DawgBlogger Interview. The Dog Health Advocate Speaks

Pawbly, the collaborative effort of myself and my dear friend and Adam, (president of No Kill Harford, http://www.nokillharford.org/), is a place to ask questions, learn, and build relationships to strengthen peoples ability to take care of their pets. Our motto is "Ask --> Connect --> Learn. And that's what we are here to do. We are actively building a community of pet experts to help pet loving people across the globe. It is a very simple mission that we are all passionately devoted to providing. We have been so fortunate to find others as passionately devoted as we are.

Pawbly is thrilled and honored to have Jana Rade with us as a  guest blogger, contributing her years of research,writing and sharing her experiences with us. She is also answering questions pertaining to dog health. She is a true dog (or as she would say 'dawg') lover. Her beloved dog Jasmine, (her self described, "dog of her life") lead a long battle with many medical challenges along the way. Jasmine sadly lost her battle this past spring. Ms. Rade was diligent and devoted in meeting every obstacle head on and researched every disease, illness, and stumbling block that Jasmine faced. Jasmine was Ms. Rades inspiration to learning, writing, and informing others of the plights and challenges a sick dog faces. Her body of work continues to shed light on emerging veterinary medicine, alternative options, and provides a network of resources to assist other pet lovers in trying to find longevity, health, and happiness for those dogs Jasmines legacy leaves behind.

Although I was never fortunate enough to meet Jasmine in person I feel as if I knew her. Jasmine's tale, her ups and downs, every illness, every side effect to every treatment option, and clinical sign were documented by Jana. Jasmine's life has helped countless others because of the intense dedication of her mom. She is missed by many of us who never got to kiss her face but always knew who she was.

As our first guest blogger we wanted to introduce Jana to you with our first guest blogger interview;

Pawbly; I just want to ask you very basic questions like;

1. What started you writing?

Short answer? Jasmine. All the things we didn't know and realized we should have. Such as not all vets were created equal, that simply taking a dog to the vet should be enough but often isn't, and that one should trust their instinct if they feel things aren't right. Also all the things we learned along the way. I came to believe that Jasmine's rough journey could help other dogs and started writing about it.

2. Where did you see your writing when you started versus where you are now?

My mission remains the same and I don't expect my writing to change, just, hopefully, keep evolving.

3. What is your hope in writing and publishing?

My hope is to help dog owners to become true, educated health advocates for their dogs. I do hope to put together a book about Jasmine's journey eventually.

4. What have been some of your favorite aspects of blogging and writing?

Hearing about dogs whose lives are better because of Jasmine's journey and legacy.

5. What are the topics you enjoy writing about

Dog health advocacy topics

6. How much time do you dedicate to your blog, your DVMs Daily, and other online publications, or social media?

Too much and not enough both at the same time. I hope to be able to devote more time to my writing so I can put out more well researched articles on dog health issues. I'm hoping to land a sponsor one of these days.

7. How can Pawbly help you achieve some of these goals?

I don't know, actually ...? I signed up with the intention to help, not expecting getting help.

Anything else you would like to mention to help us get to know you better and understand how to help you with your purpose.

As I mentioned above, my mission, and Jasmine's legacy, is that other dogs would benefit from her journey and our experiences. I also encourage other people to share theirs, for the same reason. One can always learn things as they go, but there can be quite a high price for that. Learning from experience of others is a gift that can help avoid mistakes, help understand problems better, help knowing that one is not alone, help making better decisions. At the begging, I said, that if Jasmine's struggles can save just one dog from suffering, than my mission was fulfilled.

Q. what pet related blogs do you follow?

A. I follow and read about all veterinary blogs that are out there. I read some blogs on training and behavior. I follow a whole bunch of other blogs  but, frankly, don't have time left to read them. I skim through the content and read posts related to dog health topics only.

Jana Rade publishes a daily on-line publication "the dvms daily" http://paper.li/DawgBlogger/dvms,

a blog, Dawg Business,  http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.com/,

and can be found on twitter @DawgBlogger.

She is an amazing dog advocate and we are so fortunate to have her on board helping us help pets everywhere.

You can find us 24/7/365 at pawbly.com. We are always here to you and your pets and we are always free!

Jasmine