The making of Aimée's fifth 140 minute pet portrait of a pooch named Lulabelle.

With more and more companies getting on the Twitter bandwagon, dog artist, Aimée Hoover wondered how she could use the latest in social networking to promote her business. Instead of simply tweeting every now and then, she discovered an interactive and fun way to spread the word about her work and connect with fellow dog lovers.

Inspired by Twitter’s 140 character limit, Aimée wondered if she could paint a portrait of a fellow tweeter’s dog in less than 140 minutes. She tweeted looking for photos to fuel her experiment and a contest was born. So far Aimée has completed five free portraits of five lucky pups.

The time limit turned out to be quite liberating and Aimée even surprised herself by the pieces she’s been able to complete in such a small amount of time. Aimée’s commissioned portraits, which include more detail and continual collaboration with the client, take 24-40 hours to complete. 

Aimée plans on running the contest approximately once a month for as long as her schedule allows. The details on the next opportunity can be viewed on her blog. She’s even posted photo tips to help those vying for a free portrait. All Aimée asks is for winners to pay it forward and do something nice for someone else.

I have a weakness for canine art and have been a longtime fan of Aimée’s work. She has an amazing ability to capture each dog’s unique personality on canvas. So it didn’t surprise me that she found a way to challenge herself while inspiring others to share photos of the special canines in their lives. 

I’ve subscribed to other business’ Twitter feeds before, and it usually feels more like an infomercial with their mindless blasts of promotional tweets. Aimée’s Twitter page showcases her beautiful art and gives fans a peek into her daily routine.

Have you seen any unique canine-related uses of Twitter or other social networking websites?