Welcome Waggin'

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock 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
S01 E05 Story B

Pretzel and the Puppies

Groom Games

Balanced
recommended age Unlock 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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From this series Pretzel and the Puppies
By age 3 years
By platform Apple TV+

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