I was initially going to write about dog weddings, the subject of nearly 60,000 Google results and 215 matches on YouTube, such as last week’s nuptials of schiperkes Cricket and Black Magic and a complementary blog post of the honeymoon at a Salem hotel 20 miles away.
I was going to include educational links on hosting dog weddings and tips on including your best friend in your own wedding.
…and then, I wondered if social networking sites existed for dogs and their owners.
They do.
DogTree and MyDogSpace are two such sites — 4,194 members currently belong to DogTree alone, an Australian networking site to bring dogs (via their owners) together for social activities.
Looking at Alysha’s profile, for instance, I can read about Leroy, her 6-year-old male border collie who is friendly and seeks companionship. Like my friends writing comments on my Facebook wall, Leroy’s friends write on his wall.
Woof woof.
Over at MyDogSpace, dogs pseudo-participate in blog posts, forum discussions, and more. Here’s a sample of recent dog blogs:
Case studies exist on the benefits of using social media to announce dog welfare programs and raise funds for dog surgeries. Folks like Mark Hayward wrote about 10 social media tips he learned from his dog.
But what about dogs themselves online and not merely representation through their owners’ fingers?
I wondered this too.
That’s when I stumbled onto a February 2010 story from the Los Angeles Times about Puppy Tweets, a $29.99 Mattel toy that attaches to the dog’s collar, is wirelessly connected to a computer’s USB port, and synchronizes canine movements to your dog’s Twitter account.
Pumpkin barks, and you see a tweet by Pumpkin.
LA Times reporter Andrea Chang elaborates:
Attached to a dog’s collar, the plastic tag randomly generates one of 500 canned tweets when it detects barking or movement and automatically posts an update to Fido’s own Twitter page.
A round of woofing could lead to a tweet of “I bark because I miss you. There, I said it. Now hurry home.” A frenzied run through the backyard might garner “I finally caught that tail I’ve been chasing, and . . . OOUUUCHH!”
In a sentiment echoed by Lauren Begley on the silliness of the dog toy, Andrea continues:
So even though Fido’s device may be tweeting about tracking a squirrel, he could actually be digging a hole or scratching himself. And that might be a letdown for people hoping for the real thing.
“I mean, really what is it telling you?” said Janene Zakrajsek, co-owner of Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar, a pet shop with locations in downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. “It’s like a Magic 8 Ball toy.”
Woof, woof.
Is your canine companion doing anything online?
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Did you look at anything for cats? We had to put down our dog in March, but we have three cats who could, I guess, develop their on-line presence.
From Juli Monroe @All About Networking to you: iPad as Productivity Tool Guest Post by -jarehart
You want cats?
Wow, I did know that there were social networking for dogs but I did not know that they were so Interactive. Probably I will make for my dog too lol
well it seems there is a social network for everything right now.
i wonder how many of these will exists in two years
Well, I came to read your blog after using poor etiquette in an email, and this post just makes me think about the movie Congo. Twitter seems like a cool medium for animal/pet communication… could there possibly be a way to input communications to animals as well? If someone replies a certain way to the tweet, perhaps the characteristics of the collar can change?
How far off can we be from talking cats? I can has communications?
Wow, social networking sites for dogs? What has the world come to. Maybe I should sign up my dogs lol.
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