I love reading other blogs and often take my inspirations from what others write. Just because I’m a dog blogger doesn’t mean I just read other dog blogs, so I sharing my favourite blogs in rough categories to make it easier for you to find blogs you may also be interested in.

Dogs

I’ve divided my top dog blogs into sub-categories as there’s just so many of them.

Agility

Mark Laker – http://marklaker.blogspot.co.uk

Mark Laker is Team Manager of the Great British Kennel Club Agility Team, joint founder of Agility1st, performance sports coach and overall great dog trainer. I first became aware of him when I attended one of his agility sports psychology seminars a couple of years back, when I was only first stepping into competitive agility. He was such an engaging speaker and gave practical and really insightful knowledge into the world of psychology and how to apply it to competition, especially agility competition. Since then I’ve followed his blog and articles and always enjoy reading what he has to say. I look forward to his new posts and could happily read something from his every single day!

Dog Fitness

SlimDoggy – http://slimdoggy.com

SlimDoggy is all about fitness, food and advice to keep pets healthy. There are regular posts about fitness exercises, FAQs as well as diet and some dog training features. I tend to pick and choose which articles to read as time allows and they’re full of really up to date, practical advice. Only recently during Guinness’ MOT we were told to work on slow rollovers and I’ve just seen an article on SlimDoggy about teaching a rollover for improving the dogs core, and most importantly its about muscle not momentum!

Dog Photography

Four Little Paws – http://www.fourlittlepaws.com

You may recognise the name Yulia Titovets from Crufts and Olympia agility photographs. I’ve spoken to her briefly online and she kindly allowed me to use some of her watermarked photographs for the Dig It Newsletter to write about the success of our instructors at Crufts. On her website she posts daily photographs and they’re always stunning, a real inspiration and something to make you smile every day. Look out for her ringside at Crufts and Olympia and check out her facebook page for all her agility photographs.

 

Scruffy Dog – http://scruffydogphotography.com

Based in Ontorio, Canada, the photographer Illona produces some absolutely gorgeous photographs in dense forests and woodlands. This is one of my favourite settings to photograph dogs and Illona uses full advantage of the natural light and colours to get breath-takingly beautiful and sharp images. She posts regular blog updates full of her photographs, although the post that really got me following her blog was this one about plagiarism.

General Dog Blogs

You Did What With Your Weiner – http://youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com

This is a blog about the adventures of two dachshunds as well as tons of tips, reviews, information and great posts. The blog has a stunning design and is really easy to navigate. What I love about this blog is that these two dachshunds are seriously fit! They make it up really big mountains with their owners (mountains that I wouldn’t make it up). It just goes to disprove some of the stigma surrounding the breed, plus small dogs in general, and it’s really encouraging to see people showing the best of this breed and promoting dog fitness.

 

Twilight Bark UK – http://twilightbarkuk.com

I started following Twilight Bark after they recently hit like on one of my posts and I’ve really enjoy reading their articles. Their style of writing and content reminds me a lot of my own blog, so chances are if you’re reading this and enjoy my posts then you should go check them out.

 

Paws & Prada – http://pawsandprada.uk

The lifestyle blog for people with dogs… need I say any more?! I stumbled across Paws & Prada quite recently and have enjoyed reading every blog post every since. The author Joy seems to have a great, all round knowledge about dogs while still being a lady that enjoys fashion, good coffee and all the nice things in life. The regular posts vary from information about your dog and talking about hot topics to useful tips, hints and treats for owners. However I have to confess that when I look at the blog cover photo on my phone it always reminds me of a ladies bottom in a pair of knickers! Sorry Joy… I hate my imagination some days!

Lifestyle, Beauty & Fashion

Zoella – www.zoella.co.uk

Unless you’ve been living under a rock then you’ve probably heard of Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella. Some people may scoff at me for following “one of the biggies” but I honestly love reading (and watching) Zoe. I believe that what she writes and says is genuine and I find her both enjoyable and entertaining but also a huge inspiration. Her personality and take on life is just lovely and she provides some great tips too. At the same age as me I also feel like I really connect with her and admire how she has built her own business and continues to grow and develop (although I wish I could afford to be living in my own mansion too 😉 ).

 

Tanya Burr – www.tanyaburr.co.uk

I first heard of Tanya Burr when she was on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Grimmy. I listened to her speaking and just thought “wow, what a lovely person.” She was promoting her new book and since then I have been reading her blog, watching her videos and have thoroughly enjoyed her book. My Mum found a copy in a local charity shop which I am now the proud owner of. She gave blogging a little break while revamping the website and I’m pleased to see she is back to regular posts again. I’m not big into baking (mostly as I don’t have time) so I don’t tend to read the recipe posts but I do love the general lifestyle chatter and beauty guides.

 

Fleur de Force – www.fleurdeforce.com

Fleur is another of the top beauty bloggers/vloggers in the UK and has released a book. I think its hard to discover new beauty bloggers as it’s not something I go hunting for regularly, so you may call me a sucker for following yet another big one but I generally really enjoy her blogs. Her writing style is lovely and easy to read and she uploads regular, interesting posts. I also enjoy her beauty videos and her Christmas Gift Guide series were really practical and full of great ideas.

 

Kemples – http://www.kemples.co.uk

I met Abi at the Holland & Barrett event in December and have been following her blog since. She has two amazing Border Collies (and I’d secretly love to see more of them in her blog) and is a great up and coming beauty blogger. I think it’s especially nice to read a blog of someone you have met in real life.

Blogging

ProBlogger – http://www.problogger.net/blog

ProBlogger publishes regular posts full of tips and tricks about all things blogging and there are often guest posts from some wonderfully successful people in the blogging world. I actually prefer the ProBlogger podcasts as I find it easier to listen to the information, plus I can listen while driving, although sometimes I want to jot down notes. Definitely a go to place for anyone wanting to learn about blogging, whether your intention is to make money from a blog or simply build your blog into a nice place on the internet.

 

BlogPaws – http://blogpaws.com/category/executive-blog

BlogPaws is a huge entity that aims to teach pet bloggers, pet enthusiasts and pet owners how to use social media effectively. There’s tons of posts published and I tend to pick and choose which ones based on my interest. One of their recent posts that I really found useful was this one about generating blog ideas.

Health & Fitness

Lean Machines – http://www.theleanmachines.com

I’m not gonna lie, I discovered Lean Machines because one of the two lads that run it is Youtuber Jim Chapman’s twin brother. But I’m so glad that I did find them. Their youtube channel and blog are both full of great information and entertaining features and I’m really excited for their new book coming soon.

 

Fitness on Toast – http://fitnessontoast.com

The Girl and the Treadmill – http://thegirlandthetreadmill.blogspot.co.uk

I’ve stuck these two blogs together as I’ve only recently started following them and haven’t read many posts yet, however what I have read I’m really impressed by and excited to read more.

Rather than being full on fitness advice posts they are more lifestyle type blogs with tips and tricks tucked in there along the way. I especially love The Girl and the Treadmills round up posts about her top apps and products.

Films

FilmIntel – http://www.film-intel.com

I guess it would be rude not to mention my brothers blog! Sam runs and writes FilmIntel, along with the help of another bloke. His film reviews are both lightly entertaining as well as insightful and it has helped with a number of film choices for me in the past. I tend to head straight for the “latest cinema reviews” and “latest dvd and blu-ray reviews” tabs to find something to watch. If you like your films go check it out!

 

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That’s it for my list! I chop and change it all the time as I discover new blogs and remove the ones that I keep finding myself flicking past rather than reading. I use a Feedly app on my phone to gather them all in the same place in an easy-read format. Of course some of them only provide a summary in the app and then you have to go to the actual browser to the read them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this, perhaps I’ll do an updated version in about 6 months time!