Welcome to the ultimate destination for dog enthusiasts and social media mavens alike. At Dogfluencers, we're passionate about showcasing the best and brightest in the world of four-legged fame.
Whether you're looking for adorable photos, heartwarming stories, or expert tips on how to turn your own pup into a social media star, we've got you covered.
Today we got the honor of interviewing Amy (Maggie's Human). You can find a direct link to their Instagram here.
Here is their story:
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming a dog influencer? What inspired you to start sharing your dog's adventures on social media?
Horton: It wasn’t intentional! When I got her I didn’t know she had a heart defect and had been very directly inbred, but she ended up having to have heart surgery when she was about 3.5 months old. We were very lucky to have so many wonderful corgi lovers in a corgi community on Facebook that helped donate money that made it possible for her to have the life saving heart surgery that she needed to have when she was 3.5 months old. Thanks to all those amazing people that donated, Maggie was able to have the surgery that she needed that saved her life and basically made her able to live a normal life now. We were so appreciative of those amazing people that donated and helped save her life that we knew we had to document her life and the amazing things she is able to do now thanks to them and make sure they know their money they donated was for a good cause. We also just want to make people smile and laugh and feel enjoyment from our posts.
What do you think sets your dog apart from other dogs on social media? What makes them unique or particularly interesting to your followers?
Horton: Maggie isn’t just a normal corgi or dog who’s gained a lot followers on instagram. Maggie has gone through a lot in her life to get to where she is now. What I didn’t know when I got Maggie was that she was very directly inbred, her mom was the direct daughter of her dad, which led to her having a heart defect, PDA, known as Patent ductus arteriosus, which is also a common defect that human babies can also have at birth. The surgery we were so fortunate to have help for her to have kept her from having any ongoing heart issues, but she definitely still has other gene defects that I didn’t expect that have been very challenging to deal with her in life. I feel like sharing her story and what we go through on a day to day basis that is not what normal dog owners go through makes it all the more worth it and interesting to other dog owners and our followers.
How do you come up with ideas for your dog's posts and content? Do you have a specific creative process?
Horton: We mostly just try and capture our normal day to day life. Some of it is completely normal and the same as most other corgi/dog owners out there, but a lot of it is also different and unique to us because of the health and other issues Maggie has because of how she was inbred. Moving to Hawaii also helped our content become more unique and special because not many corgis live on the island kauai! It’s such a special island that not many people know about and choose to visit over other more popular islands in hawaii.
Have you ever faced any challenges or negativity on social media, and how have you dealt with it?
Horton: The first video of Maggie that went viral was from when she was a puppy and was sort of passing out and laying down often due to her heart defect before we knew about it. By the time that video went viral, she had already had her heart surgery and was 100% healthy and fine, but we still got so many comments on her videos of people trying to give us health advice about how she needed to see a vet and have surgery. I knew that they were just concerned about her health and trying to help, despite them not knowing all the details about Maggie’s health and the latest updates, so the only thing I could do was leave a comment every now and then trying to tell him how Maggie had her heart surgery and was 100000% healthy and living a normal happy life now and to not worry.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own dog influencer account or share their dog on social media?
Horton: Share whatever makes you happy and you think will make others happy to see. People will comment and criticize no matter what but you have to ignore them cause they are just haters.
How has your dog influenced your life outside of social media?
Horton: Maggie has shown me that no matter what may be an obstacle at life and keep you from being your best, you can still overcome it and be the best you want to be. You can’t go wrong if you’re a kind happy person/being in life. Making others happy and doing kind things for others never goes wrong.
Can you tell us about a particularly memorable or funny moment you've had with your dog during one of your photo shoots or adventures?
Horton: She’s always just so happy anytime we try and do photo shoots with her. In a way I feel like she knows that she wouldn’t have lived longer than her first year of life if it wasn’t for the wonderful other corgi owners and lovers that donated to save her life. I can definitely tell anything we do she is living in her best life and enjoying it as much as she can. We are so fortunate she is here with us today/
What is your favorite thing about being a dog influencer?
HortonWe just love getting to make others smile and laugh. It also helps knowing it can help others who may have a puppy that has the PDA heart defect know that if they have the heart surgery as puppy that they can still live a 100% normal life.
Lastly, what's next for you and your dog on social media? Any exciting plans or projects in the works?
Horton: Nothing in particular! We just hope to show off more or her life living on the island or Kauai in Hawaii. It’s such a special and unique experience living on this beautiful island that we hope to show others how amazing it is here. There are so many dogs here that really need homes that the main shelter here, the kauai humane society, is always overfilled and struggling to find openings for other dogs, that we really hope to help others want to come here and adopt those dogs and keep sweet dogs from having to be euthanized due to the over population of dogs here.
