DogBlog

Dogblogging in the news

This article on dog blogs appeared in a Canadian newspaper over the weekend. And guess what? I’m mentioned in it!

Byline: Misty Harris
Source: CanWest News Service

It’s official. The Internet has gone to the dogs.

Baptizing themselves blawgers, some people are choosing to write online
diaries not as themselves but as their canine companions. One of the most
infamous dog blogs — written from the perspective of Paris Hilton’s
chihuahua, Tinkerbell — is being turned into a book, which will hit
Canadian stores this September.

“I thought about a frustrated, working-class person forced to live alongside
Paris Hilton as her pet and the (blog) wrote itself,” says Dong Resin, the
pseudonymous author of The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries.

In February, when Resin first penned his fictional diary of Hilton’s
exploits, each entry was as unforgiving as it was witty. An editor at Warner
Books saw the series of Internet posts and helped him turn the material into
a full-length book.

A handful of dog blogs are contemplative and wordy, but most are simple,
image-based journals of canine life.

Others still are meant to be jokes, such as Resin’s Tinkerbell diaries and
doggieblog.com, where “Spot” writes that “Tylenol and chocolate are poison
for cats. Use this information wisely.”

Bonnie Burton, editor of Grrl magazine has a link to a “doggie bloggie” on
her popular website. So does the mono-named Lulu, frontwoman of New York
trip-hop quartet Voodoolulu.

But the best-known and longest-running dog blog is thought to be
dog-of-whine.com, where a Jack Russell terrier named Bacchus has been
keeping a journal since 2001.

“Bacchus is very expressive, as a rule, but there’s only so much we can
glean from raised eyebrows, a cocked head or vigorous tail-wagging,” says
Dey Alexander, who helps Bacchus put keyboard to paw. “We get a much better
picture of him from what he writes in his blog.”

According to University of British Columbia professor Stanley Coren, a
world-renowned dog behaviourist and psychologist, dog blogging is a sign of
affection. Although most blawgers have naive perceptions of how their pets
think, he says trying to adopt a dog’s point of view can be a healthy
exercise.

“If we love (our dogs) dearly, we’re always trying to crawl inside their
heads and figure out what’s going on,” he says. “And if we love them dearly
enough, we want other people to share in the dog’s expertise.”

Although dog blogs are a relatively new phenomenon, literature penned on
behalf of animals has a long tradition in North America. Coren recalls one
of Mark Twain’s beloved short stories, written entirely from the viewpoint
of a dog.

Millie’s Book, Barbara Bush’s dog’s-eye perspective of the White House,
spent 23 weeks on the hardcover bestseller list in the early ’90s. Bill
Clinton’s cat released its own book in 1993, followed by the more recent
debut of George W. Bush’s dog’s website and unofficial blog.

“Very often, we use the positive image that dogs present as a way of
shedding a positive image on ourselves,” Coren explains. “You say to the
kids, ‘Here’s this lovely Scottish terrier and he’s going to tell you what
things are really like in the White House and what a wonderful person the
president is.’ “

Posted by Bacchus on July 13th, 2004 at 08:40am