As I write this, I am on a plane somewhere between Detroit and Salt Lake City, beginning my annual sojourn to the BlogPaws Conference. BlogPaws is the premiere blogging and social media conference for people who write about pets. It is my favorite thing to do all year, as I get to meet with people from all over the world who share my passion for animals.

I have always been lucky to have a special job at BlogPaws. The first year, I was part of the organizing committee, and I coordinated an art exhibit of pet themed artworks from various artists. I created a mural with conference participants at the second conference, and I was a speaker at the third one.

This year, I have a special job too. Temptations Cat Treats is sponsoring my trip, and they asked me to share information about creating bonds with cats using treats.

I confess that this is new territory for me. I am a pretty basic sort of person, and I have never given my cats treats on a regular basis. Like most people, I thought “treating” was a special thing for now and then, but it never occurred to me to use treats as a way to bond or encourage certain behaviors with my cats. With Okey still very fearful, and Brewskie constantly obnoxious, I am glad to have this opportunity to learn and share with others.

Brewskie will be writing about this process on his blog (I can already hear his snarky take on MY side of the behavior issue). I will also be tweeting and sharing things about the conference on Facebook. I also just obtained an iPad, and I plan to use it to draw and create different artistic images inspired by the conference. Follow my Tumblr blog to see what I am creating!

Do you have any questions about the benefits of treating cats to strengthen bonding? And do you have any requests for my iPad doodling? Let me know in the comments, and I will see if I can get an answer or create an image for you.