A Thoughtless Thursday Conversation with Bentley

When I decided to start writing a blog, I knew it was important to share the news with my family.  My husband was supportive and the kids thought it would be cool.  Since I’ve spent the last year writing books loosely based on my dogs, I thought it was important to explain blogging to my Basset Hound, Bentley.  The following is how that conversation went…

     Me: “So Bentley, mama is thinking about doing a daily blog.”

     Bentley: “Well, you had better not do it on the living room floor cuz you can’t cover it up and Daddy might step in it.”

     Me: “No, that’s not a blog.  That’s poop and something completely different.”

     Bentley: “Can I eat this blog?”

     Me: “No, a blog is writing a small story where I’ll write reviews, give opinions, maybe some recipes, and some funny stories.”

    Bentley: “Let’s talk more about the recipes.  Recipes lead to food, which could be important to my stomach and me.  What kinda reviews and opinions are you gonna be doing, maybe restaurants offering doggie bags?”

     Me: “I was thinking about writing book reviews, give opinions about life, recipes for desserts, and things to make people laugh.”

    Bentley: “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of book reviews, you only read those mushy books.  Plus, you never say anything mean and we both know humans like to read about people’s failures.  What about dog stuff, everybody loves dog stuff!”

     Me: “I was going to add daily pet tips at the bottom of every blog.  Why would you say humans like to read about people failing?  Not everyone is like that, you know.”

    Bentley: “I watch TMZ and have you ever seen those fashion chat shows?  Seriously, you humans can really be vicious to each other.  How about writing about dog products?  You can buy me stuff; I’ll test it and give you a dewclaw up or dewclaw down.  We can be canine critics!  Everybody enjoys a dog’s opinion.”

      Me: “What are you doing watching those shows?  Besides, you have plenty of stuff that we can review now.  Maybe we can write about your shampoo, toothpaste, or dog treats.”

     Bentley: “Pierre watches those shows and I hear them while I sleep.  Don’t get me started on ‘The Bachelor’.  Good grief, I love the Westie but he does enjoy some drama!  I like my shampoo, love my toothpaste, and if you’ll notice, my treats are running low.  I think that I should write this blog then companies can just send me their latest and greatest products for the best in Basset care.”

       Me: “You paws are too big to use the laptop.  Anyway, you are already in The Returns and getting a bit of an ego.”

      Bentley: “It’s hard to be humble being me.  This conversation is making me hungry.  Can you scratch my belly before you fetch me a treat?  Hey, do a blog on making sure your dog is well-fed and getting lots of treats.  Everybody loves making their dog happy.”

         Me: “Ok, how about I try a general blog to get used to the process and see how that goes.  Roll over and I’ll scratch that itchy tummy.”

        Bentley: “Ok, a little to the left and under my arm…yeah right there.  Oh YES, see how my leg is jerking?  That’s how you know you hit the right spot.  You should blog about scratching a dog’s belly, that’s information everyone needs to know and embrace.  Humans love to make their dog happy.”

After a couple of months writing generic blogs on a variety of subjects, I discovered the joy of dog blogging and the great people associated with the pet blog genre.

           Me: “Bentley, I think that I am going to start writing strictly about dogs.  You know, review some dog products, health tips, and maybe a few dog treat recipes.  I’ll call it Barking from the Bayou.  What do you think?”

            Bentley: “Wow, mom!  It seems some handsome hound mentioned that in the beginning.  Hmmm, yep I am pretty sure it was ME!  You could blog about how to help all of the dogs in shelters, too.  Just saying, those pups need to have homes like Pierre and me.  Can I test the treat recipes?”

            Me: “You’re right.  I think writing about shelter dogs is a brilliant idea.  Ok, that settles it.  I’ll change over to ‘Barking from the Bayou’ dog blog and cover homeless dogs, great pet products, and feature some dog recipes.”

            Bentley: “Can I eat this blog?”

As you can tell, Bentley has a one-track mind and stomach.  Now, he insists on credit for inspiring my books and my blog.

I am joining two of my great blogger friends, Ruskie the Eskie and Love is being owned by a Husky, who are hosting the brand new blog hop, Thoughtless Thursday!  Please show them some love and hop around to these other blogs.