Early this week, a fellow blogger named Jodi - who blogs under her name jodistone - gave my blog the Liebster Award, which translates to "Most Favorite Blog" in German. Rather than an actual "award," it's more of a way of spreading the word about newer blogs, by having bloggers link back to one another so that they can attract more readers.
Pretty cool idea - so a great Big Thanks to Jodi for passing the torch on to me!
The rules are fairly simple.
(1) Thank the blogger that gave you the award and then add a link to their blog.
Well I already thanked Jodi and provided a link above, but I also wanted to tell you a bit about Jodi's blog. She is a fellow Lab lover and has two wonderful Labs that she writes about - Sampson and Delilah. Delilah, like my Toby, constantly keeps her on her toes, giving her plenty of writing material. Jodi is also a dedicated blogger; she just celebrated her one year anniversary, and has posted an entry nearly every single day during that time - only missing one day because of the birth of a grandchild - which she actually apologized for! I'd definitely recommend heading over there to check out Jodi's blog and read about her lovely Labs.
(2) Reveal your top five picks (with less than 200 readers) and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
So without further ado, here they are, in alphabetical order.
and puppy makes four - A young couple and their cat are raising their first dog - and they chose - a Labrador. Need I say more? I've been following this blog for a while now...and since I've never raised a pup of my own, I'm raising one vicariously through them. Follow the adventures of Scout as she teaches her owners all about the art of keeping their home and property safe from the inquisitive jaws of an adolescent (but very sweet) Lab.
Click, The Good News - This is a blog I have been following for quite some time, and although I'm not sure about her subscription numbers - I can tell you that if you are looking for a "little of everything" blog by an awesome photographer, this is the place to visit. Amanda shares stunning photos of her two gorgeous Vizslas, Zoe and Mia, along with breathtaking travel photos, recipes, book reviews, and more.
Luke The Greatest Dane - Jenn doesn't post as often as many other bloggers, but when she does post, her words are well thought out, heartfelt, and always have significant meaning. Just recently, her blog gained a lot of attention for one particular post she wrote titled "Why We Choose to Lose Our Hearts to A Breed With Such A Short Lifespan", so that may have pushed her over that 200 subscriber mark - but in any case, hers is definitely what I would consider an "up and coming" blog and thought it would be fitting to include her in this list.
Making of an Angel - Brand new to me, I have not yet even been able to explore this one as much as I plan to, but I can tell you that Kat is a kindred soul. She turned her back on outdated primitive training methods much the same as I did, and she also came to the realization that the dog she had slated to be a service dog was just not right for the job (very similar to my therapy dog experience with Toby). She now has an up in coming service dog named Bri, who I am looking forward to learning more about, and of course, she still kept the now retired Holly, who is a beautiful hound.
My dogs, my world - This one is a brand new blog, written by my dear friend Lesli - who is also Meadow's previous foster Mom! She is a skilled positive reinforcement trainer who strives to improve the relationship between owners and their dogs. Lesli is also heavily involved in all breed dog rescue, fosters dogs regularly, and is also a very talented writer. Dedicating much of her life to assisting shelter animals, Lesli is an inspiration, and just knowing her makes me want to do much more to help the voiceless and the forgotten.
(3) Copy and Paste the Award to Your Blog.
All this time and I STILL do not know how to add things to my side-bar, but my wonderful, tech support husband took care of it for me already.
(4) Hope that the people you've sent the award to forward it to their five favorite up-and-coming bloggers, and keep it going!
I have to admit, at first I balked at the idea of putting up this post - mainly because I was thinking, "How the heck am I supposed to know if someone has less than 200 subscribers?" But then I realized, I don't have to do everything perfectly - it's more about introducing my readers to other talented bloggers, which is something I'm very happy to do.
So, I'll admit it, I'm not positive that each of the above blogs actually has less than 200 readers (so please don't be offended if assumed incorrectly), but each of them are ones that I really enjoy and I chose for various reasons. Whether they are brand new bloggers, fairly new to me, or don't seem to get as many comments as they so quite obviously deserve - I recommend that you take the time to visit each of them.
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Fellow Bloggers - did you hear about the Blogging Fundraiser to Benefit Animals? Its worth checking out - win money for your favorite charity, and a little cash for yourself too!
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