Me: My 
name is Andrea Thomson Viner. I am a freelance writer, part-time teacher, and full-time dog lover. I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with my husband and two dogs.
My dogs: Gertie is three, and we’ve had her since she was a 
puppy. She is goofy and sweet, cautious yet curious, and funny–she literally makes me laugh every day. Her best feature is her wiggle.
Duke joined us in June. We adopted him from Mid-Iowa Boxer Rescue. He’s six, and he’s loyal and lovable. His most impressive feature is his tongue.
The blog: I created this blog to celebrate and discuss all things doggie in Eastern Iowa and the Midwest. I realized that I think about dogs a lot–I’m often gawking at dogs and my ears perk up whenever I hear positive dog news, so I want to share that with you. I hope we can create an online community for dog-lovers in this area but also connect in person.
What I’ll include:
- Announcements and events about local and regional dog happenings
- Stories about my dogs and other dogs I encounter
- Suggestions for places to go (whether for a walk or a getaway), people/dogs to see, and dog-related things to check out
Dog Creds (or Canine Credentials if you want to be formal):
- I have had a dog (or dogs) almost my whole life–minus the post-college, pre-house years (five).
- Gertie and I have gone through three obedience classes together–I helped her earn her Canine Good Citizen distinction.
- I have gone through the Delta Society Pet Partners Training.
Thanks for stopping by our site! You have a very cool concept here, and since we have included love for our pets, especially dogs!, in our concept of well-being promotion, we’ll link your site to our blog and share you with our friends! IWe are definitely interested in your “Barking About Books” page. Beth, our doggy-writer, is all about the dog books, too. Maybe there can be a good exchange of titles. Great start. Can’t wait to see what you talk about next! Debra
And thanks for stopping by my site as well! I appreciate you linking with my blog. I hadn’t noticed before, but now I see your review of Inside of a Dog, which is funny because that’s the first book I’m reviewing for Barking About Books. The next one is Izzy and Lenore, by Jon Katz.
I absolutely agree that dogs belong with the concept of well-being. Looking forward to reading more from your site!
Gerty as a pup sleeping on the couch… I love when they cluster their feet like that. It’s a dog toe bouquet!
So do I! My husband and I are constantly commenting when the dogs have their legs and paws all gathered up. I will have to borrow your term “dog toe bouquet”–love it!
i love this blog! being from iowa myself (and also an avid dog lover), it gives me the warm fuzzies seeing other midwesterners caring so much about their animals. i recently stated in a post that i feel a phrase you need to learn in every language is “can i pet your dog?” it would just be helpful, at least for me.
Thanks, Amanda! I love hearing from fellow Iowans/Midwesterners. I totally agree that “Can I pet your dog?” is right up there with “Where’s the bathroom?” when traveling. When my husband and I went to Iceland last year, I missed Gertie so much (we didn’t have Duke to miss at the time). I took pictures of lots of Icelandic dogs, and we actually saw lots of boxers.
What’s the name of the post where you mentioned the phrase? I stopped by your blog and tried to find it, but I just started reading other posts instead.
It’s actually in the “things i discovered while in italy” blog– but i understand completely about taking pictures of dogs while you’re in other countries! when i was in england there was a couple that was walking a dog who looked almost exactly like our old shitzu. i asked if i could pet it and they even let me take a few photos with it.
Hello Andrea, Gertie and Duke! I really enjoy reading your dog blog and I’ve nominated you for an award. Check it out here: http://deannamelanie.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/our-first-award/
I love your blog so I’ve nominated you for the Kreative Blogger Award. http://bongodogblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/rejected-or-accepted/
Wow–thanks so much Bongo! I happily accept the award, though I will have to blog about it later because my brain needs to shut off for the night!
Andrea! Just wanted to let you know that I love your site, Gertie is probably one of the cutest dogs surfing the net and can’t wait to explore the rest of your posts/articles. Your site is real easy to navigate and that makes a BIG difference for me. Have a great rest of the week
To commemorate 52 weeks of blogging the tall person and I have designed a blogging award to acknowledge 52 blogs that we think are stars of the blogging world. You are one of the stars. This is a link to the post: http://bassasblog.wordpress.com/?p=7243&preview=true