They say you should always finish what you start.  Well, I don’t know who THEY are, but sometimes we start things that aren’t right for us.  Sometimes change is necessary.  When you’re on a journey, sometimes you need to stop, look at the map, and change direction.

When I first began this site, I had just one goal: to research, present, and review as many alternatives to rawhide as possible.  Why?  Well, I noticed that a lot of people were beginning to discover just what a bad idea rawhide can be, and they all had the same question:  “But my dogs love rawhide… what ELSE can I give them??”  I saw this echoed in forums, blogs, Q/A sites, etc.  I really wanted for people to have a place they could read about many safe and healthy alternatives to rawhide, all conveniently in one place.
I really just love dogs, all dogs… and I want for them to have the best goodies that will drain their parents’ wallets that can be reasonably afforded.  After all, they have a limited list of loves: eating, chewing, playing, licking, loving, and sleeping.  So I feel like we should give them the best we can of each thing on that list.  Sometimes I feel like people offer their dogs low-quality or unhealthy treats not on purpose, but simply because they’re unaware of better options; or perhaps they’re unaware that what they’ve been giving is unhealthy.  But I saw that more and more people were/are becoming aware; and out of the observation that many people were indeed looking for better, RawhideAlternatives.com was born.
I got busy researching and writing, and cranked out informational reviews on about fifteen different all-natural chews.  I provided direct links to various retailers where each chew could be found, so people wouldn’t have to go hunting for themselves.  I provided (and still do) a page featuring discounts to all those retailers, because let’s be honest, quality pet food/supplies are expensive.  Then I realized that even though the name of the site was EXACTLY what the site was about, it seemed too boring, too sterile.  I decided I could keep the topics the same, but change the name to something more playful.  Eureka!  ChewzyCharlie.com!  Charlie would be the mascot to represent dogs who are choosy about their chews.  Get it?  Terrible, I know. Well, terrible or not, I got busy changing the header here and changing the names and settings on all the related social networks. However, I was still waiting to make the new site name official, in other words, perform all the necessary steps to change the domain name. I won’t bore you with the technical details, but there’s a lot more that goes into it than you’d think.
None of that matters because I got stuck.  I realized I didn’t want to just write about dog chews… and I didn’t want to just do reviews.  I wanted the freedom to rant and rave and ramble about anything and everything dog-related.  Uh oh.  I just accidentally tripped and fell into a dog blog.  I never really intended to have a dog blog.  There are so many out there already… and might I say… some of them are AMAZING!  These ladies (yes ladies – by my very unscientific calculations, 99.9% of all dog bloggers are female) write like their hands are on fire and their sites are… Beautiful.  Professional.  Informative.  Entertaining.  Smart.  Well-organized. Will this blog ever fit any of those descriptions? I don’t know yet. Professional? *snort* It’ll never be that one. I’m just a little too silly and a little too neurotic to pull off professional.
So yeah, ChewzyCharlie isn’t going to work either. Too limiting. And corny. Too corny. All I know is that I have two wieners: one very bossy and opinionated – she’ll tell you the what’s what about anything and everything; and one easygoing and reserved – he doesn’t say much, so when he does, you’d better listen ‘cuz it’s important. And me… a high-anxiety, agoraphobic wackobird who loves those wieners more than anything… and is prone to rambling… a lot.
The new site name has been birthed in my mind, and is much more fitting to the nature of our little world and the path this blog will meander. It will convey the silliness that we live every day. It will take the pressure off me to churn out posts when I don’t feel like writing. It will allow me the freedom to write at will, about anything related to being two mostly crazy dogparents to two definitely crazy wieners. It will allow me to post things that help me to continue process the grief over losing a very, very, very special wiener. It will allow me to support and feature dachshund rescues the way I want to, not just as side note.  Most importantly, it will allow me to write in my own voice.  However, I am waiting to make the official change because it may require some downtime for the site. I have a giveaway going on right now that won’t end until May 19^th, and I don’t want anyone to encounter an error page when trying to access the giveaway. So sometime around the 20^th, both Rawhide Alternatives and Chewzy Charlie will make a quiet exit…
“Charlie went to go live on a farm, son….”
Some folks will get that… some won’t.
The upcoming change will be the last. I promise.

Photo Credit: K2D2vaca via PhotoPin CC