Use this space to discuss anything you'd like -- treat it like a bulletin board for all things dog.
I'll start:
I've really been slacking on the Dog Blog for quite a while now. It was originally set up as a way to get people talking about their dogs and dog issues in Anchorage. I'd ask a question every Monday and invite people to respond. If they had something they wanted to bring up, they could search for the most recent "Anything goes" topic and introduce their own discussions. On Fridays, we'd have a "Training Talk" topic.
By the end of the blog's first year, it was working terrifically. I had a staunch group of regulars following the blog, and it wasn't unusual to have 100 comments or more, especially on the Anything Goes topics.
Ah, but alas, I discovered bloggers run out of steam. After years of trying to come up with provocative questions, I started running out of them. When Anything Goes topics went without replies, I started slacking on posting new ones too.
I've had waves of "regulars" over the years, but changes in the blog format they didn't like and a lack of inspiration from my increasingly unprovocative questions caused them to visit less frequently.
Interestingly, I consider myself close friends with my first group of regulars. We talk more on Facebook now, but we often get together to walk our dogs or attend a dog event together.
I can think of ways to improve the blog, but many of them require an investment in time that I don't have. This is a voluntary effort for me, and while I enjoy it, I don't have much time to devote to it. That's why I set it up as a discussion blog. I need help to keep it going.
So that's my plea today: What topics should we discuss? Any other low-maintenance ways I can improve the blog and its appeal? Of the existing format, what works and what doesn't?
What's up with your pack?
Anchorage