Show your dog on DoggySnaps, the network for dog lovers!

We're pretty excited today as a project we've been sitting on for a long time has finally seen the light of day! Our community site, DoggySnaps, has just gained an extra feature - the ability to have a dog show competition using the photos and videos members upload to the site.

Any registered member can enter, which we hope will encourage members of the site who shy away from some of the chattier functions to get more involved, and anyone on the whole Internet who can access DoggySnaps can vote. Every month there will be a variety of categories and people will be able to choose a first, second and third place award. The winners get virtual (and once in a while, real) prizes to display in their kennels and Jacqui and I even get to award an Editor's Choice ribbon.

The categories for our first show include Hunk of the Month and Lady of the Month, which were the names of the fun competitions run by members on the forums when they didn't know that we had this up our sleeves! There's also Perfect Pals, for dogs that like to keep each other company even in front of the camera, and Comedy Classics, because some dog photos are genuinely hilarious. Everyone loves a cute pup, so there's a Puppy Pics section, and finally a chance to show off seasonal snaps in the Festive Photos class.

I'm looking forward to seeing lots of excellent entries, so get uploading and I'll polish the trophies...

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How a DoggySnapper gave a dog the best Christmas present: a forever home

We know from the work we do at Dogs Trust that there are lots of very kind people out there, willing to open their homes to a dog - or indeed more than one. We love that we're able to match people to their new best friends. This time, however, we got to watch the rehoming process from a different perspective. While scanning the forum on DoggySnaps, our community site, we watched a very heartwarming Christmas story unravel.

Regular member John Colby, who has documented the full story on his blog, Sum Space, saw that another 'Snapper was trying to find a home for a dog who was in danger of being put down due to a behavioural issue. Member Susiemoose was horrified by the fact that Max was under threat of destruction because wagging his tail too hard meant that the family felt their three year old might be injured. She turned to her friends online for help in finding the perfect permanent residence for Max as she already has two Border Collies.

Despite not intending to have another dog and also having two dogs - bouncy crossbreeds with "Collie in them somewhere" from Dogs Trust Kenilworth - John and his wife couldn't help calling up to find out more. Without even seeing Max, a Collie cross, who is ten years old and has a mild heart problem, they decided he had to come home with them.

You can read the full story on the blog, and I recommend that you do. I will leave you with a few warm words from it that I found particularly lovely:

Our Christmas preparations, which were ahead of plan last weekend, have now descended into an almighty rush, much as usual. The dust can wait. The dog is more important.

Why have we done it? Still don’t know.

But we could not see a dog put down because its tail wagged too much. We’re very glad to have him.

Thank you John; you've done a great thing, and we were so happy to have watched it happen!