(Yes, that’s a Phil Collins reference. You’re welcome.)

Thanks to Edie at Will My Dog Hate Me and Amy at GoPetFriendly.com, I’ll be engaging in some introspection today.  Edie and Amy have posed a series of questions – those of us participating in the challenge will be posting our answers to those questions today.

Rather than sticking to the numbered Q&A format, I’m going to take a narrative approach.  Here we go…

Beginnings: I began this blog in April 2010.  As you can see from my first post, I originally started the blog as a private affair.  Many of my friends were starting blogs about their kids, and I thought it might be fun to join the blog-liferation, so to speak.  The name of the blog started as a joke – at my age, you’re always getting asked when you’re going to start having kids.  My stock answer?  “I just want more puppies.”  At that time, I wasn’t sure what I would blog about or how long my interest would last.  Foreshadowing alert – the first post contained very little content, but it did have this:

So perhaps it was destined to be a blog about dogs from the start.  I just didn’t know it at the time.  (My musings continue, after the jump…)

Initial Purpose:  I wanted to share things with my friends and family, and I wanted to do it in a space that gave me more freedom than Facebook or email.  I don’t think I had a purpose beyond that.  Although I wrote some posts about Bella (and other dog-related topics), the rest were all over the place.  I posted about TV shows, posted some recipes, and even attempted the occasional movie review.  While looking back at my earliest entries in preparation for this post, I found the ultimate example of how lost I was, topic-wise.  At one point, I offered this disclaimer (before sharing a sweet video about a shelter pup): “You guys, I promise this blog isn’t going to be entirely about puppies, despite the name and my own fondness for puppy pictures.”  I was really fighting the inevitable, huh?  Score one for irony. 

Changes:  As I discussed above, I thought I started a blog to share things with my friends and family in a private forum.  However, I wasn’t sharing things that were meant to be private, like family photos or a recap of my weekend. At some point along the way, I realized that the private thing wasn’t really working for me.  I also discovered that there were plenty of other pet bloggers out there, and I wanted to join the fun.  So, I made the blog public and began to indulge my desire to post more things about dogs. That’s not to say that other topics are off limits (non-puppy posts do happen), but my content is more focused now.

Current Purpose:  I’m still working on this one, I think.  To some extent, my purpose is to have a creative outlet (hence the punny pet names and other random musings).  I also want the blog to be a fun and entertaining space that others enjoy reading, a place to post photos of Bella, and a way to promote animal causes and awareness.  Like I said, I’m still working on it.

Mechanics:  I don’t blog on a strict schedule, although I do try to post at least three times per week.  (When possible, I like to post more often.)  To make sure I’m adding some new content each week, I post on Wednesdays (now that I’ve discovered Wordless Wednesdays) and Fridays (aka No Frown Friday).   I wanted to designate a day to post a variety of links, hence the Friday post – sometimes I try to tie all of the links together with a theme, but not always.  In order to make sure I at least post on these designated days, I try to write posts in advance and keep a running list of possible themes and links to include.  (Wordless Wednesday is easier – I’m never lacking in the Bella photo department!)  I don’t generate any income from my blog, and I haven’t really given it much thought at this point.

The Good, the Bad & the Furry:  The things I like most about blogging are the opportunity to be creative and the ability to interact with others who share my interests.  I’m always learning something new or smiling after reading the posts of other pet bloggers (it’s a great community), and I think the creative outlet has been good for me.  (I’m pretty proud of some of my posts, if I do say so myself.)  My least favorite thing about blogging, on the other hand, is the (probably self-created) pressure to post.  When I’m short on time, it actually stresses me out if I don’t have time to post.  I do try to counteract that tendency by planning ahead and having some posts ready to go in a pinch. 

To Infinity… and Beyond:  In 2011, I’d like to maintain a consistent posting level.  I’m also very excited about my new DSLR, which will likely affect the content here.  I’ve loved photography for a long time, so I may add some posts on that topic or even a regular series.  We’ll see.  (Seriously… I’d love to have some sort of small photography business on the side.  How much would I love to do pet photo shoots? But I digress…)  I also hope to become more involved with local rescue groups – so if that happens, there may be some posts about that too.  I’m not sure I have a well-articulated goal for this year – but I would like to maintain the blog as a fun and informative place that I hope you’ll continue to visit!

Want to read other entries in the Pet Blogger Challenge?  Check out the full list at Will My Dog Hate Me and GoPetFriendly.