Preston is Back!

I am sure you have noticed I haven’t been around much the last few months on my blog or online. I wanted to take a moment to explain why, but more importantly to tell you I am back!  I am ready to get back to work again and type so much I won’t need my nails trimmed (wouldn’t that be awesome!).  Here are the top five biggest reasons I have been away:

1. I am one allergic dog! My health was going downhill.  I was getting itchy and I was getting ear infections all the time.  Since I was not feeling well, I was a little grouchy which isn’t the best for making appearances.  I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to play, and I was losing hair so I didn’t want anyone to take photos of me with bald spots.  I didn’t even enjoy traveling anymore.  I had hit rock bottom as far as a dog celebrity.  I will also admit that I didn’t make it easy for Mom to take care of me.
2. Allergy treatments. Ok, I’m not going to candy coat this – they suck big time.  There are shots, there are pills, and then there is this nasty food that has no taste.  It was hard to review treats when I was not allowed to eat them per doctor’s orders.
3. I got burned out. I admit it, I had writers block and so did Mom.  After six years of writing I felt like I didn’t have much to say anymore. I also got worried that the bigger our blog got the higher the expectations were for me.  I am only one dog and you know I can’t rely on Elvis for much other than napping.
4. Major website problems. We decided it was time to upgrade with a new fancy theme, plug-ins, and all the bells and whistles.  Big mistake, let me repeat big, big, big mistake. There were all sorts of problems to the point we are still working every day reloading photos, fixing broken links, and trying to get in the good graces of Google again.
5. “It’s not a tumor” – Kindergarten Cop. Well, except it IS a tumor. Yep, I had a tumor on my eyelid that needed to be removed with surgery by a specialist.  I think that really freaked out Mom a lot.  The tumor was too small to send out for cancer screening so now we just wait to see if it comes back.

Now that we got that out of the way, here are the top five reasons why I am coming back to PrestonSpeaks.com:

1. I MISS You guys! I miss logging on to my computer or my iBone and talking with and seeing my friends every day.
2. I realized I have more to say. This winter I was honored to receive a special award from the Dog Writers Association of America and Adopt-a-Shelter for an article I wrote about helping homeless animals. It got me thinking about what if my writing helped someone with deciding to help us pets even if it was in some small way.  That is a serious responsibility and one I can’t take lightly.
3. I miss trying out all the new toys and treats! Mom said I can taste test treats again now so I am excited to get back to reviewing items, taking photos, and sharing with my siblings.
4. I am on a mission to expand the Preston Cares Network. I have talked about it for years, but now it is time to get off my tail.  This is my real chance to help Westies in need and I need to quit making excuses and get to work!
5. I have spent months fixing this website. After spending many, many, hours doing boring and tedious tasks, now, I want to get back to the fun side of blogging – writing and posting photos!  Plus, it finally looks good (I think anyway).

Now I need you, my pals, to hold me to this!  If you don’t see me online for a while … call me out on it and tell me to get out of my crate and get to work!  You all are my accountability pals! So starting June 1^st we are back to regularly scheduled programming here on PrestonSpeaks.com

But on a serious note, thanks for staying with me through thick and thin and being part of our Preston Speaks family!

Your pal,