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 Maxwell (Thor'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?
Bogner: My wife and I both manage Thor’s account and we both have a passion for creating and sharing positive uplifting content. When we decided to get Thor we immediately fell in love and were astonished by how massive he was. We first met Thor when he was 2 weeks old and every week would visit and each time his growth was astonishing. So we decided to document it and share it with others on social media, while incorporating our own positive messages and humor.
What do you think sets your dog apart from other dogs on social media? What makes them unique or particularly interesting to your followers?
Bogner: Besides his puppy charm and pure adorableness, people love seeing Thor’s size and rapid growth. Each week we update our pack of Pawvengers, aka Thor’s followers, on his size giving them the opportunity to witness the miraculous growth of Great Danes. That growth isn’t something that everyone can experience, so they are able to vicariously experience it through Thor’s content.
How do you come up with ideas for your dog's posts and content? Do you have a specific creative process?
Bogner: Our creative process has evolved, over the short period of time that we started the account. At the beginning our content followed trends, but while adding our own creative flair. As Thor’s account has grown rapidly we now look to set trends and take more risk with our content.
Have you ever faced any challenges or negativity on social media, and how have you dealt with it?
Bogner: Fortunately, with Thor, we have not faced any negativity on his account. We like to believe this is because Thor is so adorable and because we have surrounded ourselves with such a wonderful community of K9 lovers. However, we have had some challenges. From the beginning we knew it was important to be genuine and engaging with our followers. We were very diligent to interact with other people's stories and posts as well as with those that commented and interacted with our content. At the beginning we were sending personalized messages and DMs to every new follower and followed back every dog account we could. This strategy allowed us to 10x our reach however we weren’t seeing very many followers despite our tech. This was frustrating and discouraging but we stayed the course and almost like a light switch one day our number of followers per day went from 30-40 to several hundred new followers per day. It took us just over 4 weeks to get our first 1,000 subscribers and only a week to get our second 1,000. Now we are getting a thousand new followers every few days.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own dog influencer account or share their dog on social media?
Bogner: The best advice we can give is to focus on creating a community, rather than growing a following. Being an “influencer” isn’t about having thousands of followers, it’s about being a leader and a leader. Many dog accounts try to grow quickly by using gimmicks and “short cuts” to gain followers for vanity. Although this can be an ego boost, they are sacrificing the opportunity to build a foundation of relationships that will support and champion them. The other advice I would give is to find a mentor or someone they can model. When we started we had our favorite accounts that were a few steps ahead of us that we could reach out to and ask for help and validation. They were able to reassure us that what we were doing was right and that we just needed to be patient.
How has your dog influenced your life outside of social media?
Bogner: Well since Thor is still a very young puppy that requires a lot of attention, we have certainly lost sleep. On a more serious note, Thor has been such a blessing to our family. Our children are learning how to be more responsible as they are being taught how to take care of another living creature along. We are also able to bond with our children through Thor as we teach them how to train and interact with Thor. As Thor learns to be more obedient and our kids more assertive they gain confidence that impacts them in all facets of life. Lastly, Thor teaches us to be present in the moment. He is growing so rapidly and sadly Great Danes on average have shorter life spans earning them the nickname, the Heart Break Breed. A day will come very soon when we can’t just pick him up because of his sheer size and so we focus on mindfulness and being present in the moment and enjoying it.
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?
Bogner: Something I will never forget is how much Thor loved to snuggle when we would visit him at the breeder. Every time we visited he loved having his human mom hold and snuggle him. At one of our last visits he started getting jealous when his human mom would give attention to the other puppies. He would walk up and nudge them out of the way so she would focus on him.
What is your favorite thing about being a dog influencer?
Bogner: Our favorite thing so far has been the interaction and global community we are building. We are humbled that people are so interested in Thor and are willing to invest their time and experience with us. It is something we do not take for granted.
Lastly, what's next for you and your dog on social media? Any exciting plans or projects in the works?
Bogner: We are currently focusing on continuing to grow our community and looking for sponsors that align with our brand. In addition to documenting and sharing Thor’s physical growth, we are also going to be sharing more content of Thor’s training. Long term we would love to have Thor pass his CGC Canine Good Citizens Test and be able to bring him into hospitals where he can help uplift the spirits of the sick and afflicted.
