I recently attended the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) awards this year as a nominee for What to Expect When Adopting a Dog. I felt very fortunate. While I was there, I got to meet the other great nominees- people who write about rescue, military dogs, service dogs and many many other dog related topics.

Before I tell you about the DWAA awards, I want to tell you a little about the Westminster Dog Show. They may seem unrelated, but it turns out, the two events were held concurrently.

Many of the Westminster show dogs were staying in the event hotel. While I love all dogs, dog shows have never been my thing, Of course, it’s great to see the different breeds. And I saw a few incredibly gorgeous, well-groomed dogs in the lobby. Most were running past me so I couldn’t get a proper shot, but I did get the big guy above. (He doesn’t look like he moves too fast when he moves. But fortunately he was laying down.)

Some of my dog-loving writer colleagues did get to attend part of the dog show and festivities and I encourage you to check out Fidose of Reality on Facebook and Instagram and Bark & Swagger on Instagram for more photos and videos of the show (and pet fashion too!).

But enough about the Westminster dogs. I’m sure you are anxious to hear more about the writing conference and who won in the category I which I was nominated – books about rescue or adoption.

The day started out with presentations from professional bloggers Carol Bryant of Fidose of Reality and Maggie Marton of Oh My Dog Blog who spoke about The Digital Revolution. Next, Amy Tokic, the editor of PetGuide.com discussed Joining the Online Pet Community and author Lisa Begin-Kruysman taught us about Creating Engaging Proposals.

During the afternoon session, the winners for each book nomination category were announced. My book did not win the books about rescue and adoption category. However, the book that did win titled My Old Dog is really fabulous and rather deserving.  The other three books nominated in my category are gorgeous and show different aspects of humane treatment of animals. They are all worthy of the prize and here is more about each of them:

My Old Dog by Laura Teresa Coffey                                            

 “No Dog Should Die Alone” was the attention-grabbing — and heart-stirring — headline of journalist Laura T. Coffey’s TODAY show website story about photographer Lori Fusaro’s work with senior shelter pets. While generally calm, easy, and already house-trained, these animals often represent the highest-risk population at shelters.

Goodbye Bad Guys by Kate J Kuligowski

By joining together to form an animal cruelty task force in their community, Bernalillo County law enforcement and animal control officers have reduced reported animal cruelty by more than forty percent. This step-by-step training manual presents all the organizational and training information communities would need to easily form their own animal cruelty task force, without additional cost to the taxpayers. It’s a win-win situation.

Beyond Fight or Flight by Sunny Weber

Photo courtesy of Rhonda Cassidy

Fearful dogs can be saved and have quality lives, free of anxiety. This book will help 1) you grow in compassion, 2) your pup find peace, and 3) bring both of you to a warm appreciation for each other.

I’m so glad I was able to attend the DWAA event. There were numerous categories represented for magazine, newspaper and online articles and blogs as well as books, graphics, and other media along with special prizes and awards. Having the Westminster show right nearby was a bonus and I loved meeting two photographers who came to photograph the Westminster dogs! The photo to the right is of “Angus the Clumber Spaniel” and rumor has it everyone loves him. This photo is courtesy of Rhonda Cassidy one of the photographers I met at DWAA and you can check out her website.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners of the 2017 Dog Writers Association of America awards!