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:)

 

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