A Tale of Heelers

In some ways, the idea for this blog has been years in the making. Not only have I always been inclined to tell stories, ever since I was introduced to the craft in my 3rd grade writer’s workshop, but I have long been waiting for a blog idea that would stick. I started before, a few times, writing personal blogs about my life (and even worse, my opinions), and nothing stuck. I made it about a month, or about three posts, before fizzling out.

“Nobody cares!” I lamented.

And I was right. Even though I was only looking for a way to write consistently again for the first time in forever, and sharing with my friends and family who forgave me my hubris…it was awful. I felt like I was putting on a show, pretending that my life was important or my views were world-shaking.

Yet, all those years ago when we adopted Holly, I knew instantly that she was special. She stole my heart in ways I never knew were possible, and she inspired me. I wanted to capture her every smile, her every new experience. And slowly, she took over my long-neglected Instagram account.

It only escalated from there. I soon found an audience of dog lovers for our stories, and dozens of small businesses creating amazing custom dog gear. I realized that this “dog Instagram” was a thing.

After a couple years of lowkey dabbling in the world of '“dog Instagram”, I decided it was time to level up my game. I bought my DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T7i, so I could make everyone else understand what I had always known: Holly is so special, so gloriously beautiful.

Now, with over a year of shooting DSLR under my belt, I feel like I can capture her adequately. I am not yet where I want to be, but that is in my nature. I always want to be better.

But Instagram hasn’t been easy for us. It took us a solid five YEARS to gain our 1,000th follower. So, I recently started looking into a little professional Instagram assistance. After all, I’ve seen accounts with crappy phone pics grow exponentially faster than my carefully-curated feed…so I know I must be doing something wrong.

In having my account audited, I had the eye-opening realization that actually brought this to life. I was discussing my deep love of storytelling, but my crippling sense of self-doubt. After all…aren’t there dog professionals - trainers, vets, nutritionists and breeders - that have much more valid opinions on dogs? What qualifications could I possibly have to be a dog blogger?

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with an emphasis on Written Composition.

So…how exactly is writing not a thing I’m qualified to do?

Don’t you just hate when someone drops the truth in your lap - the big, scary truth you don’t want to admit to?

My other hesitation was that this is the wrong time. I should have started this years ago, when Holly was a puppy. She’s six now, and isn’t in unfair to her that her whole life hasn’t been captured moment-by-moment like Smokey’s life with us will be?

But I can’t start this blog in 2015. It’s now 2020, and I can start with this incredible time in our family: we adopted Smokey just a few short months ago, and transitioning from a one perfectly-behaved dog family to a family with one perfectly-behaved dog and one in desperate need of more training has been a journey.

Let the tales begin!