About Me - A Lifelong Dog Lover

If you've arrived on this "about me" page, I'm guessing you'd like to know a little something about the voice (person) behind the website. Great!

So, hello, it's me Val, the "dog spoiler" and here's my story.

Meet Barkley, One of My Furry Inspirations

I'm so glad you are visiting my website – welcome and woof, woof from Barkley – he's the good looking, spoiled Airedale boy pictured above in the header.

If you're familiar with terriers you'll know they are a feisty breed and can be quite a handful, but so lovable that they get by with a lot of questionable behavior! Here's another favorite one below.

Me With Another Favorite

Why This Website?

I've always been a dog lover and can't resist being around furry friends.

As luck would have it, my neighborhood has an abundance of dogs, one or more in just about every home and I have become friends with a whole lot of them. They come a running when they see me to get some love and a tasty treat from the supply I always have in my pocket. Truth be told, I think it's mainly for the treat. 😉

A dog's lifetime is so short compared to their humans yet they teach us so much about love and joyful living when we make them part of our family and share our home with them.

In return, my hope is that dogs everywhere will always treated with kindness, receive good care and have lives that are the best they can be from the day they arrive as playful puppies to their sunset years.

To that end, this website was created as a reliable resource for pet parents to come to when they need answers for just about anything concerning the care and nurturing of our canine companions. It was started nineteen years ago - yikes - when there wasn't much detailed pet information on the web, or it was hard to find.

If you have a dog you'll probably agree that raising a pet and being its guardian is a privilege not to be taken lightly. That's not to say there aren't frustrations along the way, in fact lots of them.

During the lifetime of a dog - up to 17 years or more - there will definitely be some challenges, but dedicated pet parents don't give up because dogs are worth it.

About Me From The Beginning

My love of dogs began at a young age with Laddie, a very smart Jack Russell Terrier (aka Parson Russell Terrier). Though sweet Laddie is no longer here, he looked a lot like the photo above and greatly influenced my love of terriers.

Laddie was the ultimate velcro dog and a real favorite with the kids in our neighborhood because he loved to join in all the games and activities whenever he got a chance.

Since that time, I've had many years to enjoy our four-legged best friends and learn how to take care of these remarkable companions.

Every Dog is Unique

One important thing I've come to know is that while experience is the best teacher, no two dogs are alike - different personalities and different behaviors, even within the same breed.

What's more, you don't know what you've got until they've already wound themselves around your heart.

That means you may come up against a new challenge you weren't expecting and need a solution or just an opinion.

Sharing What I've Learned About Raising Rovers

When you have a dog question or a challenge, that's where this website comes in. My goal is to share what I've learned about raising Rovers with fellow dog lovers, and hopefully provide you with the best and most accurate information you need to give your pet the best life possible.

To that end, the information you will find here is the result of personal experience coupled with hours of thorough research covering many dog care topics. Additionally, some of the health related articles may have needed more extensive research through professional sources and manuals such as these:

American Animal Hospital Assocation
American Veterinary Medical Foundation
American Kennel Club
ASPCA
CDC Healthy Pets
Humane Society of the United States
Merck Veterinary Manual
Canine Health Information Center
US Food and Drug Administration

I have tried to keep the website current and error-free, but if you spot any inaccuracies, please "bark it out" through the contact page.

The Evolution of Dog Spoiling Made Easy

I began writing content for the, dog-spoiling-made-easy.com, website in 2003 but did not start publishing pages until I found a reliable hosting company in 2004.

At that same time, I was also trying to wrap my head around the coding that is used for site styling, design and structure. All this, while working a high pressure 10-hr a day job and taking care of my family. Weekends were very busy, but I really wanted to get this important project off the ground!

Fast forward, this website is still my passion and main interest and will always be a work-in-progress as long as there are dogs to love and pet parents needing help, encouragement and up-to-date information.

The “spoiling” part, in case you are wondering, is not meant to be taken literally. What it means to me, and I expect to you too, is defined as being dedicated to your dog's best interests, health and happiness. With maybe an extra treat or two thrown in here and there for good measure!😀.

If you like what my website has to offer, consider subscribing to our newsletter Spoiled Dog Bytes and you'll always be kept up to date on the latest happenings. A sign-up widget pops up on almost all pages of the site. Don't worry, it pops out pretty quickly too so you can resume your browsing.

Behind the Scenes: Maintaining The Website

Every day I am in my home office researching and outlining dog care topics I plan to write about, updating pages with any new information, responding to emails, maintaining all the behind-the-scenes workings of a website, and much more.

The website currently has over 500 pages so it needs a lot of TLC.

By the way, if you have any thoughts about building your own website, SBI SiteSell is by far the best platform for getting the job done, not only for its hosting, but all the bells and whistles included to make it successful plus an amazing forum of helpful people to welcome you.

This is my honest opinion. After twenty years of personal experience using the SBI platform, I unequivocally recommend it.

Before You Go...

If you like the content of this page, as well as others on my site, please give it some love by clicking on the heart in the lower right hand corner. This helps me to keep providing enjoyable and useful content.

Now you know about me, Val, I hope you'll visit the website often.

Thanks for visiting.