Why we're on Twitter: A second dog is rehomed!

You might remember that we all delightedly jumped for joy when a dog ended up finding a new forever home thanks to a post on Twitter. It was an extremely exciting moment, which proved to us that this being online malarkey can make a very real contribution to the day-to-day work our dedicated centre staff do.

All we could do after that was keep working hard building relationships, and hope that the magic would happen again. And thanks to some conversation going on around us, it has!

One of the great things about Twitter is the way that messages can go around the whole site through "retweeting" - someone copying what you've written and passing it on. This generates a whole world of conversation you might not even be aware of at the time, and is very valuable when you're trying to get a message out to the world! One of our lovely followers, @jamieriddell, has recently been retweeting a lot of our links to dogs needing homes, and thanks to his kind assistance another member, @robin1966, was prompted to visit his local Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre.

Within days, Dogs Trust Merseyside had matched him up with Yogi, a beautiful Boxer. He's now proudly telling the world about his lovely new addition!

We can't thank Robin enough for giving a dog a second chance, and we're very grateful for Jamie's assistance too.

People have asked us why we spend time having conversations with people online instead of just firing out rehoming updates. But we're actually interested in what our supporters have to say, and furthermore wouldn't expect anyone to pass on a message unless we engaged with them as well. We'll carry on building our community slowly, getting to know the people who want to get to know us and listening to what they have to say. So talk to us here, on Twitter, or at any of the other places you can find us; we like being spoken to!

Photo: Yogi at home, from Robin1966's Flickr stream.

Can dog lovers be cat lovers too?

According to some of our Twitter followers (naming no names @billhilton), no way no how. We know that dogs and cats can be friends, so why not the people who love them?

It's time to 'fess: I've never had a dog. My parents preferred tortoises, stick insects, canaries, guinea pigs and, finally, cats - mostly because none of them required walking - but we cared for a friend's Cavalier King Charles and I grew up spending half my time at my best friend's house with her soppy Rottweiler and stately Lab Cross. So now that I commute to work and live in a house that only allows cats, there was an obvious choice: cats.

And, if I'm honest, I really love cats in their own right. But I love dogs, too! I think they have individual and marvellous merits. For example:

Dogs: Show complete love and loyalty all the time, even if you haven't asked for it.
Cats: Really don't. But when you get the unexpected snuggle, you do appreciate it more.

Dogs: Can be trained to come when called.
Cats: Can be trained to come when called, and ignore it when visitors are there.

Dogs: Will always great you with enthusiasm.
Cats: Will greet you with enthusiasm and a pointed look at an empty bowl.

Dogs: Can be very exuberant and active, making you fitter and getting you out of the house.
Cats: Save all the exuberant and active for the middle of the night.

It's really a win-win situation. If I had the appropriate lifestyle, I'd have both, and get the benefits of the enormous loyalty and enthusiasm of the dog alongside the elegant beauty and simmering megalomania of the typical cat (there are exceptions, of course). Surely an animal lover is an animal lover no matter what that animal might be? I draw the line at cockroaches, spiders and anything that stings or whose bite can kill, but other than that all companion animals seem like good news to me.

You just have to check out today's Twitter feed on the topic to find out that not everyone agrees, but that there are many examples of people who love and live with both cats and dogs. Are you one of them?

By the way, the image is my husband's Opie-esque rendering of our younger kitten, seven-month-old Casper. Not that we're cat bores or anything.

Oh, and, of course, a quick reminder. If you are thinking of getting a pet for your household, cat or dog, please consider rehoming. There are thousands of animals out there just looking for the perfect home.

My dog does the funniest thing! Celebrating the cuter things in a dog's life...

I was a bit uninspired on the blogging front today, so I turned to the good people of Twitter for suggestions. @jenpot eventually struck gold with the idea of cute things your dog does when you're not paying them your full attention. Her pooch goes the eyelash-batting route of picking up the fetch ball and quietly dropping it at her feet - a subtle hint, in the dog world.

Jen also added:

I'm Riley's 'mum' btw and she has thousands. Absolute best is that she grumps when she's sleeping, especially if she stretches

Here's what some of our other Twitter friends had to say:

@OKHumane My dog Oliver wads an impossibly large piece of his blanket in his mouth and starts whistling as he falls asleep.

@warriorgrll @misterbenji crosses his front paws when he lies down. It looks very refined I must say!

[Ed's note: I love that Mister Benji has his own Twitter feed... and he's certainly not the only pet that does]

@DarrenKW The dog we had a few years ago (a retired gun dog) was completely silent, apart from barking in her sleep!

@sammcarthur he hates post so much he retrieves envelopes from the bin ages after postman been, hates postmen, knows their orange jackets!

@sallyhems - mine always used to 'answer' the door when a doorbell went on the TV, despite us never having a doorbell....?

I'm sure you all have loads of examples of your own to add, and that's what the comments are for! Thank you to all those who contributed.

Don't forget - if you're on Twitter, follow us.