Some days, I really hate dog blogs. So, Koda and I are officially on dog blogging strike. For at least one month. Next real article to be due on or around or after Christmas. Or never. We'll see.
As a dog trainer who loves reading about dogs, I've always found it absolutely irritating to read about "How To Train this..." or "Why you should (or should not) do this..."
Thank you kindly, but if I wanted to know how to train something, I'd simply ask my own trainer/behaviorist. That is, of course, assuming that you've actually come up with something I don't know and really wowed me with it. If he couldn't answer, I'd research and ask my twitter friends (who, by the way, have some amazing dog blogs, most of which don't concentrate on telling me what to do.) What I wouldn't do is look up dog blogs to see if someone has written something about it.
What do you want from a dog blog?
I want stories.
And I want pictures.
I want the author to capture and captivate my mind, steal my heart, and make me laugh.
Do you have any idea how many publishers groan at the mere thought of... not ANOTHER dog training book!
So, I'm begging the readers, the authors, the bloggers.
Please don't turn our niche into another NOT ANOTHER DOG BLOG! world. We have too much to offer, too wide a range of topics, to weigh ourselves down with boring things, with boring information that anyone can find anywhere, or in any book.
Color it. Walk me through the story of how you trained something if you wanna talk about how to do it. Tell me how silly your dog looked or that he started to chase his tail in the middle of the training session because he suddenly realized that it looked like someone stuck the tip of it into a bucket of white paint.
I agree. I don't blog about my dog and read other blogs because I am looking for dog training advice. I blog because it's fun and because I like to yammer on about the weird thing my dog just did. End of story.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you are on hiatus as I love your blog. But if/when you return I will be here to read!
Provoking blog as always :) Hope you are back soon though!
ReplyDeletehe he he guilty as charged.
ReplyDeleteYou did it again. Thought-provoking and a smooth read. JJ the power blogger!
Definitely food for thought. Whilst I see your point, I also like to order and crystallize my thoughts on technical points and I find that writing a post about a training technique really helps me in that endeavour.
I guess it also depends on how you position yourself as a dog blogger. I am playing on several levels, playing with technical/theoretical as well as story-telling, and I find they don't necessarily make bad bed fellows. Gives my blog a bit of an inconsistent feel, but what the hey!
Fine, be on strike - just don't make it a hunger strike, ok. We still like your blog and will be waiting to see what irritates and/or interests you when you get back.
ReplyDeleteI like stories too :)
ReplyDeleteI think it is great to take a break every now & then! Enjoy it & we'll see you when you get back :)
@Kristine - It's weird how we market to people who aren't reading our blogs with things like how-to. We're trying to talk to people who don't know anything, whilst forgetting to realize that our readers are dog enthusiasts...and there probably isn't a darned thing we can tell them that they haven't heard. LOL. Ugh. It's terrible!
ReplyDelete@Kenzo - TY for the comment. You are, for obvious reasons, thoroughly exempt from the category of dog bloggers to which I am referring. Although, you do have a couple of how-tos... The most interesting thing about that is how we all but begged you to write them. ;] *That,* I think, is what makes the difference.
ReplyDelete@Pish Posh. No way to the hunger strike idea. I don't weigh a lot to begin with, and every time I think of going on a diet (to eat healthier and live longer...not to lose weight) I end up eating the whole world because I am absolutely convinced that I am starving. Such a dork.
ReplyDeleteI want to come back with a bang, so I've got my thinking cut out for me. I am totally open to suggestion, however. ;]
@Shauna I love doggy stories. Actually, reading about Jasmine, and also reading yours and Dino's blog is what got me into the game to begin with. I stumble A LOT over blogging, and end up deleting a bunch of my articles after I re-read them and realize that ... they aren't really that great.
ReplyDeleteNot that any of mine are wonderful, but I like to think I'm at least sparking thought.
TY for the comment. =]
I am hoping to come back with a really cool article. Hoping. We'll see.
@Laure-Anne You are mostly exempt from this as well, but you do venture down the path to which I am referring. The big difference with you is that you are thought provoking, and your how-to-do-it! articles have a lot of personal bias, interesting thoughts, and other tidbits to keep the reader interested. (It also makes the posts REALLY long, but I tend to notice that after I'm already 3/4 of the way through anyway, so it's not a problem. lol)
ReplyDeleteI really like that you blog all over the map; it's a little unorganized, but I actually LIKE that about it. You can get training stuff, cute articles about you and your dog, breeders, etc. You have a big reach. Use it!
=]
And thanks for the comment. ^-^;;