Jul
2012
I Say It Loud and I Say It Proud: I Am a Pet Blogger!
I am very proud to be a pet blogger. I take great pride in the company that I keep in this wonderful community.
Blogging has opened up many doors for me that average daily life would not have presented me with, even though I work in the “pet industry.”
I have connected with people and brands that I never would have out on the streets.
I have created bonds and made special friends with some very inspiring and amazing people.
I have learned.
Which is why I am often surprised when I tell someone that I am a blogger and they look at me with a confused little grin on their face.
Take this weekend for example.
We had a small party where we invited a few of Bobby and Gracie’s friends over and their parents. We try to do this at least once during the summer and every year the kids invite a few more new friends, so in turn we get to meet new people.
Anyway, we were sitting around talking and someone brought up my blogging.
I could immediately tell that some of them my guests were puzzled and their minds were turning.
Is she crazy?
Is she a hoarder?
Is she serious?
Then one of them gets the balls to ask me a question:
“What’s a blog and what do you blog about?”
A blog is a website. A blog is whatever I create it to be.
I blog about my dogs, pet health, my kids, my job as a vet tech, Leroy giving me fat lips, books, photography, Leroy knocking me down the stairs, Gibby the Guinea Pig, photography, pet safety, Leroy pulling my pants down, Sherman, struggles that I face as a pet owner, Leroy stepping on my slippers, dog showing, dog breeding, Leroy giving me a concussion.
They are usually amazed at my list.
“And people read your blog?”
Yes. Here is my card. Look me up.
“And you like it?” is usually the next question.
Like is an understatement.
I love it.
If I could quit my job and blog I would, but my husband has repeatedly told me no. While I don’t make much as a vet tech, I make even less blogging, which is really not why I blog anyway, but if I could get paid for doing what I love, it wouldn’t be a difficult decision.
While I love being a vet tech, I love to blog even more.
I love to write.
I love to take pictures.
I love to explore.
Which usually leads to the next question?
“Wait a second, did you say you make money blogging?”
This is usually when their jaws drop.
I do sometimes, but not enough to live on.
I also get to try out a lot of new and exciting pet products and sometimes work with popular brands, like Euaknuba, Oreck, Iams, Arenus Pet, Snapfish, and many more companies that I never would of had the chance to work with if I wasn’t a pet blogger.
I have also been able to travel due to blogging.
I have been lucky enough to travel to events that I never would of been invited to if I wasn’t a blogger such as a chance to tour the wonderful Euaknuba Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Dayton Ohio, the Euakanuba AKC National Dog Show show in Orlando Florida. I have been invited to attend the all famous BlogHer conference last year in California, and was recently invited to tour the Hills and Science diet Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Kansas.
Not only has blogging introduced and connected me with amazing people it has also connected me with myself.
Pet blogging has introduced me to a love of photography that I never knew I had until I started a blog and due to that I received a handful of awards for various photos.
The most recent and most heartwarming was a photo that won Best Photo on a Blog at the BlogPaws Nose to Nose Awards. With that photo being chosen I was given the opportunity to donate 5,000 meals to a shelter of my choice, courtesy of BlogPaws and Halo Pets.
So due to being a pet blogger, I have the awesome privilege to help shelter animals.
The emotions that come with that are unexplainable. (is that word?)
I have been blessed in the opportunities that have been presented to me as a pet blogger.
I am proud to be a pet blogger and for those of you, who at times face the struggles that sometimes can come with pet blogging, I encourage you to keep going. The possibilities are endless and are only getting bigger for us.
Whether you blog for a cause, or a mission, or to share your pets, you are awesome. We are awesome.
As Pamela from Something Wagging This Way Comes wrote last week, “Pet bloggers are angels of mercy.” “You are amazing and already doing incredible things.”
I never use to bring up my blogging to people that I didn’t know. That has changed. I’m a proud pet blogger. How about you?
This post was not a bragging post and I hope that it did not come across that way. I just wanted to share all of the wonderful things that blogging has given me and why we should all be proud:)
Pamela
July 10, 2012 at 8:23 am (343 days ago)What a great post, Jen!
I loved where your guests asked, “And people read your blog?”
People read what others have to say all the time. We read the editorial letters in the newspaper (those of us who still read newspapers), buy tickets to hear David Sedaris read from his latest book, and we still buy books.
Of course people read your blog. It’s interesting and fun. You very eloquently stated why you write. And we read because we’re interested in stories. We want to know if anyone else out there is like us. And we try to make connections to people and ideas outside ourselves. It’s part of being human.
Oh, and an occasional silly story about the Newfie-caused strip tease on public doesn’t hurt.
She’s loud, she’s proud, she’s Jen the blogger!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:57 pm (342 days ago)See Pamela, you always have just the write words! Maybe I could hire you?:)
Thanks for inspiring me! You rock, your blog rocks, your writing rocks!
caren gittleman
July 10, 2012 at 8:34 am (343 days ago)I loved this and I couldn’t agree with you more! It didn’t come off as bragging at all, you spoke the truth for so many of us! Fabulous!!
I was invited to the Science Diet plant in August too but declined…are you going? I wanted to go in November instead but it appears they canceled that one.
Don’t you love when you say you are a blogger and people look at you with a blank expression? Happened to me at the vet yesterday
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:59 pm (342 days ago)Thanks Caren! It seems like you and I go back to almost when I first started blogging!
I do believe I am going to SD in August, as long as my work lets me have another few days off:)
When I first told the girls at the vet that I was blogging, we basically had to have a sit down session so that I could explain what it was:) They still don’t get it:)
Kolchak, Felix & Jodi
July 10, 2012 at 8:34 am (343 days ago)Oh my goodness, THANK YOU JEN! You have no idea how much needed to here this today, this week. I’m home on the Canadian Prairies for a visit. Having lived on the progressive, hippy-ish west Coast for more than 20 years, I’m already “that West Coast Snob” when come home and they look at me sideways for what I do anyways. This year I’ve been answering question about what I do with “I’m a blogger” and the reactions from completely bewildered to downright rude have absolutely worn me down. It’s an area of farm dogs, so what I do is COMPETELY foreign to this crowd, but I’m proud of what I do, the amazing bloggers I associate with and the community that I am a part of.
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 11:02 pm (342 days ago)Thank you Jodi! You have also been one of my inspirations to keep going and to be proud!
It’s hard sometimes isn’t it? Just when you think you have come to grips with it you have to explain yourself all over again! Sometimes people say things that are discouraging about blogging, but I believe that those are the people that don’t influence us in life anyway, right? At least that is the way I have started to look at it!
Kimberly, The Fur Mom
July 10, 2012 at 9:19 am (343 days ago)I love this post!
This weekend I will be attending my first pet festival to promote my site, which I call an online magazine. I work really hard on my site and the blogging community is top notch, but sometimes people minimize what we do and don’t understand the power of a blogger. What’s satisfying is when people see what I do, think it’s easy and set up a blog and wonder why they’re not getting traffic.
Keep saying it loud and proud!
Kimberly
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 11:05 pm (342 days ago)Thanks Kimberly and good luck at your event! It is such a wonderful feeling when you are promoting your OWN site! It took me a few times but once I got the hang of it, it was great!
I bet that there is more people than not that could not do what we do, it’s hard, but rewarding!
Your site is wonderful!
Emma
July 10, 2012 at 9:36 am (343 days ago)Mom and I have only been blogging about pets for about 8 months but we sure do love it. Mom is sometimes embarrassed to tell people about it but she is getting better at it. Like you, she loves to write, take photographs and loves animals. It is a whole new world that we found and love and look forward to finding out more about!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 11:07 pm (342 days ago)Hi Emma!
This is a wonderful community and one like no other! Your blog is fantastic and I hope you’ll stick around for the long haul!
Bassetmomma
July 10, 2012 at 9:36 am (343 days ago)Yay for pet bloggers!!!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:54 pm (342 days ago)Can I get woo-hoo:)?
Vicki Cook
July 10, 2012 at 10:07 am (343 days ago)Yes – I am proud to be a pet blogger! I have met the most fabulous people online and in person since I began blogging, and I hope my blog gives something back to the pet community.
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:54 pm (342 days ago)Vicki, your blog gives HUGE things back to the community, you should be very proud!
Misty Shores Chesapeakes
July 10, 2012 at 10:29 am (343 days ago)Great post Jen!! I did not take your post as bragging at all and in fact it is a great compliment to the rest of us.
You are so right about blogging and the misconceptions some people have about it. I have even heard it referred to as online graffiti. When I started my blog I figured it would end up just being an online journal that probably only I would read because let’s face it who would want to read anything I wrote, but it has turned out to be just as you describe it, a great community of people who read what I write and leave me wonderful comments and in turn I can look at and read their blogs and feel like I am part of their lives. And just once in a while you actually get to meet someone from your blogging family in person and what a special treat that is
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:52 pm (342 days ago)Thank you!
Online graffiti? Now that kind of hurts!
I was the same way when I started this blog, it was my online journal to write about the dogs. I had no one to share my stories with so I wrote them here, thinking no one would ever read.But then I got hooked at reading other blogs and before I knew it, I was apart of this great community of people just like me! I thought I was the only one who talked about their dogs so much!
Meeting people in person from blogging is one of the best gifts! I need to be better at that! I feel like I stumbled when we first met, but then again I had a dog that just pooped all over the floor:)
Amy@GoPetFriendly
July 10, 2012 at 10:36 am (343 days ago)Absolutely fantastic post, Jen! That blank stare that greats the “I’m a blogger” response is something I often see – and it used to make me feel insecure, like I needed to explain my decision. Somewhere along the line that passed and now I’m proud to say I’m a pet travel blogger and I love my life!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:48 pm (342 days ago)Thanks Amy!
I have finally gotten to the point where I passed that line too, I am proud and I love this!
Stefanie
July 10, 2012 at 10:44 am (343 days ago)I agree – blogging is great! The same people that will give those blank or confused stares – those are the ones that usually also don’t like listening to dog stories, which is why I started blogging in the first place. This is a great community and I’m proud to be a part of it. I love your blog – so you keep on going!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:47 pm (342 days ago)Hi Stephanie,
You are so right! The people that look at us funny are the ones who don’t like out dog stories either! What person doesn’t like a good dog story?:)
Jackie Bouchard
July 10, 2012 at 10:49 am (343 days ago)These people don’t know what they’re missing! I’ve made lots of good online friends through blogging and other online dog communities I’m involved with. I suppose it may seem “odd” to folks who don’t get it – but we just need to ‘splain it to them! Say it loud and proud indeed!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:46 pm (342 days ago)Hi Jackie,
I feel the same way! I have made lifelong friends from this blog and have become apart of a fantastic community! We are the ones who should be giving the outsiders the weird looks:))
Linda |Alfie's Blog
July 10, 2012 at 11:25 am (343 days ago)This is such a great post and I couldn’t agree with you more! I’ve met some wonderful people and pets through Alfie’s blog. I sometimes find people look a little embarrassed when I talk about my blog, sort of like I had just said I collected nail clippings or something equally mad – they simply have no idea what they are missing out on
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:43 pm (342 days ago)You know what I think it is, people just don’t understand what blogging is, let alone what a pet blogger is and does. The time, effort and love that goes into being a pet blogger is what makes us all so close! If everyone had the heart of a pet blogger the world would be a wonderful place!
Paws to Talk
July 10, 2012 at 11:30 am (343 days ago)We love this post! While we are pets and new to this community we feel the same sense of pride! Good for you! Woof!
Bella and DiDi
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:41 pm (342 days ago)Thank you and welcome to the community, you will not be disappointed in this wonderful group of pet bloggers!
Casper Bear
July 10, 2012 at 11:43 am (343 days ago)We love this post! We are also proud Pet Bloggers. We are proud to be a part of such a great community.
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:40 pm (342 days ago)Thank you Capser Bear and thank you for visiting! It’s nice to meet another proud Pet Blogger!
Patty
July 10, 2012 at 11:54 am (343 days ago)Great post!!!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:39 pm (342 days ago)Thank you Patty!
2 brown dawgs
July 10, 2012 at 2:04 pm (343 days ago)I don’t think you sound braggy. You have an excellent blog and you should be proud of it!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:39 pm (342 days ago)Thank you Linda! Right back at ya!
Nichole
July 10, 2012 at 2:23 pm (343 days ago)LOL, you have no idea (well, no… actually you DO) how many times I’ve been asked the same questions, with the same repsonses.
Pet Bloggers rock!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:38 pm (342 days ago)Yeah we do!
Julie
July 10, 2012 at 3:46 pm (343 days ago)I don’t tell too many people that I am a blogger – after all, I have been a dog walker and a yoga teacher – I get enough puzzled looks when I tell people what I do!
Even my hubby asks me why I “waste so much time blogging” – but it’s okay, he asked the same thing about teaching yoga (because it doesn’t pay well). I spend time doing these things because I ENJOY them! Duh! Great post – l love your blog and happy that you share your writing with all of us! 
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:38 pm (342 days ago)My husband asks me the same question all the time, but I think he finally realizes how much I enjoys and that it can come with benefits. It makes me happy and if I am happy he is happy:)
Thank you for the kind compliment Julie, your blog makes me happy too!
KB
July 10, 2012 at 4:03 pm (342 days ago)I get exactly the same reactions as you do – it’s like people think that blogging is a form of mental illness. I even have family members who initially reacted that way. Then, one of them told me that she read my blog aloud to her children while the family drove to Yellowstone. Then, I knew that she’d somehow overcome her initial reaction to the notion of blogging.
I’m proud too, though. I’m especially proud of what a caring and wonderful community dog bloggers are.
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:36 pm (342 days ago)LOL, yes! They think that bloggers are mentally ill and they try to figure it out as soon as they learn that we are bloggers!
That is so great that one of your family members drove her family to Yellowstone after reading one of your posts! See….we have the power!
I think that pet bloggers have the biggest hearts of any community that I have ever been apart of!
Kristine
July 10, 2012 at 5:44 pm (342 days ago)Good for you! I almost never talk about my blog in public or with others. Most of my dog-owning friends know I have it but that’s a recent event and happened accidentally.
I admit to being a very shy, very uncertain pet blogger.
However, I do feel very proud and honoured to be a tiny part of such a warm, spunky, hilarious, and dedicated community. Pet bloggers are amazing human beings. It’s about time the rest of the world started paying attention!
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:30 pm (342 days ago)Now that is surprising to me that you consider yourself an uncertain pet blogger. You are one of the strongest pet bloggers that I have come across! Your posts are very powerful and well though out and you are a fantastic writer!
We are in a great community! Reading blogs always makes me smile!
bichonpawz
July 10, 2012 at 5:55 pm (342 days ago)I rarely talk about my blog in public, but feel you have captured the feeings of all of us in this post!!! EXCELLENT post Jen!! You know how much I love your blog and I feel exactly the same way you do!
xo
Jeanne
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:27 pm (342 days ago)Thank you for such the kind words Jeanne! I think we all need to talk about our blogs in public more, every blog that I read is awesome and deserves attention!
Karen Friesecke
July 10, 2012 at 7:16 pm (342 days ago)Yeah. People usually look at me sideways when I say that I have a dog blog. Yep, I’m the “crazy dog lady”
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:26 pm (342 days ago)Yep, the sideways glance with a little smirk….happens all the time!
Jodi
July 10, 2012 at 9:20 pm (342 days ago)I blog because I love writing, I love writing about my life and my dogs and having a handful of people interested. I haven’t yet reached the stage you have where you make a difference, but I’m trying!
Great post Jen~
Jen
July 10, 2012 at 10:25 pm (342 days ago)I think you have more than a handful of people interested Jodi! You are a fabulous writer and I love your blog!
Melody
July 11, 2012 at 2:25 am (342 days ago)Say it loud & proud! Pet bloggers are responsible for so much good both online and offline.
Sheba
July 11, 2012 at 5:56 pm (341 days ago)I only started blogging in May this year and love it, I’ve connected with some lovely people from around the world and love reading the nice comments i receive and reading other blogs. I love writing about Sheba & when she’s no longer with us i will have an online diary to remember her by. I’ve had some funny looks but that’s only because they didn’t know what a blog was, since i explained they’ve started there own blogs for there dogs.
Jen
July 11, 2012 at 11:41 pm (341 days ago)That is great that you had such a wonderful influence on the people that you were explaining blogging to! Good for you!!
Nicole
July 11, 2012 at 9:59 pm (341 days ago)Thank you for such a wonderful post! Sometimes I feel funny talking about my blogging with others. I feel like I am already seen as the “crazy cat lady” among my group of friends, and to add pet blogging to it sometimes seems a bit much. But I really do love it, and I love the world it has opened up. I am reading more and more pet blogs (including yours!) that I never even knew existed. I am talking with other pet owners more, sharing stories, and learning so much. A proud pet blogger? I am, in the welcoming world of pet bloggers. Outside of that, well, I still need some work.
Jen
July 11, 2012 at 11:36 pm (341 days ago)That is so wonderful that you have found such joy in blogging! This really is a great community and I bet you’ll be telling your friends all about it in no time!
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing!
Jessica @ YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner
July 12, 2012 at 12:51 pm (341 days ago)I love blogging too so I know exactly what you mean. I didn’t discover my love of pet photography until I started mine either. I would also quit my job to blog full time if I could
I think people in Seattle are a little less skeptical when I talk about blogging. We are a techy City and many people read and write blogs. It’s kind of a hip thing to do – say you have your own blog.
houndstooth
July 12, 2012 at 10:14 pm (340 days ago)What a fantastic post! At first, not many people that I actually know knew about my blog, but now, more often than not, they not only know about it, but they follow it. The exception is my immediate family. My parents and sister both know that I write the blog and even that I was sponsored to go to BlogPaws, but they still never read it or have any clue about it. What cracks me up, though, is that my husband’s two oldest sisters know about it and read it because they hope I’ll have funny stories about him on it!
Jen
July 12, 2012 at 10:57 pm (340 days ago)See that is the opposite of what goes on here! My parents and my sister read it all the time! My in-laws and friends not so much! My good friend only reads it when she thinks I am going to mention her, and well I rarely mention my husband because my sister always calls and tells him when I do and then I get “the look!”
I love when you tell stories about Mr. Taletellar, he always gives me a good laugh because I can so relate!
Roo
July 14, 2012 at 7:28 am (339 days ago)You ROCK!
Paws up to pet bloggers everywhere 
Waggin at ya,
Roo
Jen
July 15, 2012 at 4:54 pm (337 days ago)If there was rock on sign here I would give it to you:)
Beth
July 15, 2012 at 12:49 pm (338 days ago)Great post and its obvious you are part of an awesome blogging community!
Jen
July 15, 2012 at 4:51 pm (337 days ago)Thanks Beth! I love this community!
Martha Steward
July 17, 2012 at 4:46 pm (335 days ago)Thank you for writing this article! Four paws for your clever write up! We shall keep on with the mission one pet blogger to another, to draw awareness and speak for our animals great and small!
Jen
July 17, 2012 at 10:36 pm (335 days ago)Thank you Martha! Our mission is one that has a great impact and a wonderful future!
lauren
July 25, 2012 at 4:35 pm (327 days ago)i am so with you on this–except for the proud part, which makes me really sad. i mean, there are some circles in which i’m proud to say i’m a blogger. in fact, i include it as part of my signature on some personal emails. however, my friends can be kind of jerky (and i know that makes them sound like not very good friends), and i know they don’t take any of this seriously, so i try not to talk about it at all around them. i really hope to be where you are one day!
Pup Fan
July 31, 2012 at 9:24 pm (321 days ago)Yes! This post is awesome! I’ve had similar experiences, and you totally captured what’s so wonderful about being a pet blogger.