Really shameless nomination request

By Edie Jarolim | Published: July 29, 2010

It’s bad enough to request that people nominate you for a blogging award. It’s even more shameless when the idea to make the request on your blog comes from a competing blogger, my pal Roxanne Hawn.

But it’s all for a good cause: The “Petties” (pet blogger awards), presented by DogTime, are all about helping animals, and the prizes include a $500 donation to a shelter/rescue of the winner’s choosing (mine would be the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. Just saying).

There will be a bit of personal glory involved, I admit it, including an announcement of the winners at BlogPaws West in Denver, Sept 9-11.

Nominations end July 30 (tomorrow).

The good news. You can nominate more than one person, so you can nominate Roxanne and then nominate me. Or vice versa.

When it comes to voting, which will take place from August 2-20, it’s every woman for herself.

Details: I would like to be nominated for the Best Dog Blog (as opposed to Best Pet or Best Cat blog, for obvious reasons).

Name:          Edie Jarolim

URL:              http://willmydoghateme.com

Email:          writestf@mac.com

Jeez, I even semi-ripped off Roxanne’s nomination form.

But admitting that, and everything else, makes me feel less guilty. So nominate me (and Roxanne). I guarantee you’ll feel less guilty if you do.

Posted in dog blogging | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Revisiting the choir: You never know who’ll join

By Edie Jarolim | Published: July 19, 2010

It’s a little ironic for me to be posting about preaching to the choir because:

  • I’m a nonbeliever
  • I grew up attending a synagogue, not a church, and synagogues don’t have choirs
  • It’s a tired cliche, and I try to avoid those

But the topic came up when Karen Friesecke, DIY queen and blogger at Doggie Stylish, suggested that Friday’s avoiding puppy mills post was preaching to the choir because no one who read my blog would ever consider buying a dog via the internet.

I’m going to let you read through the responses to that comment because this post isn’t so much about generally speaking to an audience of converts but about a specific example: The guy I talked trash about in my Sex & the Single Dog Blogger post.

The only reason I felt comfortable putting that up was that I was certain the guy never read my blog — which was part of the problem I perceived with the relationship.

I was wrong.

I got this email the other day:

It may hearten you to know that Buster and I  have just successfully completed his first session of learning how to sit.  Yea!  He’s ready (and so am I) to learn. I might add that he has picked it up almost immediately [....]  I felt badly about punching him the other day. It’s really not his fault and he loves to please.  He just hasn’t been properly taught yet. So I am committing the time to teach him at least the basics of behaving in public.

He added:

I had read your bio and some of your blogs before but was unaware you had made an example of me as an unenlightened dog owner when I looked at your site again. I am not offended by your observations….

First — wow! I wouldn’t be nearly as understanding. If someone had been even slightly negative about me in public, even anonymously, I would be furious and probably never speak to that person again.  So credit where credit is due — and extra credit for following through with dog training.

And I’ll assign blame where it belongs. You know what they say about people who assume… So I’m an ass. But one who is capable of learning too. I will never again make public what should be private, even though I’m pleased with the outcome this time — i.e., the dog training and the consciousness raising.

I would have said “Mea culpa” but that’s kind of, you know, religious.

Posted in dog blogging | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Sex & the Single Dog Blogger

By Edie Jarolim | Published: July 9, 2010

Men are from Mars, dogs are from Uranus?

Dating in the internet age is tough.  “Must love dogs” is no longer specific enough a requirement to ensure a meeting of minds (etc.). Consider this scenario:

You spot a guy on an online dating site and one of the things that draws you to him is a profile picture with a dog licking his face.

You meet, the guy is nice, and you are attracted to each other.

He meets your dog, and your dog doesn’t seem to hate him (which, for your dog, is a rave review).

You meet his dog, a sweet young pit bull mix that the guy rescued from the streets, and you discover the following:

  • The dog isn’t neutered (“It’s a guy thing,” the guy says)
  • The dog only goes out and roams “occasionally” and anyway “there are no female dogs in the neighborhood.” And because the dog is about a year old, “it’s too late” to neuter him now.
  • The dog is a humper, and in order to keep him from humping you, the guy punches the dog. Not hard, he says, only “to get his attention.”
  • The dog  is never put into safety restraints when he is riding in the guy’s van because it wouldn’t be “natural.”

You try to explain the problem with all these things, in a pleasant way (except for the punching; you threaten to leave immediately if any more punching occurs). The guy’s eyes glaze over, and his face takes on a long-suffering look, one that suggests you are a typical nagging female. He doesn’t interrupt you — see “mutual attraction,” above — but he is clearly waiting until you are done speaking so more interesting things can occur.

You believe the guy really does love his dog, but doesn’t know what’s best for him and for a world overrun with unwanted pets and that he is unwilling to learn. He’s not even interested enough in your claim that you know a thing or two about dogs to read your blog — which is why you feel comfortable posing hypothetical scenarios — much less your book, which is not a good sign for  other reasons.

Is this romance doomed?

Posted in dog blogging | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

Saturday Blog Hop!

By Edie Jarolim | Published: May 22, 2010

In case you were contemplating going out and getting some fresh air or getting some working done or even playing with your dog… fuggedaboudit. There are pet blogs to be perused! And you eventually get to be the perusee too.

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Introducing: The Friday Five

By Edie Jarolim | Published: April 25, 2010

I consider myself pretty self-motivated. You have to be when you’re a freelancer, what with needing to find work and finish it in order to eat and pay the bills.

Still, I tend not to pursue topics that interest me just for the sake of education. Law and Order re-runs and mystery novels exert an undue influence over my free time.

Thus the weekly feature I’m introducing: The Friday Five. I’m going to chose a dog-related topic that I’d like to research further and, each Friday, post five articles I’ve found on it. The convincing. The controversial. But probably not the boring.

While this in itself should help me focus, I’d prefer not to go it alone. If you have a link to offer on a particular topic, please send it along. No prizes; just the glory of a shout out if I chose to highlight something you’ve sent.

I’ll announce the topic each Sunday evening and remind you about it via Twitter and Facebook.

So… without further ado:

Should vets reconsider vasectomy for male dogs instead of neutering (castration)?

No question: Keeping pets from reproducing makes the world a better place. But some recent studies have linked a lack of testosterone with some diseases in male dogs.  Is it time to reconsider vasectomy?

Please post any reading suggestions in the comments section; tweet them to me (http://twitter.com/WillMyDogHateMe); or email them to me (writestf at mac.com)


Posted in dog blogging | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Celebrating WMDHM’s birthday: My 10 favorite posts

By Edie Jarolim | Published: April 13, 2010

Yesterday, my blog turned one year old. In blog years — similar to dog years — that’s a long time.  So by semi-popular demand — two of my Twitter pals said they wanted to see it — I am going to complete my retrospective of  the first year of Will My Dog Hate Me with the posts that I (or you or both) liked best, in more or less chronological order.

An angry kissing papillon? by Kodemari on Flickr

Dominance Theory Gone Wild: The Angry Kiss of the Papillon. I ended up writing lots of posts making fun of the dominance theory of dog training, but this, my first, might be the most fun because of the silliness of the premise. The one about spitting in your dog’s food to establish dominance came in a close second.

Why Not to Tell Absolutely Everyone Your Dog Is Sick. Anyone who is dealing with a dog’s illness and other people’s insensitivity should be able to relate.

Puppy Mills, Twitter, and Not Minding Your Own Business. I knew about internet puppy-selling scams in theory but it wasn’t until I began blogging that I realized someone might be trying to get me to help promote them.

Car Travel with Dogs, Part 1: Don’t Be Mitt Romney. I couldn’t decide which of five-part car travel series posts to select so I started with the first because a) Mitt Romney is still on the political scene and if Gail Collins doesn’t want to let the story of his cruelty to his dog, Seamus, drop, why should I?  b) I’m hoping you’ll want to read on. I apologize in advance for the shameless self-promotion sections.

Co-poster dog for canine diabetes (with Frankie)

Diabetic and Loving It? Yes, Says an Alaskan Malamute. The start of a beautiful intercontinental friendship began on Twitter, when Susanne Fritz, who tweets as her gorgeous Malamute, Jasmine, put “diabetic and loving it” in her Twitter profile. What on earth could she mean? I wondered. And soon found out.

How to Recognize a Good Dog Breeder. The title says it all. Useful. To the point. Apolitical.

How to Find a Good Dog Trainer. More useful information. I like my weird posts, but I also like being helpful.

How Amtrak Could Become Solvent (Hint: Pets Are Involved). This my probably my most popular post, and the ex-CEO of Amtrak — or at least someone named David Gunn — commented on it. People want to travel with their pets, they love trains, and… well, you get where this might be going.

Health Insurance for Pets? Hell, Yes! I was excited to find that Tom Collins, one of the creators of the BlogPaws site and organizers of the wonderful recent conference, incorporated this post into one he wrote. Not only did it suggest that people were actually reading my blog, but that they were agreeing with stuff I said.

How to Find a Good Dog Groomer. I did a series on pet dental care and a two-parter that covered traveling with your pet to Tucson; those were in the running. But the people have spoken. After my Amtrak post, this was the most popular.

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BlogPaws, the (Partial) Poop

By Edie Jarolim | Published: April 11, 2010

I came, I talked, I learned. And I was inspired.

For those who missed BlogPaws, the first pet blogger’s conference, I’m happy to report it was a huge success. I don’t have all the stats about how many attended — a big ballroomful, for sure — or how much money was raised for pet charities — lots! — but I can attest that the spirit of the pet community is huge.

The social buzz

I met some of my favorite bloggers in person for the first time: Eric Goebelbecker of Dog Spelled Forward; Roxanne Hawn of Champion of My Heart,  Deborah Flick of Boulder Dog… There were many, many others, but I spent the farewell event drinking and shmoozing with those three, so can attest that they’re fun to hang out with as well as being terrific bloggers.

I also met the wonderful Mary-Alice Pomputius of DogJaunt, with whom I am sponsoring a SleepyPod giveaway contest — there’s still time to enter! — and her dog, Chloe, who is even more adorable in person than in her picture.

Chloe, the BlogPaws love machine

Chloe is a love machine, the unofficial greeter of the conference, conferring doggy kisses on all who came her way. (Yes, Frankie, it’s true, I kissed another dog. It was a conference and I couldn’t help myself; I missed you so much. I’d intended what happened in Columbus to stay in Columbus but since I came home wearing the same black jeans I wore throughout the entire conference, I knew you’d sniff me out anyway.)

I also reconnected with old friends from my travel writing past,  Paris Permenter and John Bigley who created the stellar DogTipper site.

And I met Esther Chen of PeoplePets.com at check in.  Although I am a great admirer of her publication and an avid reader of her e-newsletter, I didn’t think that was an appropriate time to tell her that I thought Frankie’s adorable book trailer (it’s on the right of this post) needed to be up on the PeoplePets website. If you’re reading this, Esther, I hope you’ll realize the restraint I showed and consider this less invasive but oh-so-heartfelt request.

The pet blogging biz

I still have too much material from all the sessions I attended to process, so I’ll just focus on one in which I participated, on book publishing. I had to defend the honor of funny dogs from Sparkle the Designer Cat, whose spokesperson, Janiss Garza, claimed that cats are the more amusing species. The defense was a no brainer. All I had to do was show the aforementioned book trailer, which demonstrates just what a card — not to mention world traveler — Frankie is.  Incidentally, Sparkle, although you’re correct that there are more pet cats in households than pet dogs, dog owners spend more money on their charges because we, well, love them more. And that’s because they’re more lovable.

Also on the panel, Penny Sansevieri, creator of the Author Marketing Experts Inc, and author of Red Hot Internet Publicity, spoke on a topic that I’m very interested in checking into: the advantages of self-publishing. The fact that she also liked Am I Boring My Dog, which she’d gotten as a gift for Christmas — talk about serendipity! — only endeared her to me further. Clinching her status as one of the people I was happiest to meet at BlogPaws: She was at the ever-shifting table of revelers at the final event and lots of fun to hang out with.

The spirit of giving

There’s much much more, including the great swag that I plan to put together in a gift basket for a silent auction to benefit the Humane Society of Southern Arizona; I’ll be taking a picture and thanking all the donors individually. But I need to unpack and give my undivided attention to Frankie, so I’ll end with a big thanks to BlogPaws organizers Yvonne DiVita, Tom Collins, and Caroline Golon, who put together an amazing event, and with the video that captures its spirit, created by Lynn Haigh, a.k.a.  Frugal Dougal, CDO of #pawpawty events, which help animal charities around the world.

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Blaming the dog

By Edie Jarolim | Published: December 18, 2009

‘Tis the season for retrospectives, and I’ve been feeling pretty sorry for myself.  Many of my prime writing markets have disappeared this past year, or have stopped using freelancers. Yes, I wrote a dog book that’s been well received, and that’s exciting. So was launching this blog. But they don’t pay the bills and won’t for a while, if at all.

And, as yesterday’s guest post at MyItchyTravelFeet.com reminded me, I used to be able to escape my troubles through travel. I’ve never grudged Frankie his care, but his diabetes has definitely put a crimp in my globe-trotting.

In the midst of this self-pity party, my “martyr alert” alarm went off. I realized that, in the time-honored tradition of anyone who’s ever shirked homework, I’d been blaming the dog.

It’s true that Frankie is not a stellar traveler. I’ve detailed his dislike of car rides in several June posts. Getting pee strip readings of his blood glucose on the road can be difficult too.

It’s also true that, if I decide to leave him at home, it’s more expensive than it once was to get someone to stay with him. Not everyone is able — or willing — to administer insulin shots.

Frankie doing just fine in San Diego

Frankie doing just fine in San Diego

But these are simply challenges, not insurmountable obstacles. Frankie did fine in San Diego, and bounced back quickly from any stress that might have affected his blood sugar levels.  And if I do what I used to do — that is, vigorously pursue new markets for articles — I should be able to earn back any dog sitting fees I incur.

Alternatively, I can take a new direction and try to arrange talks and/or book signings in places I want to visit.

The bottom line: I’ve been using Frankie’s diabetes lately as an excuse for not facing my fears about this brave new world for writers. That’s got to stop. Frankie is way too small — and way too flexible — a pup to serve as a crutch.

Posted in dog blogging | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Weekend Win-a-Book Contest: Blog 911

By Edie Jarolim | Published: December 12, 2009

Life lessons are sometimes ambiguous. Yes, my failed foray into bells-and-whistles SEO/SEM technology taught me that there’s no substitute for solid writing and communication with readers. A blog is only as good as its content and its bond with a like-minded audience.

But it also made me aware that it’s tough to reach that like-minded audience without user-friendly blog technology. I definitely need to update Will My Dog Hate Me.

Thus this new contest, which will run for the weekend: The morning of December 12 through the evening of December 13. Go to the comments section and tell me what works for you on this blog — literally and figuratively — and what doesn’t. How I can improve the format — social media buttons? page length and post length? feeds? — and the content. Tell me what you’d like to see more of, what could go (except for Frankie). Share features from your favorite blogs, including your own, that I might consider adding to mine.

Amazon copyThe person that sends the most thoughtful/useful comment(s) — there’s no need to stop at one — who makes it clear that he or she has given this some real thought,  wins a copy of Am I Boring My Dog. Just in time for the holidays. I’ll inscribe it to the people — and dogs — of your choice, and send it directly to you or to its intended recipient.  If you’re in the U.S. or Canada, I’ll send it first class, not book rate. (Sorry my UK and Aussie pals; in your case it’s slow boat!)

Of course I reserve the right not to publish anything nasty. Mean comments about Frankie are immediate disqualifiers.

Is this a way to get people to read my blog? You bet — and an easy, low tech way at that. But consider the bonus, if you’re a blogger. It’s a good exercise in considering what you like on your own blog, what does or doesn’t work for you.

Incidentally, I was going to call this contest “Pimp My Blog,” but thought I might be pushing my luck, given my recent “What Would Frankie Do?” post. So there’s another topic to consider commenting on: Where do you  — that is me — draw the line between being interesting and opinionated and being offensive enough to put off people who might benefit from your opinions if they were presented differently?

Also posted in Am I Boring My Dog, Book giveaway contest | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Virtually family

By Edie Jarolim | Published: December 6, 2009

[originally posted November 26, 2009]

People who don’t blog on a topic that’s close to their hearts and who don’t have a Twitter community that provides important information as well as consolation and celebration might not understand this post.

Then again, they likely won’t read it.

This is for those who do understand, who feel passionate about their dogs and, over the last months, who have engaged with me in conversations that have been intellectually stimulating and sometimes emotionally riveting. I am thankful today for my virtual family. They won’t be sitting down and drinking and eating with me — that’ll be my friend Rebecca, who brought Frankie into my life, and for whom I am thankful every day that I wake up to his scruffy little mug — but they are no less important for being disembodied.

Thank you for teaching me and, often, for bolstering my spirits. The life of a writer tends to be isolated. It’s hard to express how much kind words about my blog and my book have meant on days when I have despaired about my choice of profession.

Some of my best friends are cat lovers. Some of them are even petless. But dog people are a special breed, to whom I have come by a long, circuitous — and, I now see, very fortuitous — route. It’s to them that I raise my virtual glass today and give thanks.

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