OPW -- Apr 1 -- A new dating site for dogs, fluffHarmony.com, is powered by WhiteLabelDating.com and was launched today. The site already has 20,000 adult dogs registered. Unlike other dog dating sites where dog owners are matched with each other, fluffHarmony.com matches the actual dogs. Ross Williams, the CEO of WhiteLabelDating.com, said: "I think dog owners need to realize that dogs need love as well. They want to choose the right partners to have puppies with." Williams registered his Chihuahua Pinkie and is happy to announce that Pinkie soon will have puppies with a Wolfhound who refused to be named. fluffHarmony is adding new features soon including DNA matching and speed dating. fluffHarmony will also partner with iovation to create a safe dating environment and protect dogs against the cape hunting dogs from Nigeria.
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Research has suggested that the dog population can be one of the most loyal demographics when catered to by an otherwise “non-dog” business. But, when the opposite happens or we feel patronized, we become mobilized and vocal about any such marginalization. By fleaHarmony.com choosing to avoid, or simply not acknowledging, the differences between dog and cats daters on their new site they are essentially homogenizing distinctively different populations of animals, which can be (and definitely will be by some) perceived as being offensive. The Company has not conducted similar research on dog relationships." While I believe their methodology to be sound for dog-to-dog daters, their disclaimer won’t simply “make it work.
Posted by: Patrick Peririne | Apr 01, 2009 at 07:57 AM
Plans about: * Future Legislation ? * Background Checks & Identity Verification ? * Quality Norms like ISO 9001:2000?
Posted by: Fernando Ardenghiuiii | Apr 01, 2009 at 08:08 AM
We at iovation, http://www.iovation.com, are proud to be an important part of the fluffHarmony launch. One of the main obstacles for launching a dog dating site is the fact that so many other animals see dogs as easy targets because of their general outgoing and trusting nature. We are particularly concerned with cats, birds and other pets that have posed as dogs on sites like these and repeatedly tricked dogs into dating scams. There is a famous cartoon about on the Internet no one knows you are a dog http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Internet_dog.jpg. In this case, no one knows when you aren't a dog. iovation is proud to be providing the technology to identify these animal scammers by the PCs they use and not relying on their reported breed.
Posted by: Scott Olson | Apr 01, 2009 at 09:47 AM
Reposting the link to the cartoon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_dog.jpg. The other link didn't work.
Posted by: Scott Olson | Apr 01, 2009 at 09:53 AM
According to the Center for Pets Research, most dog owners in the U.S. estimate that their dogs spend about two hours a month on the Internet. In reality, dogs and cats are spending upwards of 20 hours a month surfing the Web. ~41% of U.S. dogs claim their owners have no idea what they are looking at online. The most popular online activities are dog dating (23%), social networking (50%), and hunting games(72%).
Posted by: Irena Brooks | Apr 01, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Perhaps the Center for Pets Research can answer some other questions.
Why is it that dogs and cats seem to like watching their owners have sex?
I actually find it very unnerving. I mean, what are they thinking? Are they taking notes? Are they comparing sizes? Who knows?
When my dog is watching, I can’t help thinking that he is saying to himself, “Hey that’s my move. And you stole it. And it’s not fair ‘cause it’s the only one I know.”
But maybe that’s just my own insecurities talking. Maybe my dog is thinking, “Now that’s a move I haven’t thought of. Maybe I’ll try that next time. If only I had opposable thumbs.”
I think cats are different though. I figure cats are thinking one of two things. Either it’s, “Boy, you guys make a lot of noise, even for cats,” or it’s, “Do you guys mind? I’m trying to sleep here.”
Compared to our pets, humans are very strange when you think about it. Dogs lick their own testicles all the time and yet, you never see one performing oral sex on another dog.
On the other hand, humans will perform oral sex all night on each other and then the next morning, when one of them asks to borrow the other’s toothbrush, they think that’s gross.
We are also the only animal that needs to work up to sex. First, we wine. Then, we dine. And then, maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll get some. On the other hand, my dog has not once asked one of my house guests out to dinner before he started humping their leg.
Oh, true every animal has its mating rituals, but most of them are designed to show power. The peacock that spreads in plumage. The ram that butts heads with another ram. The insect that does an erotic dance. I tried an erotic dance for my girlfriend once. It did not end in sex. It did, however, end in a trip to the emergency room when I fell over the coffee table and broke my leg. And I believe she is still laughing.
We also seem to be the only animal that needs to have sex in private. It’s a perfectly natural part of life and yet we are the only animal among thousands of species that have to do it behind closed doors. Religious zealots will tell you that’s because God gave us modesty. Perhaps God was thinking of what could happen if Rosie O’Donnell ever made a sex tape.
The other big difference between us and the rest of the animal world is the number of positions. Every other species has sex in one position and one position only, doggie style – which is a funny name because it’s also horse style, insect style, tiger style . . . you get the idea. Somehow the dogs got credit for it, though I doubt if they invented it. They must have one hell of a PR firm. It's probably Courtland Brooks.
Anyway, the entire animal world has one position – doggie style. Unless of course you count the preying mantis – where it’s women on top; man pumps away, but doesn’t have a head. That’s right during the act of sex, the female preying mantis turns around and actually bites off the head of the male preying mantis. Now I know we all feel we have had this done to us euphemistically. But in the mantis world, she actually eats his head off.
But here’s the amazing part. The male never misses a beat. He continues to pump away at the female. I realize that women always joke that men think with their other head, but apparently in this case, It’s Actually True!
But back to positions. There is only one basic sexual position in the animal world. Humans, on the other hand, are so advanced we have many, though there are four that are the most common. 1) Women standing – Man on knees begging and pleading. 2) Man on back – Women not home. 3) Man opening wallet – women accepting money, and finally 4) Man on top – Women looking up wondering what color she should paint the ceiling.
Posted by: Glenn Millar | Apr 01, 2009 at 11:25 AM
We at Talkster applaud this move into further niche markets. Recently we have been doing work with speech pattern analysis on human voices to determine compatibility but this same technology can work equally well for dogs. Each animal's whine, bark (or even growl) carries the same amount of information as is often thought only to be paralleled by whales. Compatibility through (dog) voice can be an ideal supplement to DNA matching and other compatibility measures. We hope to be working with fluffHarmony.com once we have completed development on a phone adapter to enable the dogs to speed dial themselves (using the same speech pattern recognition). In the meantime we have to count on owners being around to guide their "best friend" through the connection process.
Posted by: James Wanless | Apr 01, 2009 at 01:52 PM
Glenn, Let me introduce you to one of the most amazing inventions. It will solve all your insecurity problems and allow you to have far better sex, unhampered by any 4 legged creature.
And, the invention is not new... Its from Babylonian times.
And its free!
Its called..... A DOOR.
Place the dog on the other side of it, close the door and voila...uninterrupted sex!
Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
Internet Dating Conference
Posted by: Marc Lesnick | Apr 04, 2009 at 03:22 PM
I've been running DateMyPet.com for a few years - it matches people who are pet owners.
fluffHarmony.com - it matches the dogs? for breeding? (Since there is no owner profile - I assume its the latter).
A large portion of the dog owning community are strongly against dog breeding - due to the large number of dogs in shelters. I think a site like this, in the long term, will end up serving the commercial breeders and not the actual dog owners.
Posted by: Robert | Apr 10, 2009 at 01:16 PM