Exercise your rights…

A great bonus of owning a dog is that they make you get out in to the fresh air, and you get to enjoy seeing your pet having fun and keeping healthy.

A feature of my website, DogMog (yes, it will be here very soon) gives you the ability to search or browse through exercise areas – parks, walks and beaches – in your area. Once you find what you are looking for, you can rate the walk/park/beach and share your thoughts. If you can’t find your favourite spot then you can add it for everyone else to see.  And while you are there, upload a photo so others can check it out before they visit.   I’ll even add a GoogleMaps location so you can figure out how to get there from your place.

You will also be able to add details such as lighting, rubbish bins, car parking, proximity to a road, play grounds for the kids, and if it is an on or off leash area.

Compared to Auckland I think we have it quite good here in Wellington, as far as dog exercise areas go. Once you actually look into it there are a lot of great places to take your dog that you can enjoy as well.

The Wellington City council sent surveys out with the annual dog registration forms this year, looking for feedback on dog exercise areas, dog access in the CBD, and whether dogs should be allowed on public transport.

Unfortunately less then half of dog owners returned this survey (I was one of those who did). It’s a shame more people didn’t take the time to contribute. If you can’t take the time to say what you want then don’t complain when you aren’t happy!

Speaking of unhappy, some Wellington dog owners have taken the time to submit a petition to the Wellington City council asking for safety lighting at the popular walking spots around Wellington. This will be heard on the 21^st August. You can check out the status of the petition here

If you are a Wellington dog owner and missed the opportunity to provide feedback through signing the petition or contributing to the council survey, then why not provide it via the parks, walks and beach review area of DogMog.  I truly do want DogMog to be the foremost online destination for pet owners, and to help the councils learn what we pet owners really need.

So what is the situation in the area you live in? Are you happy with your exercise areas? Are there any quirky things that you are/aren’t allowed to do in your city as dog owners?  Does your council take your concerns seriously?

A tough choice

So how do you choose a web development partner who will suit your needs, deliver the product you want and do it on time?

Unfortunately there isn’t a simple or foolproof answer to that question, but I can share what I have learnt from my recent web development experience. Bear in mind that my website is fairly small and I needed a customisable content management system.

Specialist development / design company or one stop shop? 

Most web development companies these days offer an in-house design service, and vice versa. These seem to be more of a value-add for some companies rather then a top quality service and you may not get the best of breed doing it this way. I chose to go for the specialist option – separate companies who specialise in each area. I did however find it really helped that my designer had worked with my development company previously, and with the absence of a Project Manager I needed all the help I could get.

What do I need to do before getting a quote?

It is a good idea to have thought about your high level requirements and put these down on paper. If you want a quote that is anywhere near what you will end up paying then this is essential. The high level requirements should include at a minimum, the site’s objectives and key functions. The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise e-business guide has some great templates and advice about putting these requirements together.

I am fortunate enough to have experience in writing requirements so I put these together myself, but if you don’t know what you want, then there are people who can capture that for you – but of course it will cost you.

Should I disclose my budget?

Every company I requested a quote from asked me my budget. I resisted disclosing this at first because it is something that we are usually taught to keep to ourselves so it can be difficult to get your head around this one.

I soon realised that this does seem to be normal practice and the budget basically determines what functionality can be delivered.

If a company quotes way outside your budget then ask why – you may be expecting too much for your money or they may be overpriced, or there may just be a communication breakdown.

This is why it’s a good idea to get at least 3 quotes to compare. It will give you a good idea of which functionality is costing you the most, and may help you determine if you need to take a phased approach to your site development. If the quote seems way lower then others then they may not have understood your requirements properly.

What info should I expect in a quote?

• An outline of the company’s development methodology.

The two methodologies that I came across are Predictive & Adaptive. Predictive is where you try and predict what your site will look like as the end product, through writing detailed specifications and requirements and specifying how the site will work.

Adaptive / Agile development is very high level with changes being made along the way, as and when needed. This method emphasises face-to-face communication over written documents but when done properly still follows rigorous processes.

Both types of methods have their place, but for the Adaptive method you need a high level of trust and communication with your development team. For the predictive method you need to understand the implications of making changes to requirements once they are finalised. In this case your mantra should become “how much will this cost me”?

 If you want to know more about Predictive versus Adaptive development then check out Wikipedia: Adaptive development

• Will you be provided with a Project Manager?

Some companies will try to cut costs by not providing you with a Project Manager, but it is essential, especially if you are inexperienced with web development. I am an experienced project manager but I still found it essential to have a project manager on the developer side to work with. Important note: a developer is not a Project manager – these are two very different skill sets.

• Is testing included?

Most companies will complete some testing, but the comprehensiveness of that testing varies.  Ask exactly what sort of testing is provided – Is it just functional? Will you be required to complete user acceptance testing?  You as the customer will be required to sign off the site once it’s finished and should complete business acceptance testing.  Remember that launching a site full of bugs isn’t good for business. You only get one chance to impress people enough to make them want to come back again.

• Is the quote a fixed price or an estimate?

This goes back to defining your requirements.  If you have well defined requirements then a developer may be more willing to offer a fixed price quote, but you have to be aware that changes made may result in additional cost. Otherwise an estimate may only be given, and if you decide to go ahead, more detailed requirements could be carried out and a fixed price may be given.

After the big day

Once launched you should have a warranty period where the company will fix defects for a period of time, You need to discuss what your support contract delivers you once you are out of that warranty.

Support and hosting

As a layperson it can be difficult to understand whether a problem with your site is a result of a fault or defect within the code or something that you may have inadvertently done. This can be tricky because you don’t know what you don’t know so again having a good level of trust and communication with your support provider is important.

In saying that you don’t have to stay with the company who built your site for hosting or support if you aren’t feeling comfortable with the level of service you have been given. There are a lot of reputable hosting companies around who are competitively priced, and there are also companies who will support your site too.

There is no easy solution to choosing a development partner. There is often so much riding on that one decision.  Make sure you talk to as many people as you can. Call the owners of websites you like and ask them about their experiences with their developers.

Do your research; don’t let people rush you into making a decision and trust your gut instinct. If you are having trouble with your developer remember its ok to walk away. Don’t throw good money after bad.

The long leg of the journey

Blogging isn’t something that is coming naturally at the moment, true I am new to it but I have been finding it difficult to a) think of something interesting to say and b) actually believe that people will want to hear it.

So I am going to persevere but approach it a bit differently and talk about my journey to launch my website www.dogmog.co.nz. It has taken a lot longer then expected due to many things but the major factor has been my choice of developer.

I chose a company called Silverstripe to build the website for me. You may have heard of them, they have an open source CMS that is doing quite well (which is one of the reasons I chose them). They met my budget and my designer and sister in law had used them in the past.

So there we are in February, the design complete and development started with a view to finish at the end of April. This isn’t a big site by the way – about 10 days work with extra days for testing etc. 

All I can say is that it is now August the 2nd and we are almost finished! I think we will be ready to launch in 2 weeks time.

To be frank I don’t have much good to say about Silverstripe except I think their CMS is great (from an end user perspective) and even though it has taken them 5 month to deliver 10 days work, the site seems to do almost everything I want it to (phew – wouldn’t that be a killer, 4 months late and a crap site might just push me over the edge)! 

Unfortunately for them, their customer service lets them down badly and I know for a fact that others using their services agree with me. I have absolutely no faith that they will offer a timely support service after launch and so I am now on the hunt for a company to provide ongoing support and development.  They obviously have to be experienced with the Silverstripe modules and PHP.

I am going to be pretty easy to please after this experience!

I did a google search and found a crowd in Queenstown called Xebidy that uses the Silverstripe CMS in their websites. Anyone know anything about them?

DogMog the website – coming soon

As a pet owner and ex Veterinary Nurse I understand how pet owners rely on referrals when making decisions about their pets.

Maybe you are looking for a vet or groomer in your area or perhaps you have moved house and need somewhere great to walk your dog. In these situations getting a recommendation from a friend or family member are the most trusted type of referral but unfortunately one that isn’t always available.

So in the absence of a direct referral, where better to go then to a community of pet owners?

DogMog gives members the ability to rate and review the products, services and parks they use, on a site dedicated to helping you make informed decisions about your pets care.

We think New Zealand pet owners will embrace this idea; we are a nation of pet lovers who enjoy helping others who care about their pets as much as we do.

DogMog is currently in development, and is being built by Silverstripe and designed by Christine Webb at Three-Sixty Media in Wellington. We are due to Launch in August so if this sounds like something you want to know more about then register for our RSS feed or send your email address to info@dogmog.co.nz and we will let you know when we launch.

DogMog, for pets sake!

Close encounters

A few weeks ago I saw this article on stuff.co.nz about Keisha Castle-Hughes and her partner taking their 14 month old child to pat the cheetah at Wellington Zoo.  The article caught my attention because I personally would not be willing to let my children that close to an uncaged wild cheetah and I was very surprised that the zoo allowed this to happen. In a previous article the zoo says that, “the cheetahs by nature are quite non-confrontational cats”. While that may be true, there are documented cases of so called ‘tame’ cheetahs attacking humans, and as with any animal there is a risk involved.

On the zoo’s website it states that you must be at least 15 years of age to participate in the cheetah encounter.

This cheetah encounter is one of many close up encounters that the Wellington zoo offers as part of its educational programme.

Another part of the zoo encounters programme is “rent a cheetah”, which started in 2005.  Initially for $2,500, the zoo would take its two juvenile cheetahs to parties, shop openings and other events. The zoo cited “education and conservation” as the main benefits of the visits.

This practice bought condemnation from animal rights groups who labeled the zoo irresponsible for putting the lives of the public and cheetahs at risk. Zoos overseas also opposed the program saying that they believe wild animals shouldn’t be tamed and even if they are, they will remain potentially dangerous for people if they get stressed or end up in unnatural situations

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) of which Wellington Zoo is a member, state in their code of ethics that  “Where “wild” animals are used in presentations, these presentations must: –

(a) Deliver a sound conservation message, or be of other educational value, 


(b) Focus on natural behaviour, 


(c) Not demean or trivialise the animal in any way.

In my opinion by taking the cheetahs out of the zoo to functions and parties, Wellington zoo did demean and trivialise them, and they absolutely didn’t focus on natural behaviour.

Wellington zoo seems to have altered this programme now, by only allowing “on site venue encounters” for a reduced fee of $2000. The website states, “Pull off a function your guests will never forget. Hold your next function in a Wellington Zoo venue and invite the cheetahs to pay you a visit.”

Unfortunately these close encounter programs are held by zoos all over the world, and they will continue because zoos need to make money.  One can only hope that education, conservation and the animals welfare will be the primary focus of these programs and not the money that they will generate.

Dangerous dog or dangerous owner?

Month after month we hear of dogs attacking children, adults and other animals.

Today there are 495,296 dogs officially recorded on the New Zealand National Dog Database.  As of August 2007 4,996 of these were classified as “menacing” and 481 were classified as “dangerous”. 

There are a number of new proposals on which the government asked for submissions, from banning more dog breeds, to licensing owners, and destroying unregistered dogs.

But will these changes alone make a marked difference? Local government minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a recent media release:

“Good law alone is not enough to stop dog attacks. In combination, good law, effective enforcement, community support and responsible dog ownership are effective in preventing attacks”.

Responsible dog ownership seems to be the biggest problem – how can you make someone who owns a dog purely for protection and leaves it chained 24/7 with little human contact, or doesn’t want or care about their dog, become a responsible dog owner?

I am of the view that owning a dog should be a privilege, not a right, and I believe that licensing owners is the way to go.

There may be some lessons to be learned from the NZ firearms licensing model. The purpose of the firearms licensing regime is to ensure that those who possess firearms are fit and proper individuals. There are written exams, a criminal background check, and an arms officer inspects the home’s security for firearms storage compliance.

Dog owner licensing could be modeled on this by:

·       Owners attending dog care and training courses

·       Checking to see if the person has owned a dog classified as dangerous or menacing or been charged   with animal abuse.

·       Ensuring that appropriate housing and fencing is in place

·       Ongoing visits by animal welfare officers to make sure the dog is being cared for properly.

·       An owner being linked to a dog or more then one dog

·       Any person selling a dog must view the buyers owner license and complete a change of ownership for that dog

The license could even be tiered, so the novice owner could build their experience and the license type by additional training (similar to a driver’s license).  As the owner gets more experienced the license fee & registration fee would be reduced similar to the way the responsible dog owner policy works now.

Of course, to maintain a scheme like owner licensing additional funding for animal welfare officers will be needed, and that alone may be enough to stop the owner-licensing proposal going ahead.

It is a sad fact that some people in our society don’t value dogs, don’t care about their needs or welfare, or keep them purely for protection allowing them very little human or dog socialisation making them dangerous when they feel threatened.

It is time we as a society decide that it’s time for change – respect dogs and good owners and make owning a dog something to aspire to, not something that is a given.

Its too late to make submissions to the animal control paper now, but if you want to you can check it out the transcripts of the actual debate on the government website here.

DogMog Blog, the blog about all things animal.

Ever thought about the definition of animal?

In everyday use people usually use the word to refer to all non-human animals, but according to the Oxford dictionary an animal is “a mammal as opposed to a bird, reptile, fish, or insect”.

The biological term however refers to an animal as a living organism belonging to the Kingdom of animalia, which seems to include pretty much anything with a nervous system (humans included).

So it is the biological term I am referring to when I say that DogMog Blog is about all things ‘animal’.

This blog wont just be about dogs, cats, and other domestic animals but anything related to the non-humans of this world (as long as they have that all important nervous system of course)!