One Year Anniversary of My Blog and a Contest

Today marks the one year of Service Dogs: A Way of Life and the 140th entry on this Blog! I want to thank all who read faithfully, post thoughtful comments, and link to my blog. I want this blog to be of service: a place of learning, sharing and community to all those involved with service dogs in anyway.
I thought I would share a little about what I know about my readers over the past year thanks to Google Analytics:

1. You come from all over the globe representing more than 40 countries including such far off locals as Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, and South Africa.
2. Over the past year I have had nearly 2,000 Visitors (and that's not counting repeats)!
3. You, my loyal readers read an average of a page and half each time you visit.
4. Your top favorite posts include:

• Controversy over "Fake" Service Dogs

• What is the Purpose of a Service Dog?

• Final Air Carrier Access Act Requires Rest Stops for Service Animals

• News: Alberta, Canada Extends Full public Access Rights to Person with Disabilities using Service Dogs

• Tips for Keeping your Service Dog Happy, Healthy, Beautiful, and Welcome

5. Nearly 40 percent of you find me through other blogs/websites! The top blogs/websites referring people here are:

• A SD By My Side (Listed in my Blog list on the right side of this page)
• Service Dog Central (Listed under Service Dog Community Links on the right)
• Charlie the North Star Dog (Listed in my Blog list on the right side of this page)
• A Service Dogs Journey (Listed in my Blog list on the right side of this page)
• Great Dane Service Dog (Listed in my Blog list on the right side of this page)
• Service Dog Sawyer (Listed in my Blog list on the right side of this page)

Thank you to each of you for feeling my blog was worth pointing your loyal readers to and for participating in this real time story about life with service dogs.

Now I promised you a contest and here it is!
Win a copy of Excel-erated Learning (this is my copy bought it, so I can give it away) simply by writing a short essay (between 200-400 words) on the most important thing you have learned about yourself because of your service dog or that your service dog has taught you. If you have a blog post your entry on it and leave a link for me in the comments under this post. If you don't have a blog send me an email. If you are not big on writing or your disability makes it difficult you can either dictate it to some one to write for you or (if you know how) send or post an audio entry. I will post the top three entries on my blog and the winner will get the book provided they remember to leave me a way to contact them. The deadline for entry is June 24, 2009.