Casey Lomonaco teaching Meet and Greet with Dogs 

Casey and I met first on Twitter (where I new her as @RBDT), then at the APDT conference, and then in person at her training center in Binghamton, NY

I was having a conversation with a dear friend. He (and many other friends) have noticed my enthusiasm about social media. He was asking me how much time I spent on it, was it worth it, and what is the ROI (return on investment). The question reminded me of when Sanchez was a puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind. I was his volunteer puppy raiser and I was often asked how much time it took to train him. My answer couldn’t be quantified. It wasn’t a set amount of time every day. Instead, training was integrated throughout every day. He went with me almost everywhere and training and socializing took place all the time. The reason puppy raisers are volunteers is because you can’t put a price on the work they do. It is truly priceless. I feel the same about raising any dog, whether a pet, a working dog, or a service dog in training. And, I feel the same about social media.

I am connecting and communicating with a group of dog lovers who believe what I believe. We are all doing our best to improve the lives of dogs, whether we are dog trainers, own a dog business, volunteer for a rescue organization, work full time in another profession and care for our own dogs at home, or create music for dogs. The support we provide each other and the engaging conversations we have on Facebook is something I look forward to daily. And, when I am out living my life, my eyes and heart are always searching for ways that I can contribute to the conversation and engage with dog lovers. While we don’t all agree on every dog subject – whether it be laws on breeding, ways of training, ways of reducing the amount of homeless dogs euthanized every year – we are all connecting through our love of dogs. And it goes beyond social media.

In my travels, I have had the pleasure of meeting in person many of the same people who I first met on Twitter or Facebook. Breaking bread with them and meeting their dogs makes it that much more real. We share our dreams, help each other with business ideas, and want to know much more about our doglife than 140 characters can communicate on Twitter. We tell our stories, reflecting how life brought us into the Dog world in such a magnificent way. Sharing those stories connects us deeper and makes those moments priceless.

Cost of Tweeting = Time

Cost of Facebook posting = Time

Cost of Blogging = Time

Cost of Connecting with Dog Lovers who want to Improve the Lives of Dogs = PRICELESS!