Sharon's story
Sharon grew up in a pack with four siblings and at times five award winning and AKC registered Doberman Pinchers. As a child when playing hide and seek, Sharon inevitably could be found in one of the dog crates. Her mother was a founding member of a California kennel club and for several years they operated a boarding kennel at their home where Sharon learned how to wield a mean pooper scooper.
When she wasn't teaching others basic obedience with their dogs, Sharon's mother was training her five kids to be stand up citizens. Sharon's father was in law enforcement and he taught his children the importance of giving fearlessly, even in the face of pain or fear. Sharon took her parents advice to heart and got herself into and through college. Fast forward through more than twenty years of marketing and communications jobs.
In 2009 inspired by her dog's ability to live in the now and the fundamentals taught by her parents, Sharon began blogging Cleo's Day. In April 2010, Pedigree/Mars provided a fully paid sponsorship to the first BlogPaws pet blogging conference in Ohio, and again to BlogPaws West in Denver. This relationship continued into 2011, with an invitation to the first Canine Nutrition Summit in Nashville, followed by a third sponsored trip to BlogPaws in Washington DC.
Professionally, Sharon has contributed stories to good news site Tonic, and wrote about her experiences at restaurants, hotels and some of her favorite destinations at travel powerhouse Uptake with its million monthly visitors. Sharon has been blogging since 2004 and began her own travel blog Everywhere Travel to encourage people to get out and about, after returning from spending the Dot Com period in Tokyo as an expat.
Besides growing the readership and philanthropic nature of Grouchy Puppy, in 2011 Sharon became Editor-at-Large for LIFE+DOG Magazine. This monthly lifestyle publication guides readers through "Modern Living with Man's Best Friend." You can find her articles in every issue.
Sharon's complete professional experience is outlined on Linkedin.
Cleo's story
Cleo was born in Northern California but began her real life in San Francisco when she was brought to the SF/SPCA. Shortly after arriving in the city, she was discovered by Sharon and her husband during their quest to find a four-legged member to complete their pack.
No one knows her age, but since Cleo is a real lady, it doesn't matter. She is often mistaken for being a boy and a wolf but Cleo takes it in stride and focuses on influencing positively. Her life in the big city demonstrates daily her ability to give fearlessly. She can be found inspiring her female, comforting strangers and generally trying to influence all around her to be better.
Grouchy Puppy is based on Cleo in every way, from the look to the content. Since her blog launched in 2009 Cleo has been given the Sunshine Award and Creative Blogger Award by fellow bloggers and given a Blog Star Award by Dogtime. She believes the 2011 Dogtime Media Pet Award Nomination was due solely to her mad skills and popularity.
Whether she is out walking in the neighborhood or running free at Fort Funston, Cleo elicits reactions. She has had her picture taken with tourists from India and has supported those in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.
Since she has officially moved into her golden years, Cleo spends more time napping and using her nose as a white cane. She focuses her days on teaching everyone who will pay attention, how to savor the moment. When she isn't demonstrating the art of zen, you can find her quietly being cute.
