I’m a professional dog trainer and I’m also a writer. I blog a lot. But I don’t really know many other dog bloggers. This effort of “Meet the Blogger” was dreamed up by a fabulous blogger named AJ who runs a great blog called I Still Want More Puppies.
The standing joke among dog people is “I know your dog’s name, but I can’t ever remember your name.” In blogging, it’s the same way. We read the blogs and can identify everyone else’s dog immediately, but wouldn’t know the blogger if they ran into us on the street. This blogging effort hopes to change that by getting the bloggers to put their picture <gasp!> out there on their blogs.
I feel like I’m kind of cheating. I am very often behind the camera, but I’m also very much in front of the camera. Since starting the Smart Dog University video series back in the fall, my ugly mug’s been in front of the camera once a week bringing you a dog training video or training tip. So I’m not really invisible. But I want to play along anyway!
Part of the post is devoted to answering some questions, too.
- Who’s your favorite actor? Oh, there are so many. I’m in love with George Clooney. I adore Julia Roberts. A wish I could be real-life friends with Melissa McCarthy. And I want to be Sandra Bullock’s bestie.
- Which skill would you choose to otherwise refine or excel? I wish I could sing. (So does my husband.)
- What one word would people who know you use to describe you? Traveler.
- What is one thing you’ve done that you’re most proud of? Starting my own business and making it grow.
- What melts your heart? I have two and can’t decide which one melts more. So here they both are. (1) When my yellow Labrador (seen in the picture above) lays his head on me. He’s not a big snuggler, so it’s a big deal when he graces me by placing his head on me and snuggling in for a good nap. (2) The second thing is seeing a service dog that we’ve raised working as a solid, devoted, and skilled partner. We’re raised 15 dogs so far. And that gets me every single time.
Some other stuff you may not know about me:
- I never wanted kids. I don’t consider myself a mom to my dogs, nor do I think my dogs are kids with fur.
- I jumped out of an airplane at 13,500 feet and was scared out of my skin. But it was the most exhilarating moment of my life.
- I’m an only child and love it. I never wanted a sibling. Ever.
- I’m a word nerd — I like to dissect words, learn their history, know their antonyms and synonyms. I’ve actually read the dictionary for fun.
- I have a crazy vivid imagination. Sometimes it’s too vivid and I scare myself.
We’re supposed to use current pictures, but I had to throw this one in. It’s one of my favorite pictures of Tango and I. It’s several years old. My hair is now much shorter. Tango’s hair is now much grayer. Any picture with Tango is actually one of my favorites. He makes any picture better!
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Nice to meet you and come across your blog on the hop!
I’ve never been skydiving and I doubt I ever would – terrifying!
Jen, yes, the skydiving was terrifying! And I’m glad I didn’t know any better before I went. It was definitely a rush like no other. But man, very dangerous! 😮
I’m sure the dogs are happy to have you sing to them. 🙂
Ha! At least they don’t cover their ears! 🙂 Tango wags his tail sometimes. Thank goodness they can’t talk is all I can say!
That must be so wonderful to see one of the dogs you’ve raised fulfilling his/her purpose. Fill your heart kind of wonderful. It’s nice to learn a little more about you!
Meghan, thanks so much. I’ll be writing a post about you + your blog shortly! 🙂 Yippeee!
Great observation of that parallel in real life, where we know the dog’s name, and have no clue what the owner’s name is.
Thanks for getting to know you a little better, and for leaving such a kind comment on my blog earlier. I love your blog too! – and the newsletter. I always learn from your training and socialization tips, in fact a lot of my “skills”, come from here.
I know how hard it is for you when you have to let a dog go after his training, and glad to hear the reward is so good when you see them work. You must be so proud.
I’m so excited to be talking to you! I’ve followed you online for so long. Thanks so much for the kind words. I look forward to reading more from you.
Hi Laurie! It’s so nice to meet you and learn some fun things about you! Thanks for joining the hop! It’s been so nice to meet some new bloggers!
Jen, thanks for stopping in! The blog hop has been fun! It’s my first hop, what a great way to get introduced to blog hopping! 🙂
I’m so late getting to these… the participation was overwhelming! However… obviously, I loved your post and learning more about you.
Can we both be besties with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy?
Looking forward to seeing you in 2014…. it’s the year of coffee! 🙂
(And I totally can’t take sole credit for this one – there were many minds dreaming this one up!)
Yes, I will share MM and SB with you. But only because I think you’re as cool as them. MUST HAVE COFFEE in 2014! It’s a must-do on my 2014 list! 🙂
🙂 I love your Q&A. This is a great hop. It’s been so nice to meet you!
Thanks, Flea! It was great meeting you at BlogPaws 2013 at Tysons Corner, VA. I loved your booth and all the delicious goodies!
I think I met you at the last BlogPaws Laurie (in Dino’s talk). I never wanted kids either. However, I do see my dogs as my children because I care-take for them….but in the end I know they are dogs and treat them as such (as in, proper training and/or realistic behavior expectations).
Hi Jessica, thanks for stopping in! Yes, I think we met there. Thanks for stopping in to say hello! Hopefully our paths will cross again.