Meet Dogs Trust: Abbie Smith

Having recently joined the Dogs Trust Digital Team, I will be spending my days communicating with all of our great supporters out there - so I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself to you all...

Name: Abbie Smith

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Officer

You what...? Yes that’s right – I’m the new Digital Marketing Officer! And I’m thrilled. I’ve been working here 7 years in June so I’m no stranger to the brilliance of all things Dogs Trust. However moving to the Digital Team is totally new to me, and just a couple of days in – I love it! So far I’ve been getting to grips with the website content, doing my usual scribbled notes that make little sense… before neatly transferring into my notebook to be highlighted / colour coded - oh yeahhh,  I’m one of ‘those’ people!

I’m surrounded by digital gurus... Literally - Jacqui to my left and Lo to my right. Therefore I’m confident I will be learning lots along the way, and  I’ll most probably ramble in future blogs too –  there’s something to look forward to.

Best thing about my job: The people! Having been here a fair few years I’ve seen  people come and go, but the majority are ‘long timers’ and (hopefully)  aren’t going anywhere anytime soon – you can’t blame them. I was 17 when I started here, my first real job in the ‘big wide world’… so in all honesty – my colleagues could be rubbish…but I have no comparison - so to me they are great! This goes for my new team too; the best thing about working in the Digital Team so far has been instantly feeling comfortable enough to ask questions and being shown the ropes by Jacqui and Lo! Of course, having Twitter and Facebook open on my screen 24/7 will be an added bonus!

Pets: I have a gorgeous little 9 month old Kitten called Kenny. He is mischievous and a little crazy! He’s often casually hanging over my shoulder while I’m walking around the house – I always fail to tell visitors about this trait so they are a little alarmed when he springs up and does his best impression of a parrot.

Favourite websites: I’m a self-confessed Twitter addict, scrolling through the tweets of the rich and semi/not-at-all famous makes my journey to the office in Angel from my home in Essex much more entertaining!

What I'm reading now: I am half way through a book called Before I Go to Sleep written by S J Watson. It's a good read, It takes a bit of brain power to keep up – which is ironic since it’s all about a lady who has lost her mind!

Weekend plans: I will most probably go for drinks after work on Friday with the girls and for a meal of some kind on Saturday with my boyfriend and our friends. I always make time to see my Nan for a cup of tea too!

A centre's view: how digital tools enhance the rehoming process

Heather, our Support Relations Officer at Merseyside has had a bit of time to think lately. Tripping and falling down the stairs, while not a pleasant holiday, will certainly give you plenty of time off work to ponder. Don’t worry everyone, she is fine! While she’s recovering, she has taken some time to talk about how digital tools enhance the rehoming process.

Take it away, Heather…

I was talking to some people the other day about how excited I was about updating the Dogs Trust Merseyside Twitter “Dog for the Day” on my phone. They replied, “Oh I don’t understand it all... it's a waste of time and pointless.” Which got me thinking about how does it help the centres?

We have all been recently uploading photos and videos to social sites such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook but what impact does this actually have and is it worth it all? Well, I think so! Here are a few stories to share with you:

Recently we have been developing our enrichment area at Merseyside and after seeing pictures of the Glasgow team building platforms, I retweeted a picture saying how we would love some items to build jumps with. We then got links to a local tweeter who deals with all left over building material. Through this someone donated us lots of car tyres and we now have some brilliant jumps for the dogs.

A few months ago I started an album on Facebook of dogs at the Merseyside centre, in it was a picture of Old Meg with her pal Taz. Meg was 18 years young and constantly overlooked due to her age. We also then did a short video of Meg and Taz showing just how sweet and active she still is. A wonderful family in North Wales fell in love with her and a week later we took Old Meg up to her perfect new home. In fact, Old Meg now has her own Facebook page with lots of followers who also fell in love but were not suitable or couldn’t offer her a home, but they now could follow her progress. Unfortunately, Old Meg has now passed away but we were so glad that she was able to live out the rest of her days in a loving home. This family also saw our recently World Cup themed video and fell in love again. We launched the video on the Friday and by Sunday morning they were at the centre to meet gorgeous Grace who is now happily living the country sea side life in North Wales.

I have found that a lot of the people on Dogs Trust Facebook often either have dogs currently or join to show us pictures of dogs they have just rehomed. Last month I posted a picture of the Spock-eared Max who was a lovely, unusual boy who was often overlooked in the centre due to his unique looks. When I posted the photo I asked people to share it on their profile so friends could see it who were not members of the group. A young guy saw Max's picture on his friends profile and fell in love straight away. He and Max are now firm best buddies and Max is living the perfect life. Also, the owner is now a fan on Facebook.

After thinking about it, I think social media works and can only get better; in fact, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If you want to know more about Merseyside, please visit their page on our website. Also, if you have any rehoming queries or want to know more about a particular dog, please call the centre on 0151 480 0660.

Meet Dogs Trust: Laurier 'Lo' Nicas

It seems that it is time for my official introduction! I started work on September 1st as the new member of the digital team here and I won’t lie to you, I love it. One month in has reaffirmed what I already knew— great people, great job, great cause.

Name: Laurier Nicas (let’s face it, that’s a mouthful. Feel free to just call me Lo)

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Assistant

You what...? I work with fellow digi-nerds, Jacqui Darlow and Alex Goldstein on all the web fun! My main duties at the moment include working on the new, highly anticipated site and using my crafty design background to jazz everything up a bit. I’m very excited to delve into more of the social networking soon.

Best thing about my job: Playing. I get to fiddle around in Photoshop, experiment on Twitter, and just jostle things up a bit. Coming in with a digital PR background and a communication/design education, I like to think I have a fresh outlook on the whole shebang! Plus working with Jacqui and Alex isn't half bad... ;)

Pets: I wish. Flatmates say no. Landlord says no. Some day soon, I hope (and as I am moving in with my boyfriend in January, this might happen sooner than he thinks).

Favourite websites: Not including the good old standbys, Google and BBC News, lately I have been reading many light-hearted and humorous blogs such as Awkward Family Photos, Not Always Right, and Scanwiches. These blogs keep things amusing and fun while I test my brain power with mental_floss and get emotional with PostSecret.

What I'm reading now: I am currently on page 425 of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I cannot put it down. Less than 100 pages to go and I’m dreading that feeling of loss that occurs when a good book ends.

Weekend plans: First, I'll Skype with my parents in the States— it is a weekly tradition! Then both the flatmates are away, so I think I will secretly tidy the entire flat. It’ll be a lovely surprise when they come back. This is not entirely selfless though, as there is nothing quite like blasting the radio in an empty house while you vacuum. I think I'll pull some Risky Business moves...

It was great to introduce myself to you— the first of many, I hope! Feel free to catch my daily ramblings on Twitter. I'm not nearly as amusing as I think I am, but you could humour me...

Heading to ICAWC: see you in Italy!

I've just been rushing around the living room discovering that no, I don't have a European adaptor but yes, I have remembered to pack my toothbrush. This year I'm lucky enough to be part of Dogs Trust's annual conference which sparks ongoing conversation with animal welfare workers around the world.

A chance for animal rescues small and large to share and learn from expertise and best practice, ICAWC (the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference) is being held in Italy this year, and that's where I'll be blogging from this week.

Although I'll be stopping by here as often as possible to make sure you're up to date with dog news, I'll be making my main home on the ICAWC blog where I'll be covering as many of the presentations and workshops as possible for those who could not make it to Stresa this year. So please do come and join me there if you've got any interest in animal welfare. There's also a social network where - delegate or not - you can communicate with those who share your focus on helping companion animals and even a wiki on which to display your knowledge, research or area of interest.

Areas covered this year include changing behaviour patterns, keeping supporters well-informed and happy, the Tellington Touch, education programmes, internet marketing on a low budget (that would be my topic!) and population dynamics - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I look forward to reporting it all for you, and maybe even meeting some of you there!

Meet Dogs Trust: Alexandra Goldstein

I was hoping to hide behind this blog a little longer, but as it turns out I'll soon by sticking my head above the parapet at the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference anyway! For that reason, I shall venture forth...

Name: Alexandra Goldstein

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Officer

You what...? I work under the Head Geek, Jacqui Darlow, helping to promote Dogs Trust through web activities. I really get the social side of the web to play with, and have the advantage of interacting directly with a lot of supporters through this site (on which I write the entries), Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and, of course, DoggySnaps.

Best thing about my job: Being allowed to use Facebook at work! Also, my job's very flexible, so I've been known to work from home when I've got the lurgy, which is very helpful.

Pets: I am currently in a garden-free flat, but I do miss my late cats who lived out their long lives with my mum and dad.

Favourite websites: Thanks to my job and because I'm an avid blogger, I've become obsessed with pet blogs. Since many of them are US-based I've been getting really involved in the election discussion. Bark Obama, which brings together Pet Connection bloggers, Terrierman and more is brilliant - insightful, interesting and very animal-focussed.

What I'm reading now: I've just received a Sony Reader from my lovely fiance. I first used it to read and review an advance copy of Patricia Volonakis Davis' Harlot's Sauce, which I found very interesting because of my Greek background. Then I rattled through The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and got stuck into Henry James' creepy classic The Turn of the Screw, both of which are out of copyright so can be read online and on some devices for free through Project Gutenberg.

Weekend plans: I'm meeting up with my soon-to-be bridesmaids for lunch in preparation for December's big day, going to some London Design Festival events and hopefully getting to chill out and chat to my friend Kirsty, who's staying with me on a jaunt up from St. Leonard's.

Previous Meet Dogs Trust: Denise Gilgallon | Hollie Sevenoaks

Dog Rescue, Greyhounds and YouTube, oh my!

It's all getting pretty exciting at Dogs Trust HQ with the expansion of the digital department. Part of my job this week will be getting hold of snippets of Dog Rescue to upload to our YouTube channel, which is currently full of lovely videos of staff interacting with dogs in one of our 17 Rehoming Centres.

One of the clips I'm most keen to get on the site is one featuring Betty the Greyhound, whose owners decided to hand her over for rehoming with us when she had to retire from racing. Retired Greyhounds might well have enjoyed their years dashing around the track, but few are lucky enough to be taken in by racing owners as pets or responsibly handing in to a centre for rehoming. Many are destroyed or sold abroad where their welfare is greatly in question and they are likely to be killed once they’ve outlived their money-spinning usefulness.

The work of charities like ours and the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 means that life has improved on and off the track for these beautiful animals, but things are still far from perfect. One of the biggest challenges we face is convincing potential adopters that a Greyhound makes a suitable pet.

For instance, did you know they're the couch potatoes of the dog world? Despite the ability to reach speeds of 40mph, Greyhounds like nothing better than a long kip on the sofa. Just two or three 20 minute walks and brief off-lead sprint a day will suffice for fitness. Chatting about them in the Dogs Trust office, Jo commented on some friends who adopted a pair of Greyhounds in the hope that they'd accompany them on long walks in the country. After half an hour, the dogs have to be walked back home before they can continue the stroll as they simply lose interest...

These docile giants are child-friendly, clean and sociable animals, who sadly have a bad reputation because of a handful of negative news reports.

They do have a deliberately bred chase instinct, but provided you invest time and effort in training (and use muzzle if necessary), that shouldn't cause any problems. Some greyhounds have been known to chase any smaller dogs, rabbits and even cats, but common sense and responsible ownership should prevent any issues. In fact, their sociable nature means they make for particularly good second pets as they tend to socialise very well with other animals; your local Rehoming Centre will be able to give you all the advice you need.

Who knows? Your next dog might just be one of these graceful, delightful animals.

Dogs Trust goes blogging...

Hello, and welcome to the first Dogs Trust blog post at Blogger!

We've been busy little social bees of late, networking furiously on behalf of our wonderful dogs and Centre staff on Facebook, MySpace, bebo, Twitter and Flickr. In fact, you can see our Flickr feed in the Slideshow right here.

We'd love you to come and visit us on any of those sites or add this blog to your RSS feeds. We'll be discussing the latest doggy news as well as Dogs Trust updates and appeals, information about particular breeds and more.

If you've just found us while looking to sponsor a dog or make a donation, follow those links to do so. Now you can even give the gift of Dogs Trust support to a friend through our Facebook application, which gives them a virtual badge for their profile for a whole month.

As editor of our social networking world, I look forward to hearing from you.