Alright… first of all, a sarcastic thanks to Kristine over at Rescued Insanity for nominating me for the My 7 Links challenge (I’m calling it a challenge) that was started by Tripbase Blog.  The idea was to connect a very wide range of niche blogs through posting a ‘standardized’ blog entry featuring 7 links.  The rules, are deceptively simple… each blogger searches through their blog posts and finds links that satisfy each of the various categories and posts them.  Then they pass along the task to 5 more bloggers.
Now, I really loved Kristine’s 7 Links and that love is what made me… albeit slightly begrudgingly, decide to embrace this opportunity.  I don’t remember when or how I came across Rescued Insanity but it certainly was well after she began blogging.  Through the 7 Links post, I was able to go back and read some posts that happened before I started reading regularly.  It was a fantastic look into her archive!  Now, although I don’t have massive numbers of regular readers, it is certainly more than what I started with and I think I have some valuable posts from earlier on that I’d like to bring back up.
As a side note, I must say that I think I have gotten off incredibly easy… I’ve only been blogging for about 8 months and have less than 200posts to choose from and wade through.  I’m not sure I could imagine doing this if I’d been blogging for a few years!
So, on to it…

1. My most Beautiful Post… A Place to Unwind While Waiting for Their Furever Homes

This post was for my first Blog the Change blog hop and I think it’s probably the most beautiful in terms of the language, the story, and the photos.  It gives a glimpse into the amazing work being done at Glen Highland Farms Border Collie Rescue.
 

2. My most Popular Post… Focus, It Doesn’t Just Happen

This was my very first post that had over 150 views.. back when getting 25 page views in a day was an accomplishment.  It was also the first post that major colleagues shared on their FB walls, linked to on their blogs, and printed/emailed to clients.  It isn’t the most popular in a strictly numbers game.. but given that it received about 5 times the number of views I was typically getting makes it probably the most popular in that sense.  Focus is the root of almost all behaviors… without it success is really limited.  It’s a completely foundational behavior and it really doesn’t ‘just happen’.

3. My most Controversial post… This Is Why I Train the Way I Do

I really had to battle whether or not to include this post in my list because it was … not so much controversial but very emotionally driven and some people were leaving nasty comments on a video included in the post to the point the video at some point went private.  It’s also very very atypical of me.  I really try not to judge people, try not to point out people and subject them to potential mockery by others… it’s really not who I am to ‘call out’ someone.  I don’t think this post reflects on me well… BUT… it really honestly was the most controversial and was also very heartfelt and emotional on my end of the spectrum.  So, my apologies for this post… but … the ethical person I am couldn’t stand idly by with the video in the blog.

4. My most Helpful post… How Dogs Say “No,” A Translation Guide

There are so many dog owners who do not know how to read their dog’s body language and that is a little scary to me.  Humans can be in danger if people do not know how to read their dogs and the dogs themselves can be put in danger.  It was incredibly hard to come up with my most “helpful” post because I’d like to think there are quite a few posts that have been helpful, but I think this post benefits the dogs more than my others.  It allowed me the opportunity to advocate for all dogs in a way that my other posts don’t–so in that sense, hopefully it was helpful to many dogs.

5. A post whose success surprised you… To Which I Replied, “We Work Really Hard!”

Most people want a dog to not pull, to not jump on people, to not steal food, to sit when asked, to come back when called, to stay when told, and to generally obey when out and about.  What people don’t often realize is that having well behaved dogs takes work.  It doesn’t just happen overnight and it doesn’t just happen without any work being done.  People expect their dog to behave with strangers at the home, while out at a dog event, while out at a pet store, and for walks at the park yet they don’t put the time into teaching a dog to behave appropriately in these high distraction environments.  This post wasn’t innovative, wasn’t dealing with a specific issue, wasn’t rage inducing, wasn’t AWWWW inspiring… yet somehow it had quite a few views and quite a few comments.

6.  A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved… Train Naked!

It’s not what it seems!  The dog should be naked… get your mind out of the gutter!  Training with your dog not wearing any special training devices… no leashes, no head harnesses, no shock collars, no nothing… naked.  It is really common for tools to become crutches.  With that tool on the dog behaves in one way… with the tool off, it’s a different dog.  What good is a training method that fails when the tool isn’t there?  I was at a dog event last year when an improperly fit prong collar fell apart (the links unhooked) and the dog was gone in a blink of the eye.  With out the threat of punishment of the collar the dog was incredibly disobedient.  He knew he was out of the realm of punishment from the tool.  Between the word naked and the idea of training reliable behaviors without the ‘crutch’ of a physical tether, I figured I’d get some interesting comments/responses but I really didn’t.

7.  The post you are most proud of… You are What You Eat

I am not most proud of this because I gave a crazy amount of information.  It’s not because I shared some top secret information.  It is not because it’s extremely well written.  It is not because I divulge some innovative something or other.  I am most proud of this because it’s really the first time I’ve been able to reflect and write about the death of my heart-dog, Tazzie, in any detailed manner.  It’s taken 5 years to get to the point where I could write her story without it being a blubbering mess of unfinished sentences and half-fabricated words. I hope I did her justice… even though it wasn’t entirely about her… I miss her.
 
PHEW!  That wasn’t as hard as I had expected but it was definitely a challenge.  I hope I did it justice and I hope some new readers get a chance to see some of the older posts I’d written.
Now, the second part of the deal… I’m passing this along to 5 new blogs (with a faint apology…. but it’s really worth the little bit of extra effort/time it takes!).
Donna and the Dogs
Ci-Da (Good Dog)
It Just Keeps Getting Better
Reactive Champion
Dog Nerd 101