OPERATION: FIND AMOS A HOME!

For the past three years, Amos - aka 'Moose' - has been living at Dogs Trust Canterbury. He's a wonderful dog: smart, friendly, loving, playful. All the staff are in love with him. But sadly, other dogs make him anxious and the barking of his fellow residents means that he never presents himself well in kennels, and is constantly overlooked.

We desperately want to see Amos in the loving home he totally deserves. So we've made this video - a little longer than most, but you won't want to stop watching this adorable boy once you start!

Please watch and share. It would mean the world to us if this boy finally met the family of his dreams.

 

|Amos' Vital Statistics:

- 7 year old Collie Cross
- At Dogs Trust Canterbury
- Has to be the only dog; can't live with cats.
- Would benefit from a calm, adult home (children 14+ considered)

Call now to offer him a home: 01227 792 505

Introducing eWag: the eZine for dog lovers!

Regular supporters of Dogs Trust should be familiar with our three yearly issues of Wag! magazine, a supporter newsletter keeping you updated with where your pennies are going and the different types of dog welfare work we do.

The brains behind Wag! has taken the idea and brought it to life in a bright new eZine. eWag is a sister publication to Wag!, providing another shot of news between issues and packed with all those lovely web things you can't put into a paper magazine like videos and links.

Take the World's Cutest Video* below. These are puppies being given exercise, stimulation and a big helping of fun at our West London Rehoming Centre.



Head to eWag for more fun, cute, informative and offbeat doggy content. We're keen to hear what you think!

*In our opinion.

Three days left to show us your dog's star quality!

There are just three days left before the deadline for the Dogs Trust Honours Rex Factor Award - have you shown us the smart moves and clever tricks your dog can do?

If not, then get cracking. We've already shown you with our how-to video how simple it is to knock 40 seconds of funny footage together and submit it to us. We're not looking for a professional video - it's your dogs skills that are important, not yours (except as a trainer, of course!).

We look forward to seeing your videos ahead of the ceremony on May 19th. To check out some of the existing entrants, visit our special DoggySnaps Rex Factor kennel.

Does your dog have the Rex Factor? Show us - it's easy!

From time to time you'll have heard me mentioning the Dogs Trust Honours, awards that celebrate man's best friend. This year we have a video category - Rex Factor - that invites your dogs to take centre stage, showing off their jazziest moves and cleverest tricks.

Some people have said that they're nervous about entering because they don't have any professional equipment, so we made the video below to prove that you don't need any of that!




For the record, we used:

1 x Dogs Trust Web Editor with supremely dodgy video editing skills
1 x assistant camera person who shall remain nameless (oops!)
1 x Canine Gang Dog
1 x Flip video camera (but any other video recording equipment is fine)
Windows Movie Maker editing software which came with our computers (anything will do as long as it can chop it down to size)

See? There's nothing to it! All you need is 40 seconds of your dog being clever*, a free YouTube account and a few more seconds to give us your details and the embed code. You can check out some of the existing entries on our special DoggySnaps kennel.

The deadline is on the 15th of April, so please show us your efforts now and put us to (even more) shame!

*Videos containing dangerous stunts or dressed up dogs will not be accepted.

Dogs Trust Honours: Nominations open with new video category!

At Dogs Trust we’re constantly hearing wonderful stories of how dogs have enriched people’s day to day lives. This can be through a “paws on” approach with acts of bravery; by being a comfort to the sick or the lonely; or by supporting those with special needs. Of course, there is also the role of loyal companion that they play to the millions of dog-owning British households. All are equally worthy of being honoured.

The Dogs Trust Honours 2009 is a unique opportunity to celebrate these wonderful stories. Bringing together all the positive aspects of dog ownership and giving special recognition to those dogs who have gone the extra mile for their human companions.

Over the next few months, we would like you to nominate those dogs who you feel deserve a Dogs Trust Honour. There are five categories - including one designed for those visually creative people who like to spend their time online! - for which you can nominate a dog and all entrants will be included in our Roll of Honour.

Dogs Trust Rex Factor Award - A uniquely talented pooch chosen from a video clip submitted by you (40 seconds or less, hosted on a sharing site such YouTube, with the embed code sent to us on the nomination form. Videos involving dangerous stunts or dressed up dogs will not be accepted).

The Sun Hero Dog Award - For working dogs who contribute to community life.

Dogs Trust Dogged Devotion Award - For dogs who, without special training, help provide better quality of life for owners going through hard times.

Dogs Trust Dog's Best Friend Award - For a special human who's gone the extra mile for dogs.

Dogs Trust Golden Oldie Award - A lifetime achievement award for dogs aged 7+.


The winners will be chosen by a panel of distinguished judges and presented with their awards by an array of celebrities at the ceremony on 19th May 2009 at London’s prestigious Hurlingham Club. An overall winner – to be chosen through a vote on the night from the five category winners - will receive the ‘Dogs Trust Top Dog Award 2009’.

So come on Britain - you have until midnight on 15th April to nominate your outstanding hounds for the Dogs Trust Honours 2009!

Glam guestblogger Krystyna attends the Fido Awards

Fresh from her Cosmo makeover, Krystyna hit the town for the Fido Awards, honouring dogs on film. Here's the lowdown on the festivities:

My glamorous career at Dogs Trust continues! Yesterday I went to the Fido Awards, which is like a canine version of the Oscars. These awards honour doggy actors who have starred alongside less hirsute (and sometimes less well trained) actors in blockbusters this year. Organisers also run this at the oh-so glamorous Cannes film festival: http://www.palmdog.com/ but my invite extended only to a trendy East London cinema on a cold winter Sunday afternoon!

The nominations included:

• Samantha, the German Shepherd starring alongside Will Smith in I Am Legend
• Dolly aka Mr Darcy, in St Trinian’s
• Afghan Hounds, starring alongside Julia Roberts in Charlie Wilson’s War
  [Ed's note: LOVED this film!]
  
• SATC’s Samantha’s Yorkshire Terrier

Film critics from The Times, the London Evening Standard, the Independent and Heat magazine had the unenviable task of deciding the winners, while actress Camilla Rutherford and famous portrait subject Sue Tilley were on hand to deal out the awards.

Pleasingly, the rosettes were in Dogs Trust colours! My plus-one was Sarah who used to work here in the press office and jumped at the chance of coming along.

We both had a great time and were delighted to have our photos taken with the overall winner (“Best in World”!) Dolly (pictured above with Krystyna, left, and Sarah), who actually played a male dog in St Trinian’s and whose job was to hump Colin Firth’s leg….

Another Hubble video, courtesy of the Yorkshire Evening Post

Thanks to @bullyinguk on Twitter, aka the brilliant John C., and with the permission of the lovely editors at the Yorkshire Evening Post, here's more of that 'ugly' (we think 'gorgeous'!) Hubble for you to enjoy!



Thanks also to @GrahamRichards for flagging the report. Today especially I really do love Twitter...

For those following Hubble's story you will be pleased to know that the rehoming requests are now flooding in, thanks to his new-found stardom! We're sure it won't be too long before he's matched to the home of his dreams, and some great owners have the great dog they deserve too.

Video: 'Britain's Ugliest Dog' Hubble has a star turn on GMTV

The lovely folks at GMTV were kind enough to give the dog labelled 'Britain's ugliest' a chance at finding a new home. Hubble was featured on television and on GMTV's website this morning, along with carer and Supporter Relations Officer Sarah Powell from Dogs Trust Leeds.

Hubble, an eight year old black terrier with a lifelong injury that means his missing a chunk of nose and upper lip, practiced preening on camera in the green room in this exclusive backstage clip!



Hubble loves attention, so he'd prefer to be the only pet in a home. If you have room for him or any of the other dogs at Dogs Trust Leeds in your life please call the centre directly on 0113 281 4920.

Update: Hubble just popped into Dogs Trust HQ in London and I got to meet him - I can confirm he is the friendliest and loveliest of dogs!

New Dogs Trust video on YouTube: dogs playing in Glasgow

Vicky Kelly in Glasgow sent these to me because she knows the importance of video in helping to find homes for dogs at our centres. "After all, that's how Ebony and Larka got their homes - Internet video", she wrote in an email.

Let's hope the same goes for Caz (with the red ball), Jack and Murphy, seen running around like mad things with some of Dogs Trust's canine carers!



Fancy taking one of these lovely dogs home? Call 0141 773 5130 for Glasgow Rehoming Centre or visit Dogs Trust's website for more information on rehoming.

Stray Dogs Report 2008: Video

A video highlighting the results of our Stray Dogs Report 2008.



You can also find this video on Flickr.

Dogs celebrate the Olympics in their swimming pools!

When I have time, I always try to catch up with the antics of Sadie and Lily, a pair of pooches who like to keep their owners busy recounting their tales - and those of their friends in Fairmont Park - on the Internet.

I simply couldn't resist, then, picking up an Olympics-themed post this week. The girls have enjoyed watching the Olympian swimmers pounding up and down the pool and picking up medals, and have nudged their humans into awarding Gold, Silver and Bronze to three YouTube videos of dogs swimming away. Remind you of anyone (pictured)?

If you do have a pool, or your dog likes to swim in rivers and lakes, please ensure that they are closely monitored at all times and not allowed to enter the water without you. Dogs should not be allowed to drink chemically-treated pool water as it could be toxic, and should be hosed down to remove chemicals or mites that can be found in untreated water.

Have you seen a really good video of a dog swimming - or have one of your own dog? Let us know and maybe it could feature on the blog.