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.

5 thoughts on “Celebrating WMDHM’s birthday: My 10 favorite posts”

  1. Thanks, Rod. I appreciate the support that you and Amy have given this blog — particularly flattering from creators of a great site/service to pet owners.

  2. One of my faves is here, and though there are many, the one from your book about recognizing a good dog breeder, what questions to ask on the phone, the contract, the genetic testing papers that should be available, and many other more intimate observations that can be made on site, along with questions to ask face-to-face and the answers that would send up red flags. This is invaluable to anyone getting a dog from a breeder. So many who have bought from a bad breeder had no idea that things should be very different, and repeat that mistake. Look at all the people who still buy from the likes of Petland. Nice walk through your first year!

    1. Thanks, Mary! Even mentioning breeders — and the fact that there can be good ones — raises the hackles among some people, so I especially appreciate that you, a member of the rescue community, realizes the value of separating bad practitioners from good ones.

Leave a Reply to Mary Haight Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *