Saturday, November 9, 2013

Why You Need to Subscribe to Pet Blogs

As a blogger, I read a lot of other blogs. I have about 150 or so blogs in my blog reader right now. Visiting everyone can be difficult, especially on the weekends but I try to visit as many as I can everyday. I usually run across at least one blog giveaway or more on any given day. And sometimes I enter these giveaways and contests, because like most people I like free stuff. I must be pretty lucky too, because I sure do seem to win lots of cool things!


I'm going to share some of the cool things I've won lately, but first I wanted to talk about why you need to subscribe to blogs! How do you follow a blog anyways? Well, there are lots of different ways. You can sign up for email updates on most blogs.


You can also follow a blog by something called an RSS feed. You'll need a feed reader, which is like a place that you can store all of the blogs that you read. I personally use Feedly. It's easy to navigate, organize, and use. Anytime you want to add a new blog to your reader, you can just click the "Add Content" button, enter the blog's URL and you're set! Another popular reader is Bloglovin'.

What I'm getting at is that if you aren't following blogs, you're probably missing out on some good stuff. Bloggers share valuable information. They share their personal experiences and expert advice. They are real people and value everyone who reads their blog. And some of them can be pretty funny too!

They also share animals and pets who need help. It may not seem like much, but it only takes one person to share an animal's story and make a difference. That person could be you.

Some bloggers have awesome giveaways and contests that you could be missing. I am surprised at the amount of free items I win on a regular basis from blog giveaways! If you're skeptical, don't be! These giveaways are not gimmicks! Bloggers also share good deals and discounts sometimes.

Still not convinced? Just take a look at some of the awesome loot I've won from other blogs in the past month or so. I'm not going to be able to include everything in this post, but here are some of my favorites.

The bracelet pictured below is from For Love of a Dog Jewelry. It's absolutely gorgeous and I love it! Amazingly, this is the 2nd piece of jewelry I have won from their blog.

Jewelry from For Love of a Dog

Here's a little bit about For Love of a Dog Jewelry taken from their website -
"We specialize in handcrafted art jewelry and decorative accessories for dog, cat, and horse lovers. We strive to use only the finest materials: sterling silver, gold, precious and semi-precious gemstones, crystals, glass, vintage and found objects. We take great pride in our work. Be assured that you are purchasing a high quality piece of wearable animal art directly from the designer."
I love For Love of a Dog's Jewelry as well as their blog! If you have never visited them, I highly recommend it!

Next up are these super cute salt and pepper shakers from Flea who is a blogger for Jones Natural Chews. Flea found the cute little things in her local junk store and decided to make some lucky person who reads her blog smile with them. She also sent my dog some treats from Jones Natural Chews, which definitely made her smile. :)


Flea is always giving away something away at her blog. If your dog enjoys treats that are made in the USA with limited ingredients, I recommend you visit this blog. Flea is super down to earth and a very friendly person!

And finally, I just have to share these treats that I won over at Beagles and Bargains. I think they might just be the biggest treats I've ever seen! It's called the Brown Beggers 144. The 144 is 4, 3 foot jerky sticks. Yes, you read that right. 3 feet of jerky! Of course, you can just snap off a chunk and feed it to your dog. You can find them at SitStay.com. Brown Beggers have a lot of treats that look great for dogs.


So thanks the Beagles and Bargains for the awesome treats. Shiner especially thanks you.


See what I mean? There are all kinds of awesome perks that come from subscribing to blogs. Why not add some to your reader today?

67 comments:

  1. Big sigh....as most of the give-aways do not include us across the pond. Still we agree with everything you have said. Have a super Saturday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. I know that it sucks for overseas friends and the giveaways. But I have been trying to include them more these past few months. Sadly, most of the overseas friends aren't entering the ones I created to include them in!

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  2. Those are some mighty good reasons to follow other blogs. There are some great giveaways and we have won quite a few ourselves. Besides we really enjoy visiting all the different pet blogs. Have a great Saturday.

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  3. We love every single blog we follow......and hope that people enjoy ours even though it's mostly just for FUN and not really much more than that. The life of a middle-aged cat isn't that exciting and we don't give away much but it's just fun to give people a smile or two every day. One thing we've found in the three years we've been blogging is that animal bloggers are the NICEST people around.....!!

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    1. They certainly are the nicest people around Sammy! I could not agree more!

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  4. What a fun post! Of course, I'm biased... thanks for the lovely shout out. Glad to see you're enjoying your bracelet :-)

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  5. It is the only way to keep track of all our friends! Lee and Phod

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    1. You are definitely right about that guys! Otherwise I would be so behind!

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  6. I subscribe to blogs via email. What is a reader and is there one that you would recommend? What's the benefit of a reader vs. email?

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    1. I describe readers a little in the top part of the post, and I recommend Feedly. That's the one that I use. There is nothing wrong with subscribing by email, and I find that it's a personal preference really. I don't like subscribing by email simply because I feel like my inbox would become to cluttered. Instead, I open my reader a few times a day and read some blogs.

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  7. Following other blogs is almost better than blogging yourself. We have been blessed with winning so many awesome things this past year. I have to admit that reading all the blogs we subscribe to and commenting, does take a chunk out of my nap time, but it is worth it. We have fun, learn a lot and have made many new friends. You are missing out if you aren't reading other blogs. Great post idea, by the way!

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    1. Thank you Emma :) There are definitely more benefits than I listed here.

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  8. So true, Ann! Even if I didn't write my own blog, I would still keep reading because I have won some cool stuff too, and I have learned a lot. I do all mine by email right now, mostly because I haven't had time to look into some of the other ways to follow like BlogLovin. Getting it in my email reminds me better too of who I need to visit. There are so many good blogs out there, and it really is hard to find the time to visit them all, added to the time to write our own! I just do the best I can. You were so lucky to win that jewelry though....I love her jewelry but I had to buy mine! :) The dogs got some good treats and food that we won recently too and they're pretty happy!

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    1. Following by email is OK I think. It's just whatever you like really. I just think my email would become a huge mess if I did it that way!

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  9. I Love reading what everyone is up to. I start my day reading, and it always makes me smile.

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  10. We can never enter for cool wins as most won't post over the pond :( Great stuff though :) Have a super weekend xxoxxx

    Mollie and Alfie

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    1. Hey Mollie - don't forget to enter the Thanksgiving contest! I am including everyone in that one!

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  11. I agree with you 100%. Reading blogs of others is so very helpful, even tho it's almost a full time job to keep up with all of them. I just follow everyone on the Blogger Dashboard and read them as new posts come in. I've entered a few give-aways, but not too often. In addition to all the points you stated, Ml says she has met some very wonderful people - anipal people are the greatest!

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    1. That is another great reason to follow blogs Mario! There are so many great friends that I've made through blogging.

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  12. I try to do my best to visit all every day, but sometimes that's like a full time job :o) a 3ft jerky? woah! I'm overwhelmed. Have fun Shiner and enjoy this ginormous treat!

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    1. It is like a full time job Easy! There is not way I can visit everyone every single day. But I do what I can and enjoy it :) Shiner likes this jerky, but is upset that I only break off pieces and don't give her all of it at once!

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  13. yep and we get to make great friends too! I know what you mean about having trouble keeping up. I am subscribed to well over 300 blogs (pet and others) and some days I just have to hit delete!!! How dare life get in the way!

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    1. Yep, the friends are definitely a bonus to subscribing and following blogs! It's hard to keep up, but people understand. I hope anyways!

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  14. Love subscribing to different pet blogs. I always learn something new and I meet new pet lovers. I have won lots of things from pet blogs including cat food, kitty block, scratcher, and a water fountain and more.
    Everyone is so friendly too. That is beautiful jewelery.
    Sue B

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    1. Hey Sue, I'm glad to hear that you enjoy reading your pet blogs! Sounds like you've won a nice collection of stuff too :)

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  15. When I first started blogging, I hated it. But when I started following other bloggers, blogging became a lot more fun. Not only have we won a lot of great prizes, but we've also met a lot of great bloggers and some fantastic dogs, cats, bunnies, ducks, etc. I really love reading your stuff. I think it's great that we are all dog lovers, yet different enough from one another that we learn new things and can appreciate different aspects of having pets. There are pet bloggers who blog about their dog's participation in sporting activities, pets that are just simple family members, dogs that provide therapy services, rescued pets, and so so much more. I LOVE IT!

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    1. You are definitely right Dawn! When I started blogging, I think I was very close-minded about a lot of things regarding pets. I think it had to do with the type of work I did before as a vet tech. When I return to being a vet tech one day, I think that blogging will help me become an even better from all of the things I have learned! Especially in the department of customer service.

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  16. Great advice. As you know we do one or two giveaways a week and by subscribing you never miss them. I'd love to comment more but with over 200 emails day I can only subscribe to a few blogs. I visit many from the Cb and always try to return comments at my blog.

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    1. You do have some terrific giveaways Layla! There is no way I can subscribe by email either... but I like my Feedly reader and it's an easy place to keep everything stored away. I just recently found the Cat Blogosphere and am learning about it as we speak.

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  17. We follow lots of blogs both by email and with Feedly. We sure hope lots of others follow us as well!

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  18. We follow tons of blogs and we're getting along pretty good with Feedly.

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  19. I spoke to soon, just went to Feedly and they were down, so that's how we get behind.

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    1. Oh no Brian! I was on there earlier today without much trouble. Hopefully it will be back up when I go to do some reading.

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  20. Those stuff are so cool^^
    You are right, reading blogs brings me lots of fun and knowledge (especially from yours!!!)^^

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    1. Thank you Agnes! I am also glad that I found your blog. I only know of one other turtle blog. Well, maybe 3 now...

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  21. Great reasons to follow other pet blogs! We follow LOTS of them, too. Feedly has been okay for us so far. And much better now that they did whatever they did earlier today...

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    1. Brian said that it was down. I haven't checked it out yet... going to have to see what's going on over there I guess !

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  22. I seem to win more during Twitter pawties than through blogs. I got a pawsome quilt today that I won. TW thought it could be part of my Secret Paws but I think I like it too much. I wish I had more giveaways but I don't know how to do it. Blogpaws only has dog stuff. Sigh. It ain't easy being a cat.

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  23. Great post! We love to win stuff. We follow on Bloglovin but mom hasn't been as good as she would like to be about visiting blogs! Something to do with not enough time in the day to get everything done:(

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  24. I follow well over 200 blogs and it is impossible to get round to everyone every day :( Like Sammy we really are only in it to raise a smile, but have a giveaway now and again! The pet blogosphere is getting huge now and there is so much info and experiences being shared. It's great! For my reader I use Bloglovin, but sometimes it is a bit behind with updating, but on the whole am happy with it :)

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    1. BTW your blog header and layout is one of my absolute favourites. Glogirly rules! MOL

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  25. You have won some nice things! It would be nice if more contests were open to those of us on the other side of the Atlantic.

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    1. I wish the same thing Clowie. I don't sponsor too many of my own giveaways, but am doing a Thanksgiving photo contest right now for all of my readers if you'd like to join. Usually, shipping is up to the company and most don't want to ship overseas unfortunately =/

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  26. Wow, that is some LONG jerky!!

    We're having a giveaway right now for anyone who doesn't know yet :)

    I have started subscribing to more blogs because I find so many wonderful blogs to read. I try to keep up as much as I can, but I'm a slow reader, so I try to get to everyone at least once or twice a week (more if I can). Sometimes my memory isn't the best and I accidentally forget about some of my favorite bloggers, so the subscribing really helps me with that, LOL!! I'll see the updates in my e-mail and they remind me to go visit :)

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    1. Yea if I didn't subscribe to blogs, I know I would forget about some of them!!

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  27. Great post. Congrats on all your winnings! Rita and I have been really lucky too! It's so hard to keep up with all the blogs I subscribe to!

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  28. I need to take your great suggestion and try the Feedly or Bloglovin reader, so that my inbox doesn't get so full. My biggest issue as of late is that I have so much fun reading all the blogs that I am not sewing like I should be (for my business). And...I think I need to start having some occasional giveaways also. I will be headed a slightly different direction with business this next year, which should make that an easier thing to do!

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    1. It's hard to get caught up in reading so many blogs and sometimes my own gets put on the backburner. I need to focus on making sure I'm caught up with my own post deadlines as well.

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  29. Ann you brought up a great subject! Following other blogs is so important! While I haven't reached up to follow 100+ blogs I'm not stingy when it comes to following others. I love meeting other animal lovers that have the same passion as me. My real life friends are not animals crazy like me. When I meet up with them, and start chatting about my dog. They just don't get it.

    Giveaways are so cool! Living in Italy I can't do giveaways because there is so many laws, and I don't want to risk getting in trouble. Hopefully when I move in the States I will start doing them! Thoes pepper shakers are really cool by the way!

    Have a great week! Hugs, Francesca

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    1. That's awesome Francesca :) The giveaway thing does sound most popular here in the states. But it is a lot of fun to host them. I love telling people that they have won something :)

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  30. I use Feedly and it is great until lat night when it was down...lol. Congrats in your winnings!

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  31. Great post Ann! I am so far behind on my blogging, reading, and commenting. There just isn't enough time in my day anymore and it seems like my shelter work is taking 2nd priority (to Titan of course), over my blogging. Giveaways are awesome imo, as long as there aren't too many hoops to jump through. Some I look at and I'm like "Forget it". :) One of the biggest things I like, is networking with others, which again I'm slacking at lately, and pet bloggers have some much valuable information (as long as you follow the right ones). :)

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    1. Ah well Bren, I get slacky too sometimes. Mostly on the weekends, when I'm trying to take a break. Or if my mom is around and I get caught up talking with her or something. These coming weeks will be hard for me to keep up with everyone. Mom will be going into surgery on the Tuesday.

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  32. Those salt and pepper shakers are adorable and of course the bracelet is too! So glad Shiner is enjoying her jerky!

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  33. I so agree with you! Blog updates are advice that's sent directly on your way.

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  34. Thanks for imparting valuable knowledge. Positively Yours, Liverpool Vet

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  35. That's awesome! The jerky I mean. Shiner is so lucky he get to eat that tall jerky. And the bracelet is so stylish and cool.

    http://bestdogfoodforpuppies.com

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  36. You only have 150 blogs in your reader? Pfft. I have like 400 and counting. You think YOU feel overwhelmed. Ha, ha.

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    1. It's closer to 200 at the moment but I know that I'm behind! My blog reading list is always growing... I'm starting to realize why so many bloggers want to know how to keep up with everything! :)

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  37. Great post! I am always finding new blogs to add to my list. It's such a fun community and wonderful resource.

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  38. Excellent post. It is true that I'd like to follow more but with work, school, therapy, life, training, modeling, writing, ice fishing, cup baking, underwater basketweaving, I just don't have time. But seriously, I actually have a lot of posts that are in 'draft mode' some 90% complete and never published because I have so much going on that I barely have time to get things done. But one thing I do enjoy is reading and reviewing the very few blogs that I do list and my hope is that I become more industrious and acquire more time to allow me to write in my blog more or at the very least publish some more. So each time I read or learn about a new blog from someone else I add them to my list because I really like seeing interesting and fun things and people's photos. Love animal bloggers - they are the best. And your site is terrific. WOOF!

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    1. You are quite the busy dog PB! You've just got to find a plan that works well for you. All bloggers are different too, which is another nice thing. We get to see some variety. As my blog has grown, I find I too have less time for visiting others. I do try to visit at least a few of them each day.

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  39. Sigh...sigh... No giveaways for bloggers in Denmark. All though I do read a lot of interesting and funny blogs. It's the big pleasure. Have a nice day. By the way, I use Bloglovin as a feeder and this is doing very well.

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    1. It is a shame that our overseas friends can't participate in more giveaways. I'm glad you are enjoying reading other's blogs though! Bloglovin' seems to be a pretty popular reader choice.

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  40. Thank you! I just started up with feedly, I have email subscriptions but it does get hard to keep track of everyone sometimes. :-)

    www.DzDogs.com

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