Welcome to another edition of Big Barker's interview series, Sit, Stay, Speak, where we get to know our favorite internet friends and their dogs! This week we had the honor of interviewing Big Dog Mom, Stephanie Seger! Read more about her and her amazing pups below!
1. Name: Stephanie Seger (aka Big Dog Mom) & my dogs Sulley (Mastiff 7 yrs) & Junior (5 yrs) 🐶
2. Occupation: Self-employed Blogger for Big Dog Mom, LLC & Homeschool Mom
3. Location: West Michigan
4. If you could ask your dogs one question, what would it be? When you both have a toy, why must you incessantly want the "other" one? It's the SAME TOY! #FOMO 😂
5. What’s your favorite pic/video you’ve ever posted and why? This video is one of my favorites as it was one that should have only taken 30 minutes to shoot, but ended up taking all day! The outtakes at the end reveal why.
6. What’s something your dog is afraid of?
Sulley howls when I grind wheat in my grain mill - I mean like wolf howl - though I'm not quite sure he's afraid of it because he just stays in the kitchen with me and howls 🐺 Junior, on the other hand, has been teased (kindly) with large hair clips and when you open and shut them he will dart his head this way and that to avoid them.
7. What’s the coolest trick your dogs know? Sulley knows lots of tricks, but his favorite ones are SPEAK and HEEL UP where he runs around me and gets into a heel position. Junior loves to BANG and play dead. It's adorable!
8. What’s their weirdest habit?
✨ Sulley won't (or rarely) walks in front of the refrigerator. He will back all the way up or turn around and walk all the way around the island to get to the other side. I believe he was bumped by the freezer drawer one time when he was about 7-9 months old and he's never forgotten.
✨ Junior still hasn't figured out how to properly lay on his Big Barker Dog Beds. He's always body on, head off.
✨ Junior still hasn't figured out how to properly lay on his Big Barker Dog Beds. He's always body on, head off.
9. What’s the best thing about being an influencer? Helping dogs and dog owners, especially folks new to big dogs. There is nothing more rewarding than getting an email or message from a dog owner thanking me for a tip or resource that helped them 💖
10. What’s the biggest struggle you’ve had as an influencer? Probably the biggest struggle for me is time or lack thereof. I have a list of blog posts and videos a mile long but have to balance my time for content creation with homeschooling and serving my family (dogs and humans).
11. What’s the most unexpected thing to happen since you started your account? Most of my life was spent in the field of microbiology, far from anything "techy." I launched the first iteration of BigDogMom.com in May 2017 - a site built using a well-known page builder with very little knowledge of what I was doing. After two years, I had learned enough about SEO and blogging to scrap that site and completely rebuild (and code!) my current website 👏
12. Who are some of your favorite creators?
👉 My Brown Newfies: https://mybrownnewfies.com/
👉 Rescue Dogs 101: https://www.rescuedogs101.com/
👉 BrindleBerry Acres: https://www.facebook.com/brindleberryacres/
13. What’s your hidden talent? I know nearly every dog breed there is, and can recite most of the pertinent details about their temperament, size, and what type of owner would be a good fit. I received my first dog breed encyclopedia when I was 6 and have accumulated a few more since. Yes, I'm a total and complete dog breed nerd 😜
| Did you know? Big Barker beds are specially engineered to help dogs with joint conditions like hip dysplasia. Click here to learn more. |
14. What’s your favorite hobby (one dog-related and one not)?
Dog-related: I love all dog sports and look forward to showing and participating in things like agility, competitive obedience, and therapy work with our next puppy.
Non-Dog Related: CrossFit! I joined a box over a year ago and have been a little obsessed with it ever since.
15. How would you define your dog in three words?
🐾 Sulley: Quirky, Bossy, Intelligent
🐾 Junior: Loving, Sweet-Natured, Space & Toy Hog
16. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? "Never sit down to "work on" something. Sit down to complete it." This advice about time management came from a veteran pet blogger and I've tried to model this in my business. I often have to set aside my desire for perfection in both my written and video content, which is not easy! With so little time, my motto has become 90% greatness today is better than 100% perfect next week. I'm not helping anyone if I am not publishing.
Thank you to Stephanie, Sulley & Junior for sharing your story with us and being an avid member of the Big Barker family! 🐾 Keep up with them on Instagram and BigDogMom.com!
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