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25 Things You May Not Know About Us & DogTipper

paris-selfie-creek

One of my goals for 2015 is to get personal here on DogTipper. Recently a reader wrote to us, asking for advice from someone within our company. Well, while I’m flattered that some people think DogTipper is a larger organization, this is definitely a Mom and Pop company.

So one of my goals this year is to get a little more personal here. Don’t worry: you’re not going to have to wade through a description of what we had for lunch. But we do want to share more of our day-to-day life with you as we putter about our house and run this site and our freelance writing business, all while co-habitating with our six pets. This is a full-time job for both of us so we’re always involved in multiple projects at once, pretty much seven days a week, but with a lot of time throughout the day for dog walks and cat cuddles (and lots of wand play with our kitten, Lucky).

So, for those of you who would like a peek behind the scenes here at DogTipper, here are 25 fun facts about us:

  1. I (Paris) run the social media accounts for the sites.
  2. John handles a lot of the tech work for all our pet sites as well as our travel sites.
  3. We both write posts as well as our freelance articles and books.
  4. We launched our very first site in 1998; it’s still live and serves as a brochure site about our work. It’s parisandjohn.com.
  5. We launched our first travel site featuring romantic travel on Valentine’s Day 2000.
  6. DogTipper was launched on August 28, 2008 when we adopted Tiki.
  7. Before we moved into pet writing, John and I were travel writers for 20 years. Our first guidebook was Day Trips from San Antonio and Austin; today it’s still in print as two separate volumes.
  8. Along with Texas, our geographic specialty was the Caribbean, primarily Jamaica. (Ironically, Jamaica is one destination where it’s just about impossible to travel with a dog.)
  9. We both work on Macs and always have.
  10. We both shoot with Nikons and always have.
  11. We have lived in the same home–which John built–since we married.
  12. We live out in the country and love the peace and quiet.
  13. Irie’s favorite product reviews are treats.
  14. Tiki’s favorite product reviews are toys.
  15. Both Tiki and Irie were originally stray dogs before they went to the shelter.
  16. Tiki’s DNA test says she’s primarily Doberman and Poodle with lesser amounts Bulldog and Sheltie.
  17. Irie’s DNA test says she’s a mix of Lab, Coonhound, and German Shorthaired Pointer.
  18. When we’re traveling, Tiki looks out the window as long as she can and fights taking a nap; she’s afraid she’ll miss something.
  19. Irie loves to eat at patio restaurants. Tiki loves patio restaurants but is too excited to eat at them. She spends the entire meal looking around.
  20. I dislike the word “mutt” and prefer “mixed breed.”
  21. I enjoy speaking at conferences and doing radio and TV interviews…but the small talk of parties or phone conversations makes me uncomfortable. Weird, huh?
  22. My first big publishing break was a full-length feature I wrote for Reader’s Digest about the dachshund and duck I had as a child.
  23. We routinely hear coyotes near our home.
  24. The most exotic travel magazine assignments we had were Borneo, India, Malta, Morocco, Jordan, and Cyprus.
  25. Irie and Tiki get two long walks a day, a 45-minute walk in the morning and a 30-minute walk in the evening.
Paris Permenter
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This post originally appeared on DogTipper.com and is the sole property of DogTipper.com.