10 Questions with Chris of My Dog Finn

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
My Dog Finn is a way of keeping memories and sharing my experiences as a first time pet owner. My blog covers not just our trips to the pet store, dog walks, and fun pictures but also shares pertinent stories about pet health and care, training and discipline, and pet activities. I share stories that are interesting and link to news articles and blogs that pet owners and lovers would enjoy. I am proud of my dog (the first dog I can call my own) and hope to raise him well, all the time learning from him and making life long memories. Life with a puppy is great fun, and I hope to express that through my writing.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
My dog, and my blog, are a way for me to have fun. This post gives a feel of what I mean by that.

If Finn Were a Human

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
My blog focuses on archiving the life and growing pains of a puppy, good and bad. I’ll admit when mistakes are made in taking care of him and show their results. Additionally, as a pet blog, My Dog Finn is written from my point of view. It is NOT written as if Finn were writing it. We all know dogs don’t have opposable thumbs so there is no way he is typing on an iPhone, and his paws are the size of small bread plates so it’s no use acting like he can hit each of these little keys. I blog, he chews flowers, it’s a nice little system we got going here.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
ALSDKFJLkkjasdflowlaLDSAFL;LJWE. See what I mean, that’s what happens when I let Finn try and type. I discovered blogging years ago and really starting devouring blogs when I discovered RSS readers (I use Google reader now). At my height of reading I was engulfing close to 1000 posts a day from a variety of sources, and skipping over 2k-3k more. I have since toned it down to focus on writing my own blog and spend time with my pooch and family.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
Linking directly to another site with no comment. Although I enjoy being pointed to new and interesting posts and blogs, I rely on my bloggers to recap things for me and give me some insight. A lot of times I don’t need the story but I would love to hear about it. Posts like “Blogs We Luv has a cool story about interesting blogs” are useless, but ones that say “Blogs We Luv has a cool story asking bloggers to answer ten questions such as ‘Describe your blog in 5 sentences or less’ and ‘If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why’”. This is simple writing, give me a hook, but it seems many bloggers forget this from time to time.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
The “Blog This” button from blogger. Situated in my toolbar it’s a one click way of starting a post and pulls in a link to whatever page is open. This makes it easier to conceal the fact that I am blogging while I should be doing other things (ie. working, driving, going to the bathroom) by allowing quick drafts to be saved for later.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog,who would it be and why?
Goo! That’s a tough question because there are so many great writers and bloggers out there; however, I would need someone who is interested in dogs and is very knowledgeable about animals in general so I’m going with, Jack Hanna. Jack is an animal expert and turned the Columbus Zoo into one of the top zoos in the country. I grew up a few miles from the Columbus Zoo and was always excited to see Mr. Hanna on late night talk shows with his lions and tigers, hopefully he could let me play with one while he was blogging too.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
Blogging has given me more motivation to learn all about taking care of my dog. Not only have I learned proper training and care but I’ve learned signs of future problems with a pet and other little things to avoid. Did you know you should not mix dry pet food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids because it can cause the dormant not harmful bacteria in the dry food to become hazardous? Yeah, I didn’t either. Thanks blogging!

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Don’t worry about other people. Decide on your reasons for blogging and keep to them. One of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut, always used to say in his books “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” I like this principle and try to remember it anytime I get stuck.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
Lifehacker has posts about making life easier. Anything from “How to put more music on your iPod” to “How to pull your vehicle uphill using brute strength (and a pulley)” can be found there along with much more. Yes it strays from the ‘stay on one topic’ principle of blogging but the common thread between all the posts is just enough to make it a wonderful blog.

You can learn more about Chris and Finn by reading My Dog Finn - A Blog We Luv. 

Categories: Animals, Ten Questions