Paws at work The Official Uniteddogs and Unitedcats team blog

Hola!

Do you live in Venezuela and happen to be in Caracas on Saturday 6th February?

Great - it is your chance to come and meet Ragnar - the person who started Uniteddogs and Unitedcats websites.

It is up to you to come up with the best place and the time!

Write in here if you are interested and give your suggestions what might be the place - we will choose the place on Thursday morning, according to your schedule!

Ragnar will also bring some gifts for you, so the better we know who are coming the best we can plan what to bring

Venezuela here we come!

P.S. Visit forums at our Uniteddogs and Unitedcats Spanish sites and read what others think about it

Hey folks,

we wrote about our great snowy winter and gave you some good tips about what to do when there is a loads of snow outside. Let’s be honest, sometimes winter can be annoyingly cold, too. Right now there is -20°C outside. It is very easy to catch a cold and dogs and cats must be kept extra-warm.

But enough about our cold weather here What’s going on in countries where there is no snow?

A lot of our users come from such warm places as Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Philippines .. you name it. Also Italy and Spain which are paradises for us.

Let’s have a look at what dogs and cats are up to in a warmer climate while we are jumping into the snow. Here are some hints for you

SWIMMING

Uniteddogs.com user Chloe from Philippines writes in her blog:

“I´m so happy I get to be with my friends again, this time we went out swimming in pansol laguna… Its our 1st time to actually swim for real. Our humans were even surprised that there was no need for us to have swimming lessons..
Actually, the very 1st dip I had was by accident, I was walking in the side of the pool when I accidentally fell on the pool. My humans panicked but I didn’t, and I swam gracefully to everyone’s surprise lolz… It was a blast! Hope this wont be the last “

Read the whole blog entry and have a look at the picture of Chloe swimming Here you can also find the  video of her swimming.

SURFING

Another exciting activity is surfing. We know that people from Australia like to surf. In fact, one could say that Australia is home to some of the great waves on the planet, and some of the hottest surfers. Surfing is not only popular in Australia. In US, for example, they also run surfing competitions for dogs.

Check out this great photo here:

And the ones who thought that cats are afraid of water. Guess again

BEACH
What can be more pleasant than wind blowing in your face, sand between your paws, stick to chase after and the water to freshen up. And nothing can beat rolling in the sand. Wohoo… it is like every day Aloha!

Have a look how Uniteddogs.com user Dandavat from Venezuela loves to play with his friends at the beach

WEIRD ANIMALS?!

Do not forget that in warmer climates you can find a bit different kind of animals walking outside your house than you are maybe used to see For example in Australia.

Have a look at these great photos of a dog and a baby kangaroo

WHAT ABOUT CATS?

Oh, come on. Cats do not like sports. Who loves to get dirty and chase everything that moves? Thats’ right, definitely not cats. Cats love to lie down, they love when you rub their coat softly and scratch between their ears or under chin. Cats love to sleep and enjoy the good weather, eat, play a little bit when in a mood, sometimes check out their territory .. and then.. sleep again.

Emir from Argentina likes to check out his territory. No stranger dogs are allowed in there!

But guys, I must tell you, this is only how it looks for us from here.

Tell us more what is it really like to live in a warmer climate. What is the weather like? What you do together with your pets?

We are very curious to get to know you all!

Love,

United Dogs and Cats

The question is simple - what would your dog or cat say if he/she could speak? What would your dog or cat think?

The Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com calendars are now 35% cheaper.

Get the limited edition calendar fast if you want to remember the most beautiful moments with dogs and cats. Not sure? Check out the calendar pages at  Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com and make up your mind then

Remember these moments with the Unitedddogs.com and Unitedcats.com 2010 calendar!

Come and share your thoughts at Uniteddogs and Unitedcats forum and do not miss our Uniteddogs and Unitedcats Facebook fanpages.

Read our previous blogpost about calendars United Dogs and Cats 2010 calendar: the purrrrrrfect way to start a new year

Woof and meow!

“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels”

We can’t get over the fact that there is a record amount of snow in Estonia this year. Can you imagine 62 cm of snow? We had such amount of snow last in 1968. And snow keeps on coming

In Estonia life does not stop because of snow. Public transport still runs and most cars still can drive. People are not afraid of cold and the life is functioning like in every other day. Well, sometimes can happen that a bus or a car gets stuck in the snow, but this is not a obstacle for us. People, like one mind, help each other.

UDC team loves snow, too. We know how to enjoy it and most important we do remember all kinds of winter activities that snow offers

Here are some great tips for you what to do when there is a 62 cm of snow

Skiing – Estonia is not known for mountains. We do cross-country skiing. Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants move themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles. In some cases it can happen that the snow is too deep and the skier sinks in. Then it is hard to move your legs, I tell you

In Estonia we do not have mountains, but you can find a number of small hills to run down to. It is pure fun! But be sure that you have locked you ski clamps properly. Otherwise, you may see them running down the hill before you.

Skating – lakes, rivers and human-made skating places are popular in Estonia. It is a Winter romance

Sledging – For sledging you need a sledge, a vehicle that moves by sliding. It is very simple. You can sledge just by yourself. For that you definitely need to find a small hill to run down to. But the more company you have with you the more fun is guaranteed. You can either let others to push you down the hill or have a little experience how many of you actually do fit on one sledge. When you are already tired and do not feel like walking then there is a possibility to let others to drag you along the snow. Either way you choose happy snowy face is ensured.

Snowball fight – this is a special thing and THE MOST FUN! The size of the ball is not the issue here. As long as there is a lot of snow flying around and tons of laughs. Snowball fight can be organized only when there is around 0 degrees. But you can always imagine doing it

Snow angels – the soft snow is the best thing to make some snow angels to watch over us. Just jump in the snow and move your legs and hands.

Jumping into the snow - that is something everybody can manage. I think photos here talk for them selves

Shoveling - that is a good exercise to do during the winter time. No gym is needed when you have had to shovel yourself out of the house or your car out of the snow. There are people who do not enjoy shoveling that much. But all you have to do is have a creative attitude. It can be fun, too.

We wish you all great snow.

Yours,

United Dogs and Cats team

www.uniteddogs.com

www.unitedcats.com

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas or just a winter holiday. We are also finally back in the office after a nice weekend with our loved ones. Now, year 2009 is packing its bags to give the job over to Year 2010. But before this year ends we want to tell you a little bit about ourselves - the people behind United Dogs and Cats. The easiest way to do that is to tell you about our Christmas party: how we decorated our office, lighted candles and spent one great evening together.

We had a Christmas tree in the office and lots of presents under it. Our dog Riki made friends with it from the very first moment. He loved to lie under it and chew its thorns.

Our Christmas party was quite a traditional one. All of us brought some Christmas food, we drank hot mulled wine and got presents from Santa. In Estonia, we have a sweet tradition that each person who gets a present from Santa must do something to claim it. One can either read a Christmas poem, sing a song, dance or show a trick with the pet

At the end of the party, we finally managed to get almost everyone into the picture. From right to left: there’s Luis, Liis, Nino, Elise, Stella, Henk, Marju, Tajur, Kairi, Reimo, Sandra, Ellen. And in the very front there’s Ragnar with Riki and Sergei. Can you guess what they do? Just by looking at their faces? Hmm…I will make it easier for you:

Luis (1st person from the right, dressed in black) is from Venezuela and working as a Sales Manager for Latin America. He still finds Estonia (this is where our office is located) tooooo cold. Hence, he wears a coat even indoors

Liis (with a picture of herself in her hand) is a designer. She’s the person who creates all the lovely presents that we can send to our friends at Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com. She also creates page designs and often gets angry when Flash programs refuse to work properly…

Nino (peeking from just between Liis and Elise in the picture) is a Sales Manager for Italy. In addition to speaking Italian, he also speaks Spanish and fluent Pizza. The latter is the reason why he does not appreciate Esto-German Christmas food such as black puddings and sauerkraut. He’s currently enjoying proper dishes on a well-deserved vacation.

Elise (grey top) is the head of the Editorial team and Community Manager. She keeps a general eye on everything that goes on at Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com pages - in all 14 language versions! That’s over 300 000 people and over half a million dogs and cats!

Stella (big smile) was with us for an apprenticeship in December. She has an open invitation to come visit us any time! But right now she’s gone back to Paris, France.

Henk (eyes closed, yet happy) is the Chief Technical Officer and knows all there is about technology. If something is wrong with Uniteddogs.com or Unitedcats.com (for example, you cannot upload your picture), he gets a notification about it and decides what to do next.

Marju (longest hair) is also a member of the Editorial team. She replies to all of your letters that are sent to info@…, talks with site moderators, answers queries in the forums and sees that everything is in order with the paper work in the office.

Tajur (tallest of the bunch) is the Creative Director. He makes and looks over design solutions, but also knows what’s behind pretty web pages (that’s HTML, CSS, jQuery, JavaScript, PHP, mySQL). He’s also a talented content producer and that’s why he’s present at every meeting that we hold.

Kairi (beige shiny blouse) is Head of Sales and manages all the work of our sales team. She motivates sales team to reach its goals, puts together sales material, plans and supports campaign offers and deals with product development.

In addition to Kairi, Luis and Nino we have more Sales Managers all over the world: from France, Spain, Lithuania, Italy - Guillaume, Jacobo, Dovile, Laura, Inga and Mari-Ly. All these people are true fans of the site and represent United Dogs and Cats at their region. We’ll always welcome new like-minded people to our team!

Reimo (smiling just behind Sandra) is one of our Software Developers. He develops, improves codes, handles MySql databases and writes MySql queries - that’s the equivalent of writing books in Latin if you’re not really sure about IT definitions. He also fixes all sorts of bugs.

Sandra (red necklace) is a Marketing and Partner Relations assistant. Her job includes all sort of (re)searching, updating site statistics, organizing and assisting campaigns and events on UDC sites, keeping eye on UDC souvenirs and sharing information with you!

Ellen (1st from left) is part of the Editorial team, bringing more interesting and important stuff for you to find on UDC sites: that includes talking to you on Facebook fan sites, helping with non-profit campaigns and finding new partners for interesting content or fun games.

Ragnar (holding the dog) is United Dogs and Cats CEO. That means he keeps an eye on everything: operations, marketing, strategy, financing, creation of company culture, human resources, PR and - most importantly - the quality and quantity of office humour.

Riki is our everything. None of us could ever imagine coming to work without Riki looking over us in the office. His two most favourite things in the whole world? Cardboard boxes and CATS!

Sergei is one of the freshest members of our Development team. He’s currently proofing and migrating databases, but he’s also a certified Real Aikido instructor of the Olympic Committee and has a black belt!!! Don’t mess with him.

MISSING BUT FOUND: Elar & Lauri

Elar is a Software Developer - writing codes, fixing problems on the site. But Elar is not an ordinary Developer. He sings in a professional choir and has performed with big stars. We hope he does not leave us for the fame and glory of stage life.

Lauri has a background in computer programming and interactive media. He works in the field of eCommerce and Partner Relations. He is writing projects and makes sure that all sales campaigns run on time.

Bye year 2009……hope to see you all in 2010.

Have a crazy and fun New Year Celebration!

“A dog is the only thing on this earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

Josh Billings

Yesterday, United Dogs and Cats team visited two Estonian animal shelters.

In Rakvere pet shelter there are 14 dogs and 25 cats. They are small and lucky to share love to each animal who lives in the shelter.

Virumaa shelter is bigger. They have 120 cats and 65 dogs. They give their best to find a home for each one of them. They are doing a good job!

No one likes an empty stomach. Especially when the Christmas is coming. For that we got help from Santa’s Little Helpers Estonian dog food Roy and cat food Kiti donated canned food and Nestle Purina loaded one of our cars full of dogs’ and cats’ dry food. Thank you!

Here are some great emotions we would like to share with you from the visit:

From United Dogs & Cats Community manager, Elise: “Bojaar was definintely the dog that I will remember from Rakvere. Although I would not name her Bojaar, but the fantastic people at the shelter didn’t know her real name. They chose Bojaar, because she is black, elegant, with a white sock on her right front leg. Bojaar was the most active dog in the shelter, and ohhh.. she jumped so high, it was amazing. She had actually jumped over her fence a couple of times and I am not surprised.

Bojaar was the first one who showed herself and who was let out from her fence to the bigger yard, where she played with me and Ragnar. She really loved to run, to fetch ball and to pull a rope toy. Although she didn’t know yet that it would be a good idea to give the rope toy back to the thrower so she could run again, it was fun and she definitely enjoyed our time together.I was the one who also decided to take a couple of dogs for a walk outside the shelter. Of course Bojaar was the first one

Bojaar reminded me of my own dog Florida, especially when she was young, also similarly playful and happy around people, she was even on the same size as Florida was, and the main color was black

I admire the people who work in Rakvere shelter. They were warm and open to all visitors who came. They know the life story of every pet there – how a dog or cat ended up in shelter, did the pet have a home before or was he found injured somewhere. They spent a lot of time with the animals to socialize them, so they could find new homes and family members for these amazing dogs and cats.

I really suggest people visit a shelter, especially those where you can take the dog out for a walk and spend time with them. It gives them so much and helps these animals to trust people again. When you have the chance, donate or take food or toys with yourself, depending on the shelter’s needs. And don’t hesitate to ask questions from people in the shelter, they know and can help you. There were 8 of us visiting the shelters and it was really great, because there were enough people to both go to the cat house and play with dogs, and we could give as much attention to as many animals as possible.”

Our Community Editor Marju says: “My heart melted when I saw a cat called Veenus. She was not like every other cat. There was something very special about her. Those big green eyes, a funny little face.. She was sitting on my lap with a second asking for a pat and purring so sweetly. I would have taken her home if I had that possibility.

There was one other cat, too, who warmed my heart as much. Unfortunately, I could not catch this cat’s name, but this little pal was something. He knew how to ask for an attention. Firstly, he tried to jump on my lap, then he was already climbing on my shoulder and bam.. there he was.. sitting in my hood.

It definitely was an amazing day. A bit sad, too. But the feeling of doing a good deed to somebody who really needs it, is the best of all.”

UDC recommends all of you visit animal shelters. Take some food, toys or warm blankets with you.  Your visit helps them socialize with humans again and forget all the bad things that have happened in their past.

Each animal has their own story to tell!

With warm and soft pats,

Uniteddogs and Unitedcats team

Are you looking for a great Christmas present for yourself or your friend?

Every pet lover’s house has room for the cuuuutest Uniteddogs and Unitedcats wall calendars of 2010 that give you a perfect monthly dose of purrs and woofs throughout the year.

All the pictures that you see in the calendars were chosen through an international photo contest that took place in the Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com pages. Each Uniteddogs or Unitedcats calendar has 100 adorable high quality pictures in it! That’s enough to keep even the most passionate pet lovers satisfied.

United Dogs and Cats 2010 pet calendars are unlike any other, because your pet can be in it too!

• Ordering the calendar is supereasy: simply visit the Uniteddogs or Unitedcats calendar home page.
• You can choose between a CEE (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian), Hispanic or the international edition (in English, French, Italian, Dutch and Croatian). This way all the relevant information (national holidays, days of the week etc) will be in your own language. You will also see cats or dogs who live near you!
• Order the calendar through Uniteddogs or Unitedcats and get a great deal on shipping!
• When 2010 is over, keep the photos as high quality art work in your home.

Hi folks!

You have been great and brave for taking part in different contests that we organize throughout the year. Now we here at United Dogs and Cats decided to give it a shot, too.

United Dogs and Cats is running for Crunchies 2009. We are pretty excited about this, because the Crunchies are to technology what the Oscars are to Hollywood.

If you believe that United Dogs and Cats is worth to be nominated then please give us your support!

CLICK ON THIS BADGE TO NOMINATE US:

Five finalists from each category will be chosen and move on to the voting round.

Sit back and have a talk with your dog or cat. What does he or she think? Is UDC good enough to win that award? What do your other buddies at Uniteddogs.com and Unitedcats.com think about it?

Raise your tail if you want us to win!

Great! Go to the Crunchies Award site. Scroll down to “Best International Startup” category. Type in “United Dogs and Cats” and click “Nominate”. That’s how easy it is.

Do not forget that you can nominate once per day!

Folks, thanks for believing in us!

P.S. Feeling lazy? Just click on this badge to nominate United Dogs and Cats for the award:

Stop Killing Dogs campaign has been nominated for Mashable Open Web Awards TOP5 Best Non-Profit Use of Social Media! Please vote for www.uniteddogs.com/stopkillingdogs to win, because the dogs in South Korea need all the attention they can get.

TO VOTE SIMPLY CLICK HERE:

The Stop Killing Dogs petition has collected over 300,000 signatures and this number is not left unnoticed. Mashable Open Web Awards are another way to put the campaign on the map and hopefully get us closer to 1 million signatures!

We got through the Mashable Awards nominations only thanks to you - caring fans from all over the world took the time to click at the Mashable Awards page and sent the word out to their friends. You did this in just three days!

Now it’s time to vote for the last time and put the word (”Stop killing dogs!”) out there. Go to Mashable Awards page, select “Best Non-Profit Use of Social Media” as category and www.uniteddogs.com/stopkillingdogs and you’ve done it!

Thank you!

P.S. You can vote once per day. So just to remind you: go to Mashable Awards page, select “Best Non-Profit Use of Social Media” as category andwww.uniteddogs.com/stopkillingdogs to win.

November 6 was like every other Friday morning at United Dogs and Cats office. We were sitting behind our computers, our dog Riki was pulling apart a carton box.. Another great day had started! But suddenly…

… like out of nowhere, we saw snowflakes falling behind the window. Faster and faster. There it was - the happy first snow of this winter. Big smiles appeared all over our faces.  We could not wait to go outside and have our first snow fight. Riki was especially excited. He loves to sniff around in the snow. Who knows what one can find under there

Five days have passed since Friday and the snow is still here. We got extra-motivated by the snow and came up with great ideas for the upcoming winter. We cannot wait to share everything with all of you so stick around for beautiful surprises on the United Dogs and Cats websites.

Hey…but while we prepare for Winter festivities we invite you all to take photos of your cats and dogs going crazy in the snow! Just simply upload the photos onto Uniteddogs and Unitedcats fanpages’ walls and they will appear in the fan photos where everybody can see them. We have made a first start for you. Check out Behemot and our two energetic Dachsunds.

Sorry, the time for fresh vegetables is over:

Snow Patrol - a world famous band of two Dachsunds:

We wish you all snowy woofs and meows!

Yours,

UDC team

P.S. Can’t wait to see your snowy photos!