Looks like someone's already been at the cake ...
WE can’t believe it, either: the hound blog is a year old today! Thanks to our regular readers and hound enthusiasts (and quite a few random visitors) from around the world (yes, really), we’ve logged 18,866 views in the past year, as of this morning. The blog has been linked to from the Berkeley Hunt and Baily’s to Pet Connection and the National Sporting Library, and beyond.
Most of our regular visitors are from England, Kentucky, southern California, Virginia, and North Carolina. But we’ve also had check-ins from Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Canada, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Latvia, Switzerland, Russia, France, India, the Philippines, and, hello, Trinidad and Tobago. Seriously. Some of them, apparently, were searching for things and bumped into us (“best twisty pictures” and “dewlap giant toulouse geese” were my favorite two searches that somehow landed the questioner at the hound blog). But most found us because they clicked a link directly to the blog or were looking for hound and hunting information. To all of them, and particularly to those who have started making Full Cry: A Hound Blog a stop on their routes through the week, we say, “Thank you!”
Big thanks also are due to the Masters, staff, and hounds of the Iroquois Hunt and the Clear Creek Beagles, who have let us tag along with that pesky video camera on everything from hound walk to hound shows to hunt days. And to Mr. Houndblogger, who suffered the following indignity in the name of blogging:
Mr. Houndblogger bore it all cheerfully--even the conformature at Patey.
Some stats: our best month, in terms of views, was March 2010, with 2,566 views. Our busiest day was December 7, 2009, when 229 viewers stopped by to see the Middleburg Hunt in the Christmas parade, our most popular video to date. Our two most popular posts? Some of the Best of YouTube and Houndbloggers Abroad: Hunting’s Historic Clothiers.
In honor of the big day, here’s a link to Our First Post Ever.
And we’d love to know: what hound blog photo in the past year has been your favorite, and what video have you liked best? Let us know! And, here, have some cake before the beagles get it …
Full Cry: A Hound Blog 
Happy Birthday! The various bedtime stories are my favorite entries though your trip to Middleburg was fabulous!!
Thanks, Connie! I admit I haven’t posted as many Bedtime Stories as I used to, so I’ll be sure to start doing more of them again. Glad you liked the Middleburg stuff, too–we visited the library again in late May and will have a post shortly on their current “Lives of Dogs” exhibit. Stay tuned! And stay cool in this hot weather …
happy bday to the hound blog!! i am MOST honored to share my bday with the blog!! many greetings to sasson from comet – the forever green and 6year olds!! yours,hannah
Happy Birthday, Hannah!
That’s just about exactly where I am. It’s ALL due in July 6 at 9 a.m. ET.
I’m Zenyatta, slow out of the gate, rated and relaxed over the first mile and here I come, ears up, stride lengthened and looking for the wire.
🙂
AB (After Book) I wanna play, “Who would YOU send Queen Z to?”
Oh, so close to the wire! And you are doubtless a strong finisher–good luck! I look forward to your choice for the Queen, too. Write on, write on!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I’m so glad you started the Hound Blog, because I love it and because I got to meet you! Not in real life as yet, but we’ll fix that soon enough. 🙂
Thanks, Gina! I’m so glad to have started the blog, too, for the same reasons–and I hope it won’t be too much longer before we get to meet in person! How’s the new book coming? Are you at the sixteenth pole yet?