All Things Dog Blog

Showing posts with label pet videos. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Your Best Dog Ever!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Many of you know that All Things Dog Blog feeds and recommends ORGANIX organic dog food. What you may not realize is that the maker of Castor and Pollux Pet's ORGANIX is one of several brands made by Merrick Pet Care. Merrick 's desire to continue on their path to making better and better pet food became a reality when they acquired Castor and Pollux in early 2013. The partnership of these two companies has netted the pet loving community a grand slam of choices in both natural and organic pet foods.

Enough history, today I'd like to introduce you to a fun feature that Merrick is enjoying, mostly at the expense of our dogs--the stars who make us laugh. Having launched the Best Dog Ever MovieMaker, you can now upload your 20 second video using a number of fun themes using classic dog show commentary. You can check out some sample videos here, giving you a chance to hear a few of the pre-recorded voiceovers. Get ready to laugh as these videos will have you rolling.

Pick Your Category

Ready to make your pup's video? Check out the wide array in Step 1: Select a Theme. Tanner and Oliver are all about eating, so we created a video using the first theme: "Best "Dinnertainment Ever". Grab a look at my boys and enjoy the commentary.

After you pick your category, you're on to step 2: Upload a Video. Click "Next" at the far right of the page. Be sure to take note that the size parameters for your video are mentioned here: 25-100 seconds and no more than 1 meg file size. I was able to shorten up my video using the editor on Youtube.

Once you're uploaded, the system will allow you to slightly modify your video's length. This is handy to sync your action with the voiceover. After this quick step you'll get to view your video. Love it? Share it!

With a long holiday weekend ahead, you have the perfect opportunity to take some video of your pup and have a little fun with it. Enjoy some bonding time and then share your video that shows off your pup and his fun talents. What a great way to bond!

Here are a few Tweets you may want to try on for size. Add your link or use these @MerrickPetCare samples if you prefer:

Watch the #BestDogEver attempt the possible, via @MerrickPetCare: http://bit.ly/1pbnoXg
A tale of tenacity as one determined dog hunts for a place to nap. Check out this #BestDogEver from @MerrickPetCare: http://bit.ly/1pbnoXg
Make your best friend an instant star. Share a video of your #BestDogEver: http://www.bestdogevervideo.com/

Here's to your #BestDogEver,

As my primary advertiser, I often share news about Castor and Pollux and their affiliated brands.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Weave Your Dog's Stories on Vine

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

A relatively new app, Vine is something I've been experimenting with for a couple of months. Vine is a 6-second video app for iPhone and iPod Touch that was released by Twitter in early 2013. It's a fun way to share those moments in your life when only video can tell the story. That makes it perfect for sharing the silliness that our dogs often exhibit.

As Event Barkers moves forward with our Twitter Parties and photo contests, we'll be adding Vine entries to our options. It's simple to download and use, and so much fun to watch other's videos as well. Check out this boring example I just videod to show you what you can do in just 6 seconds:

What a great day for a walk! vine.co/v/b2B11VheAAD
— Alan Boyko (@AlanJBoyko) May 5, 2013

I'd like to run through the simple procedure for getting the Vine app on your iPhone or iPod so you can join us in sharing your life's moments. Grab your device and let's get going.

1) Start by clicking on the App Store icon. Search for "Vine app" and select it when located. It's FREE!

2) Click on FREE and then click INSTALL APP. When it's completely installed, click the OPEN button.

3) You'll be offered 2 ways to sign in: via Twitter or email. If you're on Twitter, use that option to make it easy to post your videos there. Vine is all about sharing!

4) Vine will walk you through a few quick steps, guiding you through a test video. Your kindergartner could do this, so don't shy away now. After recording 3 segments, you'll have finished your test and be able to view it, delete it, or click Next to release it to your choice of social media networks. Read on for the details on doing this:

5) You'll see a screen much like this, with your video all set to share. They've even filled in the text area with "My #firstpost on Vine". LOL: it's probably not very compelling, but you'll be getting the idea. Oh, and you can add anything else you wish to those comments, as long as it fits in a Tweet, assuming you'd like it to go to Twitter. When entering a photo/video contest with your Vine Video, always use the hashtag for the party in your comment section to assure it will be picked up by the hosts.

6) You can add a location, and then indicate where you'd like to post your video: one or all of Vine, Twitter, and Facebook. With a quick touch of the button each will switch on easily.

7) Now click Done at the bottom and your video will be off to view by your friends and family on Twitter, Facebook or Vine--your choice.

8) Check your work out by visiting your post on Twitter or Facebook to view what others will see. Vine videos expand nicely on Twitter.com, for a great view of your work. Click "View Media" under your Tweet to expand the video. Sound will be OFF by default, but you can turn it on if you wish. Beneath your video, there's an additional option to View on the Web, which blows up your video for even easier viewing.

Are you pumped now? It's sort of addictive when you first get it, but that helps you get motivated to practice so you can learn to connect the segments in better ways. Have fun!

Here are a couple of places you can watch Vine videos of pets. DISCLAIMER--I can't guarantee that this will all be appropriate for your kids, so watch these on your own first:

With an Event Barkers Twitter Party being announced within a week, you may want to get your Vine skills up to speed quickly. There could be an opportunity to use them ;)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Social Networking Goes to the Dogs!

by Carrie Boyko

(c) Carrie Boyko

Oliver Socializes with New Friends

Nowadays we pet owners are a little obsessive about our furry friends. We buy our Chihuahuas cute dresses, have special treadmills for our high-energy dogs, and even help them socialize online.

Enter My DogSpace, a place where your pet can have her own profile, find a breeding partner, locate a nearby dog park, and all sorts of other fun things to enhance her social lifestyle.

Dogbook is an application within Facebook that offers owners all sorts of options, including Arf Alerts--not quite sure what they are, but each one has a map included....must be a lost dog lookout?

Even us owners can enjoy this new socializing at Date My Pet, where owners and pets can seek out enjoyable dates or simply fun new friends.

Dogster is a fun site where owners can get acquainted, share their dog's pictures and do all sorts of other socializing.

Pet Brags gives pet owners a place to create their pet's own site and have fun with it--sort of like My Space for dogs.

Petizens offers owners an assortment of stickers to add to their photos and plenty of action in the forums for owners to talk pets and all their many topics.

Zoogletube is primarily a video sharing site for pet owners. You can show off your dog's Halloween party or watch another dog's birthday bash, among other interesting activities.

Pet Pop helps dog owners locate dogs parks or other neutral places to get together with their owners for some fun times.

Yee Pet offers all sorts of opportunities to share information, read up on pet care, and participate in forums. Your pet can even have his own profile page and set up play dates.

Pet Crash gives you a place to build pet polls, join groups of like-minded pet lovers and network all over the pet world.

Pet Side is on your pet's side in helping you keep Fido or Fluffy healthy and happy. One of their best features is the ability to look up information on your pet's breed to seek out information on breed-specific issues and health problems.

Animal Attraction, based on Facebook, allows you to find other pet lovers, send them messages, and share photos.

Pet Files is associated with Petfinder, and is unique in the networking realm, providing pages to offer your pet for sale or adoption.

My Pet Friends' site not only gives you a place to join pet loving groups, network and share photos, but you can blog there too.

You can also blog about your pet over at PetBoogaloo, where members can join groups, play games and get involved in causes. If you don't have a pet, PetBoogaloo will help you try one out with a virtual pet; now that's a creative idea!

Yapstar offers a few unique features that make it attractive for those of you who want to network with flair. You can send ecards, join contests, locate local pet businesses, upload videos, start a gift wish list, or just chat in the forum.

And there are still more! Check out Pets' Area, Love My Pets, Pet Smooch, Puppy Sites and People n Pets. Be sure to let me know what your favorite site is and why. I'm exhausted just from looking them all up. Gotta go have a puppy nap now; networking will have to wait. Bow wow!

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