Help dogs while you do your Christmas shopping - without spending an extra penny!

How would you like to know that almost everything you buy online is helping us to feed, care for, train or rehome a dog - without you spending a single extra penny?

What's more you don't need to go through a special link or use a particular search engine; once you've done a super-quick, one-minute installation, you can just go about your life online as usual, with a subtle reminder of the good you're doing.

Sound good? Well, get started with Give As You Live, then!

Oodles of major online retailers, including Waitrose (who stock our Grooming Products too, *cough*), John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, the Disney Store, Tesco and thousands more - even Amazon! - donate a percentage of each sale to the charity you've chosen, every time you buy from them. You pay the same amount you always would and the retailer makes the donation, so everyone wins.

The average Give As You Live user raises around £25 a year in extra donations for their cause. With more Christmas shopping still to be done, that amount could be considerably boosted at this time of year - and just four supporters signing up could mean an extra £100 or more for us to spend caring for some of the 16,000 dogs in our care.

£100 could mean any one of the following:

• One dog neutered and vaccinated
• Three sets of vet fees
• Five sets of vaccinations
• Twenty large packs of dog treats for training

So, while you're finishing off your festive shopping, please take just a few seconds to sign up and install Give As You Live first, and you'll know that at the same time as stacking presents under the tree, you're giving the gift of tender loving care and a great future to a Dogs Trust dog.

Sign Up Now

Easy Fundraising, it's really THAT easy!

Ok, by a show of mouse clicks, how many of you plan to do some Christmas shopping online. I'd say that a fair few of us do this. In fact, I know we do! Eighty-five percent of all internet users are also internet shoppers, according to a May 2010 survey.

So, how can you continue to do your shopping AND raise funds for Dogs Trust as the same time for no extra cost to you? How, you ask? With Easy Fundraising!

Easy Fundraising provide a FREE service where you can shop with your favourite online stores and at no extra cost raise funds for any charity, good cause or group you choose to support. You still shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by using the links from the Easy Fundraising site first, each purchase you make will generate a cashback donation to the cause you wish to support. They explain:

"For example, spend £25 with WH Smith and 3.5% will be donated. You will have raised £0.88, at no extra cost to your purchase. Make any purchase from Amazon and 2.5% will be donated. Insure your car with Direct Line and raise £35.00, or purchase a mobile phone from O2 and earn £17.50, and so on."

The site is great because you can shop with 2000+ brand name retailers and to raise funds you just use the links from their site first - it's that simple! It just serves as a portal, so if you ALREADY shop online, why not help Dogs Trust at no extra cost from purchases you would make anyway.

Go on, at least check it out! I promise it won't exhaust you as much as that little guy in the photo!

Of course, if you're looking for Dogs Trust items from our cataloge you can see all those products online by going to http://www.dogstrustgifts.com/.

Beat the postal strike: get your Christmas shopping done early with Dogs Trust Gifts

It might not quite be November yet, but it's never too early to bag a bargain and make sure your presents are safely wrapped and ready for the tree in time for December 25th.

This year it's not just fairy lights and egg nog that can give you a warm glow; buying gifts from www.dogstrustgifts.com means you can know you're helping dogs as well as buttering up friends and relatives with gorgeous doggy gifts. So every time you buy a present, you're really giving twice!

As well as a whole host of web exclusives, such as cute Border Collie Doorstops, half price at just £4.99, there's a great selection of snowy Christmas cards featuring pooches galore - my favourite is the Carol Singing Dogs! Other favourites include dog breed mugs and 2010 calendars featuring a range of breeds from Lurchers to Labradors and Collies to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. The profits from every gift will go towards helping the dogs in our care.

I know our shopping bags are popular because I often get asked about them on our social networking pages; rest assured you can also nab these online, along with a host of other Dogs Trust branded goods.

With the post a little wobbly, it's a great time to start your shopping in plenty of time for the festivities, and know that you're helping dogs as you do.

Pull your socks up to raise money for Dogs Trust!

'Tis the season to think about presents, but it's also a time to spend cautiously. How about a way you could get a cute stocking filler, spend just a little and help a charity continue its work at the same time?

Here's the solution - Dogs Trust socks. They're a lovely bright yellow (look: exciting facts about yellow!) and come in two varieties: the standard sock (pictured) and the longer, thicker, warmer wellie / boot sock. Both are available in a variety of men's and women's sizes.

Yes, I have a pair of the standard variety. Let me rephrase that: I had a pair until my husband-to-be nicked them about 45 minutes after I got home and has worn them regularly ever since.

Best of all, standard socks are just £2 and wellie socks are just £5, with 25% of the proceeds going directly to help dogs in our 17 Rehoming Centres. Thanks solely to the generosity of our supporters, since Dogs Trust receives no government funding, we were able to help over 16,000 dogs last year. So your little bit of Christmas giving fun would also translate into some happily wagging tails.

Wear your support with pride, and happy shopping!