Note: The original article first appeared in the Mar/April 2016 edition of Pet Connection Magazine. This version contains minor edits. “I gave $2,000 to Motley Zoo Animal Rescue in 2015 to help save animals” I never thought I would be saying that. I never had that much money at my disposal and, honestly, was more likely to give to environmental and humanitarian groups. In 2012, I was a … [Read more...]

Each year I like to reflect on what happened the previous year with the blog, and in our lives, and think about where we hope to go. You can read the end-of-year post I wrote last year HERE. Our friends over at Go Pet Friendly remind me ever year to take this time to think about my achievements and goals. They put forth a number of thought-provoking questions to the blogging community. Many … [Read more...]

Today is a big day for me at You Did What With Your Wiener? Why? Well, for two reasons. One, today marks 6 years since I published my first blog post. Yes, 6 whole years! I take this blog very seriously and, for the last 6 years, I’ve written 99.9% of the articles myself. I won’t go into details but it means I’ve spent an average of 20-30 hours a week on this “labor of love” since it first … [Read more...]

There is the article you write and then the article you want to write. The story of how Gretel changed my life and allowed me to help needy animals recently appeared in Pet Connection Magazine, a local pet-focused publication. I waited excitedly for the issue with my story to come out. I'm very critical of myself though and mostly saw the several glaring things I would change when I read … [Read more...]

Welcome to our blog! Maybe it's your first time visiting or maybe you've been visiting for a while but don't know that much about us. Who we are today is a "travel and outdoor lifestyle blog that focuses being active with your small dog". Our back-story is so much more than that though. I had been hiking and traveling through life with Chester for 8 years. I could almost predict the shocked … [Read more...]

Today is the day of the 2014 Pet Blogger Challenge hosted by GoPetFriendly and Will My Dog Hate Me It’s the time pet bloggers answer some questions to see how far we've come and make some plans for where we’re going. It's also a chance for our readers to learn a little more about our blog. Without further adieu, here are my answers: 1. How long have you been blogging? Please tell us why you … [Read more...]

Well, I skipped right over the our Birthday. I have been writing about our adventures here for a little over three years now. Over the years (and the past year especially) I have started to include more "I"s in our adventure stories instead of just the ambiguous "we" (as in the dogs, me and whoever happens to be in our party that day). I want to continue to grow a stronger voice in our … [Read more...]

It's been over a month in the making but it is finally here! Welcome to our "new" blog. It's not entirely new. We will still be sharing our passion for hiking and our other adventure stories. We will still be sharing products and services we like. We will still be talking about nutrition and keeping your dog fit. The core of who we are hasn't changed Some things ARE really different … [Read more...]

Our blog turned two years old yesterday. In toddlers, the terrible tows are defined by the testing of limits, frequent mood changes and temper tantrums.There haven't been any fits (yet) but we are starting to test our limits. The first step was my commitment to the "30 Days of Imperfection" blog challenge. During the challenge, one of the limits I am testing is "how imperfect can a blog post … [Read more...]

Some of our blogger friends may have noticed that we haven't been commenting on their blogs much in the last week. I have been SUPER busy in other areas of my life. I have been working frantically all summer to get my Grandparent's house on the market. I spent all summer cleaning the place out and had to scramble these past couple of days. I am happy to report that the house went on the market … [Read more...]

When we first adopted Gretel she was very anxious. In fact, they had her on doggie Prozac. After watching her behavior for a week I determined that she didn't need drugs. What she needed was unconditional love, consistence, some confidence building and some training. Determined to start of on the right foot we immediately enrolled in a basic obedience class. She did really good in class. She … [Read more...]

*Stands Up* My name is Jessica, and I have a problem. I can't stop buying dog stuff. As you know, I own TWO dogs. I have no less than 6 leashes, 4 harnesses, 3 collars, two nail trimmers, 5 dogs beds, 10 dog jackets, 6 bones in varying states of chewedness, 20 toys and about 15 bags of treats in the doggie storage closet. That is not including all of the one-offs like a can of wet food, calming … [Read more...]

As most of you know, we rescued Gretel in November of 2010. We can't believe how lucky we were to find her at a rescue. She has grown in confidence since we brought her into our home and she has grown to be quite the little clown. She will always lean towards the shy side but we are proud of what she has become. She had quite the terrible start to live so we are glad she found us and gave us … [Read more...]

Hello friends. We are first-timers to the Pet Blogger Challenge. We were in existence when the last time it happened but we were too busy learning how this bloggy thing worked to look into what the challenge hubbub was all about. Our world has expanded a lot over this last year. Will My Dog Hate me and Go Pet Friendly are the homes of some of our favorite people and dogs. My fingers perked up … [Read more...]

I must have been meant to read the book Following Atticus. I write about adventurous small dogs all of the time so it immediately called out to me from the bookstore table when I saw it. Then I won a copy from Life with Dogs. I managed to devour the book in two days…which says a lot if the two years worth of books stacking up on my table is any indication. The story of Atticus was inspiring … [Read more...]