Welcome to The Dog Snobs!
My name is Amanda O’Brien and I am originally from Melbourne, Australia but have been living in London for 18 years. I worked in Marketing for many years at big companies like Heinz, Kraft and Direct Line Group – check me out on Linked In if you’d like.
About five years ago I decided to trial living in Australia again. To cut a long story short I didn’t like it at all and ended up returning to London. But while I was there I decided that I wanted to learn about how to create a website so I set up what is now my travel blog The Boutique Adventurer to learn and as a hobby.
I ended up falling in love with blogging and creating and optimising websites. Well it took me a few years to figure it all out but I always enjoyed it. I worked part time as a marketing consultant whilst doing this.
Then the pandemic hit and two things happened at once. My traffic on the travel site really died and I had decided to get a Siberian cat. I had always thought of myself as a dog person and was dog mad. I would dog sit, loved my parent’s dogs (which they selfishly acquired after I moved out of home) and looked after them and was crazy about friends dogs.
However, being a travel blogger and having a dog don’t really go together but I so wanted a pet. Then I went over to my friend Cordy’s house and met her Siberian cat Nelly. Nelly was like a dog in a cat’s body as well as being gorgeous. I instantly fell in love and decided that I needed one.
I had “ordered” Alexei before the pandemic hit. I realised I was going to need to learn alot about cats – so why not start a second blog about cats? So in June of 2020 I launched The Discerning Cat. Within one year the website had reached over 100,000 page views and I started to think hey I know what I am doing!
So when it became June 2021 I thought maybe I should do a dog site as I love them but at this stage of my life can’t have one. Why not become an expert so that I am ready to be a great dog parent? And most of my friends and family have dogs so I can check things off with them.
And so all of this became this blog, The Dog Snobs. I developed an editorial policy to guide the content on the site. Last year I realized many articles on the site reference visiting the vet or getting a vet’s opinion. I decided to bring on some freelance veterinary experts to check the articles on dog behavior and where relevant add tips from their experience.
You’ll know if an article has been reviewed by a vet as this will appear at the top:
I added a 4th website – New Interesting Facts – to my blogging empire in 2021. I am now trying to restrain myself from buying more!
All four websites are now owned by my company, Beyond the Horizon. Here are its contact details:
Beyond the Horizon
86-90 Paul Street
London, EC2A 4NE
United Kingdom
+44 203 966 0041
Or email us
So that’s my story – why not email me and share yours?
