There’s a new (free!) social media phenomenon that’s sweeping the nation and proving to be quite the resource for dog owners. It’s called Pinterest, and it’s essentially a cork board for the digital age with a great social component. Remember the days of scouring magazines for recipes, craft ideas, pictures, and decorating ideas, then clipping out those pages and posting them on a cork board or filing them away in a series of folders or binders? Pinterest lets you do all that digitally: no muss, no fuss, no clutter, and better yet, you won’t LOSE anything!

How it works is simple: once you sign up, you’re able to create as many “pin boards” as you want, and categorize them as you prefer. As you browse through Pinterest and find things you like, you simply click on them to “re-pin” them to the board of your choice. They are already linked to their home site (so, for example, a picture of a completed recipe will be linked to the page with the recipe on it), and you can add your own comments or captions to explain it to your friends or remind yourself of any ideas you have for it. As you browse the web, you can also pin web pages you come across via an easy-to-use “bookmarklet” that will reside in your browser’s toolbar.

The social component comes in to play in that the pins you post are available for viewing by other pinners, who can then re-pin them to their respective boards. You can also browse other pinners’ boards to add their pins to your page. Find a pinner with a lot of stuff you like? You can “follow” them so their pins will show up in your feed. You can do the same with your friends from Facebook and other social sites; Pinterest has a function that will find your friends from other sites and list them for you to follow. You can also link your Pinterest account to Facebook so that when you pin something, it’s posted on your Facebook news feed as well.

Dog bed made out of an old suitcase, found on Pinterest.But how does this benefit dog owners? There are literally TONS of pins out there with dog food and treat recipes, toy and craft ideas, activity suggestions, fun facts, cute pictures, videos, great products, you name it.  Need somewhere to start? Try DogWatch’s Pinterest! We have pins of our products and other products we love, as well as the dogs of DogWatch and other pets that make us laugh, make us squeal,  and inspire us. You can also visit the “Pets” category on Pinterest for a broad selection of pet-related pins.

Pinterest currently has a short waiting list, but once you complete your preliminary registration, you usually get your invite within a week, and then it’s a simple process to get up and pinning.

Already on Pinterest? Please make sure to follow us, and comment below so we can follow you in return. Thanks, and happy pinning!