Smiling Dog Farms

Help Jasper Win $500 on Facebook

2011-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is Jasper. You can see what a talented and endearing fellow he is!

You can help him win $500 for the Plano Animal Shelter if you Like Jasper on Facebook.

Those of you who know me, know that I am clueless about Facebook. Many of you think I don't want to be your friend, because I haven't figured out how to accept a friend on Facebook, or much else for that matter!

But Debbie New from the Plano Animal Shelter says you can go to http://www.facebook.com/GoJasper and "Like" Jasper.

If you know how to make Facebook work, please help Jasper and Debbie and the Plano Animal Shelter by doing whatever it is you do on Facebook to help!

Debbie tells me, "He was returned (to the shelter) because he chewed and was not housetrained. Look at what he has accomplished in just a short time!!!"

What I can tell you about Debbie and the Plano Animal Shelter is that they do an outstanding job of placing dogs, and they reserve us for only "Last Resort" situations, which is how it should be. And I can tell you that if you take a Plano Shelter dog into your rescue, the dog will come spayed/neutered, clean, healthy, up-to-date on shots -- Debbie and the Plano Shelter do an amazing job! Over the years, we have had several dogs come from Plano and all have been exceptional dogs!

Last Day for Freedom Weekend Food Drive...

2011-07-04T22:52:00.001-07:00

Just 16 Bags of Dog Food Needed to Make Goal!

Thanks to YOU!

Bailey says, "Well, we went ahead and did it.

We ordered all 100 bags of dog food today, to get in on the special 15% discount that reduces the cost of a bag of dog food to just $18.69."

"We are counting on our friends to put us over the top! We just need 16 more bags of dog food and we will be at 100! (And the folks at the feed store said we can increase our order if we raise more!!

Come on Team Smiling Dog -- we need to go over the top today!

Please share this link on Facebook and the internet!

We Can Do This! Just click on this link: http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Butters Can Relax and Be Himself Here

2011-07-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Butters got a rough start in life. His family had allergies to him, so he lived outside and did not get socialized like puppies normally do. After several years of living outdoors and making up his own rules, he became difficult to live with!

Melanie and her husband felt sad for Butters, and offered to take him into their home. But Butters had lived by his own rules for too long, and had no desire to conform to even minimal standards. It is not his fault... still -- it's impossible to make him part of the famly.

Butters will snarl and bite. He is not real fond of people! Melanie believes he is insecure and misunderstood. But that really doesn't change Butters' inability to adapt to living with a family.

So she asked if Butters could come to Smiling Dog Farms, and we said "yes".

Butters still is not fond of humans. But he now has a little friend who loves him, and they romp and play together in Butters' play yard.

Butters is a classic sanctuary dog. He is too unsocialized to live in society around other people. But he has a great time every day chasing squirrels and barking at the birds and playing with his new friend.

Butters is happy in his new life at the farm!

The Freedom Weekend Food Drive ................ Now Just 32% from Goal!

2011-07-03T21:20:00.001-07:00

Buddy says, "The Freedom Weekend Food Drive is really close to making our goal!

We want to take advantage of the 4th of July Sale where we buy our kibble!"

"Thank You EVERYONE who has donated a bag of dog food.

Thanks to YOU, we have 68 bags of dog food donated!

Just 32 more to reach our goal of 100 bags!"

"Go Team Smiling Dog!"

Please click on this link to learn more about our Freedom Weekend Food Drive

http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Rest in Peace, Happy the Boxer...

2011-07-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

It is a sad day at Smiling Dog Farms. Happy the boxer died this morning.

Shown here is Happy this past Spring with Yvette, her mommy. This photo was taken at our beach house in Galveston. Happy would travel with us to the beach house, whenever we were there.

Yvette rescued Happy from a shelter in Virginia a couple years ago. Happy was quite old then, and was not expected to live much longer. Yvette did not want Happy to die in a shelter, or be put down before her time.

So she took her home, to let Happy die peacefully in a loving environment.

Except Happy didn't die! She lived on, and as time passed, Yvette faced another dilemma. Yvette is a member of the armed services. She was back in the U.S. but knew she would be deployed back to Iraq soon. And Happy was still alive and well!

Yvette left Happy with a friend when she had to report for duty. But soon the friend could not care for Happy, because Happy's use of her back legs had deteriorated and Yvette's friend could not carry her up and down the stairs to her apartment. (Happy weighed nearly 80 lb!)

So Yvette asked if Happy could come to live out the rest of her life at Smiling Dog Farms. And we said "yes".

That was last Fall. Once again, everyone expected Happy did not have a lot of time left. But she just kept on going! For a while, she lived in a townhome and play yard with several other elderly dogs.

Soon, however, we brought her into the house to live full time, because we feared the end was near. But she surprised us once again, and would go up and down the hallway with her two front legs dragging her body behind her, always interested and eager to see what was going on!

We used to joke that Happy would no doubt still be here waiting when Yvette returned from her deployment this Fall. But it was not to be.

Every time we came to the beach, we brought Happy. She enjoyed sitting in the yard with the other dogs romping all around her.

Her appetite remained strong right up to the very end, and she had a spark of life in her eyes that was unmistakable. Her life had changed, but she never stopped enjoying her life as it evolved.

She lived in Ricky's office. She had a large comforter and "pee pads" under her, to soak up her urine and keep it away from her skin. She had been incontinent since she came to the farm. We made sure she never felt badly for having "accidents" in the house!

About a week ago, she started slowing down measurably. She lost the use of her front legs and needed to be carried from place to place. We knew the end was near. For real this time.

Ricky and I had planned to take a quick two-day vacation at the beach house in Galveston. Of course, Happy piled into the truck behind Ricky and happily made the trip to the beach again. It has become a ritual she recognized and looked forward to.

Saturday afternoon, she laid in the yard with the other dogs, who would stop by to visit with her. Her eyes still said that she was interested and alert, even if her body would no longer do as she wished.

This morning we lost her. We were able to say our good byes and hold her and kiss her one last time before she departed on her journey, to a place where he legs will work perfectly again and she can run like the wind, just as she did so many years ago.

We will miss you, sweet Happy.

Thanks to YOU, the Freedom Weekend Food Drive is at 48%!

2011-07-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

Bayou says: "THANK YOU for getting our Freedom Weekend Food Drive off to such a great start! The other dogs and I are pretty excited about this, and really grateful to all of you who are helping us buy dogfood! We really like our kibble. Ricky and Jay buy us kibble that has a really high protein and fat content... 27 and 15... and it tastes good, too!"

Please go to our Freedom Weekend Food Drive Chip In to see how we are doing! Just click here:

http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

Snowing in July?

2011-07-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

This is Duke Pendegast. It looks like it has been snowing in his yard... in July!!

Actually, Duke has just dismantled another one of his puffs! You can see from his expression how proud he is of his work! lol

Doskocil Industries in Arlington, TX donated several hundred puffs and dog beds to us a year ago so that all our babies would have a soft place to sleep. Duke sleeps on his for so long, and then he decides its time to take it apart and see what's inside!

Duke is an example of a Sanctuary Dog. He cannot be placed for adoption. Hard as it is to imagine when you see him with that impish grin and his playful manner, he has bitten and mauled his mommy. And he did the same thing one day to one of our team members who went into his yard just to put Frontline on him!

Sadly, Duke is unpredictable and that makes him dangerous to live in society.

So his mommy sent him here to live out his life. It is not the same as laying on the sofa watching Oprah. But it beats taking a needle in the arm, which was his only alternative.

Here at the farm, Duke has an oversize yard his mommy bought for him and he runs and barks at the squirrels and the birds and the dogs in nearby playyards. He gets lots of stimulation.

Duke is a classic example of why Smiling Dog Farms exists. He is a dog who had no where else to go.

And I think you can see from his expression that he is pretty happy here!

We Need YOU to Help Put Us Over the Top...... for the Freedom Weekend Food Drive!

2011-07-01T01:27:00.003-07:00

Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Monday

Please click on this link... http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/freedom-weekend-food-drive

And send it to your friends on Facebook!

Thank You!

Bosco Wins in Court... Flies to Sanctuary at Smiling Dog Farms!

2011-06-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

Bosco, the embattled black lab from Pelham, NH, won his court case on June 14 and was spared the death penalty demanded by that town's police chief. Instead, Bosco was allowed to come live out his life in the sanctuary at Smiling Dog Farms.

Bosco's legal troubles began when he escaped his yard. Roaming the streets of Pelham, he was spotted by Pelham Police Sgt. Pickles, who attempted to pick up Bosco to get him out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, Bosco did not know Sgt. Pickles and communicated to him that he was not comfortable having a stranger pick him up up by nipping the sergeant on the hand. After that, things just spiraled out of control.

Bosco ended up inside the sergeant's patrol car with doors locked. As Bosco sat proudly behind the wheel smiling, several of Pelham's finest stood around the car fuming and fussing.

Everyone who heard the story was amused -- except the Pelham police and their chief of police.

Chief Roark demanded Bosco's death, labeling him a vicious and dangerous dog! I will let the reader make up his own mind about Bosco's level of danger by watching this video of Bosco and his owner saying good bye: http://bcove.me/hgf01rod

Here is Bosco arriving at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport on Saturday, June 25. Note the red lobster toy in front of the crate. That is clearly his favorite toy. He picks it up in his mouth and makes it squeak! This is Bosco in his new home at Smiling Dog Farms. Thanks to Terry Sublette in Denver, CO and his friends, the money was raised to build this new home for Bosco. Note the loft and the ramp to access it. And there is a tall window to allow air to move freely, so that Bosco will have a nice breeze. You can see the puff for Bosco to sleep on behind him. What is not visible in this photo is the metal roofing that covers 1/3 of Bosco's play yard, which provides shade and protection from the rain. That is a feeder bin, on the left of Bosco's townhome. It is always filled with kibble, so Bosco can eat whenever he is hungry. We also have daily "treats" which go in food pans -- some days the treat is baked goods from Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet and some days it is raw meat from the Houston Food Bank.

This is Bosco exploring his new yard. Note the proximity of his favorite toy, just next to him! He really loves that lobster. Perhaps it reminds him of New England!

This view of Bosco's yard shows that he backs up to the pasture. He has beautiful views. You can see him smiling!

This is Bosco's introduction to Amos and Ona Mae the donkeys. You can't see it in the photo, but there is a fence wire that separates the donkeys from Bosco's yard by about 4'. But they can get very close to one another and check each other out!

What was interesting was that Bosco did not bark and fuss at the donkeys. He was curious about them, but he was not aggressive toward them at all. Notice again the smile on his face!

Here is Bosco with his favorite toy yet again! He spent a lot of time exploring and getting comfortable in his new home. He figured out the feeder bin in no time, and he soon mastered going up the ramp to his loft!

Bosco looks out his window, smiling after a long day of travel and new experiences. He has not yet growled at anyone here, nor shown any signs of aggressive behavior.

We hope to find Bosco a friend to share his townhome and play yard with. Someone to run and play with, and someone to nap with. Once he is fully acclamated to his new home, we will start introducing him to potential friends!

There are many who played a part in Bosco's rescue from certain death. His owner, Deborah, who went to bat for Bosco and got him an attorney to represent his interests, and would not let herself be intimidated by the Pelham Police, who pressured her to let Bosco be killed ... his friend, Mark, who was booted from the rescue which works out of the Pelham Police Department, solely for his advocacy and caring for Bosco... his attorney, Jim O'Rourke, who negotiated the release of Bosco to our sanctuary... Pets In Need, a local Dracut, Massachusetts rescue which provided transport from Pelham PD to the airport... and certainly John Collins from the Lowell Sun and his editor who wrote an editorial supporting Bosco's right to live... these men are examples of the best of American journalism... John Collins wrote articles that provided the truth, while most of the other media outlets in the area simply regurgitated the Pelham Police Chief's spin on the Bosco story.

Here is the link to John's story about Bosco winning in court and preparing for his trip here. The only minor glitch in the story is that we did not raise "thousands" of dollars for Bosco! lol I wish we had! Terry Sublette and his friends raised the money to build Bosco's house. But we still need to fundraise to recoup the $543 we spent for Bosco's airfare. We agreed to pay the money up front so we could get Bosco out of Pelham as fast as possible!

Here is an excellent example of journalism as it should be, without bias or cowtowing to the police chief's distorted version of Bosco's story! http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_18352274?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com

Bosco Goes to Trail Tomorrow, June 14

2011-06-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been asking about Bosco. He is the dog from Pelham, New Hampshire who ran afoul of the law for biting an officer -- but ONLY after the officer attempted to pick up Bosco! Since Bosco did not know the man, nor his intentions -- he bit him! Not a horrible, mauling kind of deep wound, but a warning bite that said, "Don't try to pick me up. I don't know you."

His trial has been postponed twice. Meanwhile, Bosco has been kept in "secret" hiding places so that no one Bosco knows can even visit him. The fact that he has been isolated by his tormentors -- the very people who want to see him dead -- worries me that their real intention is to "bait" Bosco into biting someone again, so they can point to that and allege he is just an aggressive dog! (I understand how paranoid that sounds... but keep this in mind: You are only paranoid if you imagine someone is trying to do you harm. If they actually are trying to hurt you, you are not paranoid but perceptive!)

We have a clear plan in place to help Bosco, which Bosco's attorney will be presenting to the court tomorrow. A friend has managed to get Bosco's Chip In completed, so all the money has been raised for Bosco's townhome and playyard here. We have offered to pay for Bosco's air fare. Pets In Need, a rescue in Massachusetts, has offered to pick up Bosco from the police and deliver him to the airport. We have already signed a Release of Liability so that the city of Pelham will no longer be responsible for Bosco or his behavior once they turn him over to Pets In Need. Some of our references have even provided statements for the court about our facility and our practices, so the attacks of the Police Chief from Pelham will be shown to be half-truths and outright lies to justify his bullying behavior. He has never visited the farm! Our references have!!

Please click on this link www.lowellsun.com/ci_18246193?IADID= to a related story about the Pelham Police who TASERed a poor cow! As usual, we can look to John Collins and his newspaper, The Lowell Sun, for truth and honest reporting. If you have any doubts about the barbaric intent of this batch of cops, check out this story and their "reason" to taser the cow!

Someone needs to reign in these animal-abusing cops! I am shocked that the good people of Pelham are tolerating this level of behavior from their alleged protectors! The Pelham cops' refusal to let Bosco come to our sanctuary, and their subsequent refusal to keep Bosco in a neutral third party boarding facility -- as well as their treatment of this cow -- speaks volumes about their attitude toward animals!

You can write a letter to the editor to post your feelings about the Pelham PD at http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk.

You can also call the Town Administrator... ultimately he is responsible for the police chief whose department has such a deplorable track record toward animals. Call Tom Gaydos at (603) 635-2040. Urge your friends to do the same.

Sometimes, We Just Don't Understand...

2011-06-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

I know I have not been writing the Smiling Dog Daily News as often as I want to. There just never seems to be enough time.

But I wanted to tell this story because we are at a loss to understand this person's actions! Maybe one of you can see something we are missing!

Today, we received a "dispute" notice from Paypal. Someone from Atlanta donated $10 to Smiling Dog Farms, on May 25, using Paypal. The implication of filing a dispute is that she asked for her money back, and we refused to give it to her.

But that is not what happened. Not even close!

If I had been writing these posts daily, you would all know by now that our former website manager had to quit managing our website for us. She made a huge positive impact on our ability to communicate information, and one of her major accomplishments (among many!) was that she was updating our donor lists daily! When someone donated, their name would go on the donations page right away!

We do have another wonderfully experienced website manager on board. In fact, she is just starting to get in and update data this weekend. Hopefully, she will soon have us back up to speed.

But there has been a period of about six weeks when we have not been able to update our donor lists and our website has just been "frozen" where it was.

I don't know if our failure to recognize her is what motivated this person or not. It was about all I could think of that would make someone want to donate to us, and then two and a half weeks later change their mind.

If anyone else has donated to us for the first time, or signed on as a monthly sponsor in the past six weeks, but has not been recognized on the website yet, we will soon be getting you listed among our donors, who are the lifeblood of Smiling Dog Farms!

So -- back to my story about the lady from Atlanta.

Today we received a "dispute" from Paypal. But here is the part we don't understand.

She had never contacted us directly and asked for her $10 back!

We would have happily given it back to her.

Please don't misunderstand -- we are always working hard to raise funding to support our work with the dogs. But we don't want someone's money if they don't want us to have it! We want our financial supporters to be cheerful givers who donate from their hearts and who want to help our dogs!

Because she did not contact us directly and let us send her a refund of her $10 ...

But instead created a "dispute"...

We not only gave this woman her $10 back, but we were charged $20 by Paypal because it was set up as a dispute!

We wish she had just told us she wanted her $10 back.

As much as we need donations (we have not had a fundraiser since Dec-Jan), it would have been better if this person had never donated in the first place!

Melanie Gets A Family of Her Very Own!

2011-06-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is Melanie. Today she got a family of her own to love her and appreciate her forever! And it is a great family, too! Sensistive, caring people who understand and consider Melanie's feelings!

Melanie came to Smiling Dog Farms from a local shelter whose Animal Control Officer works very hard, and often on her own time, to find homes for the dogs who come into her shelter. Melanie was running out of time when we called.

We had just taken in a mommy with puppies -- and the mommy suddenly, unexpectedly died the day after arriving! The puppies were too young to wean, so we called the shelter and asked if there was a dog there who could nurse our puppies!

Luckily, Melanie was available! She came to the shelter with a litter of pups, and hers had just been removed... but she still had milk!

We dashed over to the shelter and brought home Melanie, who was the perfect surrogate mommy to that batch of puppies. She was tender and gentle with them, even though they were not her own and did not resemble her in any way.

Today, Melanie was rewarded for her kindness and gentle nature. A very special family chose her to become part of their family. A very happy ending for Melanie!

If Your Dance Card is Not Filled for Saturday Afternoon or Evening, Please Come Join Us!

2011-04-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

10th Annual Houston Parrot Club

Mud Bug Ball

This year benefiting Smiling Dog Farms

More fun than a roomful of Jack Russell Terriers!

All the crawfish tails you can eat!!

(if crawfish is not your cup of tea, you can have

a cheeseburger or a chicken sandwich basket!)

Live Music by Dennis Davis and

Jerry Diaz & Hanna's Reef...

SILENT AUCTION - LIVE AUCTION - RAFFLES

Come and Unwind after A Busy Saturday...

Ricky & I Will Be There to Meet Our "Online" Friends!

Tickets are just $25 at the door

Cypress Saloon

12710 Telge Road, Cypress, TX 77429

(290 NW to Telge Rd Exit... then Right to Cypress Saloon)

3 pm to 10 pm

Saturday, April 16

Bosco's Trial Postponed... He Should Not Be "Cared For" by His Tormentors!

2011-04-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bosco is the New Hampshire lab who bit the hand of a police officer who clumsily tried to pick him up and shove him into his patrol car, because Bosco was running loose on the street. The bite was simply a warning to a stranger whom Bosco did not know or trust.

Still... it was enough to put Bosco on the wrong side of the powerful police chief of Pelham, NH. The chief will settle for nothing less than the blood of Bosco. He wants him dead.

At Bosco's hearing, Tuesday, April 12, the trial was postponed again. However, the prosecutor said that Bosco had been moved again because of some "aggressive moves". Bosco is still at an undisclosed location with no outside organization or agency to supervise his care or guarantee his ethical treatment.

Immediately after the bite incident with the officer, Bosco was confined to the animal shelter operated by the Pelham police and a local rescue group. While in the slammer, Bosco was befriended by a local rescuer, who gave Bosco some love and attention while incarcerated. This volunteer's only sin was to love Bosco and give him much-needed human contact and kindness. The volunteer was summarily kicked out of the rescue group and allegedly told by Pelham's finest never to return to the shelter!

And then Bosco was removed to an undisclosed location and denied any visits by anyone who cared about him.

Charles Manson... Jeffrey Dahmer... Ted Bundy were allowed visits from those who loved them, and their care during incarceration was open to public scrutiny.

Does Bosco not deserve at least the same level of protection?

My worry is that the Pelham police might be baiting Bosco to behave aggressively, since he is kept in a secret dungeon of the chief's devising, with no one to look after Bosco's interests and insure his proper treatment. They can then use this manufactured "evidence" against Bosco.

I know. You are saying that I sound paranoid.

But keep this in mind: you are only paranoid if you imagine someone is trying to hurt you. If someone really is trying to harm you, you are not paranoid -- just perceptive!

Bosco should NOT be "cared for" by his tormentors, but by a disinterested third party boarding facility. Anything less is not just unfair, but invites abuse of power.

I am asking some of my friends in rescue to bring Bosco's deplorable situation to the attention of PETA and other national organizations devoted to the ethical treatment of animals.

You learn a lot about a man's character by the way he treats those with less power and influence than himself. Chief Roark's behavior toward Bosco, a dog with no inherent constitutional rights, is a cautionary tale for the residents of Pelham. Keeping Bosco in secret, hidden locations, separated from those who love him and the prying eyes of journalists or animal activists who would watch out for Bosco's interests tells you where your chief is coming from, so to speak.

Austin and Dinah Join Us at the Beach...

2011-04-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is Dinah, on the left, and Austin, on the right. They are in the backseat of our car, after we met Deana up in Houston to pick them up. Special thanks to Deana, who drove from Centerville to Houston, and Mary Ann, who drove from Garland to Centerville, after she picked up Dinah and Austin at the Garland Shelter! And Thank You to all of you who called or emailed, offering to help Austin and Dinah get to safety! You provided an outpouring of offers to transport these special dogs who were out of time and had no where else to go!

Austin is more curious and active than Dinah.

Ricky and I are still working in Galveston on one of our rental properties, so we brought them to the beach house where we are staying for the next several days while we work here.

We have already learned that Austin is not crate trained at all! After spending the afternoon in the back yard, we put Austin and Dinah in crates while we left to run some errands. When we returned, Austin had demolished his crate and was happily running through the recreation room, amidst a sea of opened Beggin Strips bags! Dinah was content to wait patiently for us in her crate! She is a very sweet girl who is more shy than Austin.

However, once you gain her trust, if you stop petting her, she will tap-tap-tap at you to keep petting her!

Austin and Dinah came from the Garland Shelter where they were totally out of time. They have lived together their entire lives, and must be placed for adoption together. We will not separate them!

Austin's exuberance will make placing Dinah and Austin a bit tougher, because he will require a savvy, experienced family who can come up with ways to contain him! Still, it will be worth the effort to have two loving companion animals as part of the family!

Video About Friendship...

2011-03-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

There is nothing new to report about Bosco. His trial is set for April 12. It looks like the judge will be the one deciding Bosco's fate. I ran across this video clip, which you may have seen already. But the message bears repeating, as you watch the duck and the dog, together... friends! . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKoaJA7Vlc

OUTSTANDING Editorial in Lowell Sun...

2011-03-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment to read this editorial in the Lowell Sun, the largest and most influential daily newspaper along the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with readers in both states. It was written by Editor-In-Chief Jim Campanini.

http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_17680401

Bosco supporters are going to LOVE it! Mr. Campanini says what we all have been thinking -- he just does it more eloquently than we could!

I also want to point out, again, John Collins of the Lowell Sun has written a series of stories about Bosco and his plight that have been both reasonable and fair, unlike the Channel 9 TV story told strictly from the chief's viewpoint, without telling Bosco's side.

You will smile when you read today's editorial. Then I would suggest sending a Thank You note to Mr. Campanini and Mr. Collins for telling Bosco's story truthfully and fairly. You can use the Letter to the Editor format and share your thank you by clicking on http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk

And for all our friends in the New England region, we strongly urge you to read and subscribe to the Lowell Sun, as well as patronize their advertisers -- and let those advertisers know you are shopping there because of their ad in the Lowell Sun.

The newspaper business is getting tougher and tougher, with competition from the internet and TV. We want to make sure we support those media outlets which are not afraid to speak the truth, even in the face of pressure from powerful government leaders.

Dogs rarely get to tell their story in an unbiased way. They are not a powerful interest group and do not command large blocks of voters, to entice public officials to cozy up to them. The deck is always stacked against dogs.

All we wanted was the truth about Bosco to be told. Those of us who support Bosco's right to live just ask for all the facts to be told, fairly and responsibly.

The Lowell Sun has been an unerring voice for honesty and truth in its reporting of Bosco's story, and they have not caved to pressure from the powerful in local government. That is not easy to come by in modern America.

Bank Account Is Running Low...

2011-03-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Caitlynn says, I hate to write about money, but we are running low at the bank again.

If you or someone you know could help us with a one-time donation...

or sign up as a sponsor for one of our dogs listed on our website...

that would be a God-Send right now!

Just click on http://smilingdogfarms.org/Donations_Page.html to donate or become a sponsor.

Our End of Year Fundraiser was a little anemic this year. We did not make our goal.

We have also had an unparalleled number of folks who have lost their jobs and had to cancel their monthly sponsorships with us.

I will soon be talking about our Great Hope for a Spring Fundraiser -- a Garage Sale Across America in May! We hope to get many of you and your groups to hold a garage sale the same weekend, from California to Maine, to benefit Smiling Dog Farms. We think we can raise a lot of awareness AND money by planning garage sales everywhere that same weekend!

But we have to make it from now until then!

If we could just get everyone who has sent a dog here to sign up a total of $80/mo in sponsors to pay the cost of maintaining that dog, we would be in great shape! Just 8 people at $10/mo would do the trick!

We explain this when folks ask us to take a dog. We tell them that it costs us $80/mo to pay the salaries of our five full time team members (Ricky and I do not take a dime for our work), to buy dog food and to pay for vet visits and meds, like Heartguard and flea prevention.

But so often, once the dogs are here, folks sort of forget about the cost of maintaining their dog!

If you don't have any money to send, but you'd like to help us by donating time sending out emails for us, please contact me at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org

One time donations put money in the bank and help us get over the hump.

Monthly sponsors help us month-in and month-out with the ongoing expenses of operating a dog sanctuary and rescue like Smiling Dog Farms.

If you have donated to us, or if you are a monthly sponsor, or if you have done both,

Thank You!

We are still here, helping dogs, because of YOU

Your donations literally SAVE LIVES!

Bosco's New Day In Court...

2011-03-22T10:00:00.001-07:00

Bosco's attorney and owner appeared in court yesterday, March 21. They pled not guilty to all charges and the hearing was moved forward to April 12. This will allow Bosco's attorney, Jim O'Roarke, time for "discovery", which means he will get to see exactly what the police department is going to allege against Bosco and his owner.

The police chief, Joseph Roark, has been misstating that Bosco bit a little girl in the face during the alleged Christmas tree incident, so it will be interesting to see if he persists in that characterization! There will be no documentation to support that claim.

The hearing is a bit confusing because it involves more than simply Bosco's right to live. The town is prosecuting Bosco's owner for violating state dog control and nuisance dog laws. And they are asking the court to authorize them to kill Bosco as part of that prosecution.

The town of Pelham does not have to get a court order to allow Bosco to come to the sanctuary. This is in the courts because the police department and its chief are determined that Bosco should pay with his life, even though Sgt Pickles should never have tried to pick up a strange dog without the Animal Control Officer, and the alleged bite of the little girl is in dispute, since the father denied that she had been bitten to Bosco's insurance company! Neither party had a serious injury resulting from the alleged bites.

These incidents do not rise to the level of justifying the killing of Bosco!

Our job is to convince the town of Pelham that Bosco has many, many supporters and convince the decision makers in Pelham that Bosco deserves a chance to live out his life at the sanctuary. We have to go over the head of Chief Roark who has dug in his heels and nothing short of Bosco's death will satisfy him.

We need to convince town administrator, Tom Gaydos, to whom the chief reports, that the chief is not thinking clearly and is allowing his emotion to get in the way of rational thought, regarding Bosco.

Please continue to send emails to Tom Gaydos and the Lowell Sun at the addresses below. (I have included the email address of Chief Roark because many have asked for it. I can tell you from first hand experience trying to work with the chief that it is useless endeavor. He is not interested in facts. His mind is made up and he wants Bosco dead.)

Here are the contacts and their email addresses. Remember to be brief, polite, respectful! That is how we will help Bosco!

Tom Gaydos, town administrator - townadmin@pelhamweb.com

Joseph Roark, police chief - jroark@pelhampolice.com

Lowell Sun newspaper - http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk

Thank you for calling and emailing yesterday! I am certain they were surprised by the sheer numbers of people across the nation who care about what happens to Bosco.

Bosco Needs Your Emails, Phone Calls Today!

2011-03-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is Bosco. A hearing Mon, March 21 will decide if he lives or dies.

Bosco bit a cop in Pelham, New Hampshire. The police say he is a vicious dog. And he needs to die. Many others say this is a pure vendetta because Bosco embarrassed the Pelham Police and Bosco's actions have not nearly risen to the level of death penalty.

Bosco got loose from his yard. No one denies that if he had stayed in a fenced yard, Bosco would not be in this trouble.

The cop stopped when he saw Bosco by the road and tried to pick him up to get him into his car. Bosco did not know the man who was trying to pick him up and Bosco perceived it as a hostile act. So he defended himself the only way a dog can. He bit him.

On the hand. A single bite. The way any well behaved dog sends a warning to someone whom they see as a threat.

Now anyone with any knowledge of dogs knows that Bosco could have continued to bite the good sergeant, and had he wished, he could have mauled him. That is what truly vicious dogs do.

But Bosco bit him to say, "back away" and he stopped biting.

One could argue that the officer should never have attempted to move Bosco without the aid of the town Animal Control officer (who was in near-by Salem helping out at the time of the incident) or the aid of a catch pole.

Bosco should not have bit the officer. The officer should not have attempted to corral Bosco without the proper tools and the proper personnel. Both could have handled it better.

From the cop's stand point, it was all downhill from there. Bosco jumped onto the front seat of the police car, perched behind the wheel, and somehow managed to lock the sergeant out of his car! As Bosco sat smiling behind the wheel, several of Pelham's finest fumed and fussed from the sidelines, wondering what to do next!

Most observers found the scene amusing!

Not the Pelham police.

You can see Bosco posing for this photo in the middle of these men. I will let the gentle reader draw his own conclusions about whether these men look terrified at being so close to a dog labeled "dangerous" by the Pelham Police Department!

In fairness, this is not Bosco's first bite situation.

Bosco's family sells Christmas trees from their driveway in Pelham. A little over a year ago, a man and his daughter were shopping for a Christmas tree when Bosco allegedly bit the girl. I say allegedly because there is significant confusion about the incident.

The Pelham Police have been blasting Bosco for biting a little girl in the face. That is categorically not true. It was the girl's finger that was affected. If he bit her at all.

Because no one saw her get bit. Her dad was 30 feet away on another part of the driveway when the alleged incident occurred. Some who were present suggested she may have cut her finger on a saw that was present, and she was afraid to tell her father she had touched the saw. Those same people said that she was not crying or reacting, as one would expect if a large dog had just attacked her! There was no blood on the girl!

The insurance carrier for Bosco's family contacted the girl's father after the alleged incident... and he denied that she was ever bitten at all! The insurance company closed the case!

There is just too much confusion and conflicting information to even state categorically that Bosco actually bit the girl. But if he did, it was clearly not serious and certainly nothing like the Pelham PD and its chief are alleging!

Once again, one can argue that Bosco's owners should not allow him to mingle with Christmas tree shoppers, and you will get no argument from me.

But Bosco should not pay the ultimate price for these incidents.

Bosco has been invited to come live at Smiling Dog Farms' sanctuary, where he can live out his life in safety and peace. And the good citizens of Pelham, New Hampshire can feel safe, knowing that Bosco is over 1000 miles away living in a secure facility.

Our farm is 1/2 mile from our nearest neighbor, and five miles from town. Visitors are only allowed with an appointment and with stringent security measures to guarantee they will not be bit.

I will let the reader decide if the Pelham PD and its chief is really concerned about Bosco harming anyone while living in our sanctuary, or whether it is purely "pay back" for Bosco embarrassing one of their officers by commandeering his car!

There really should not be a need for a hearing. I talked to Pelham Police Chief Joseph Roark over a week ago. I told him that not only would we accept Bosco here at our sanctuary, but I also assured him that a well respected local rescue, Pets In Need, headquartered in Dracut, Massachusetts, would pick up Bosco and insure that he would be transported safely to the airport for his trip to Texas. The police would not have to release Bosco back to his family, so there would be no worry about him getting loose again.

The chief led me to believe he was seriously considering this option. That is why I did not write this story a week ago. I thought I was negotiating in good faith with the chief. It is now clear that the chief had no intention of resolving this except by demanding the death penalty for Bosco.

Bosco has a highly regarded attorney, James P. O'Rourke from the Gleason Law Office in Henniker, New Hampshire. He will argue for Bosco's life before the judge on Monday.

John Collins, a writer for the Lowell Sun has written some fair and responsible stories about Bosco. Here are the links to those stories: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_17546034 and http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_17563752 .

What You Can Do...

First Thing Monday Morning...

(Remember... New Hampshire is Eastern Time Zone!)

Contact the town administrator, Tom Gaydos, at (603) 635-2040. Respectfully and politely tell him that it is unconscionable to kill Bosco when he has a sanctuary where he can live out his life, without posing a risk to anyone. Make it brief, professional and to the point. The police chief reports to the Town Administrator, so Mr. Gaydos needs to know that his chief has created an unnecessary mess. He should have allowed Bosco to come to sanctuary.

Email the local newspaper at http://www.lowellsun.com//writetobacktalk. Again, keep it polite, professional, respectful and to the point. The shorter your post, the more likely it will get printed.

I am hoping that we can let the decision makers, like Town Administrator Gaydos, and the general public, through the Lowell Sun, know there are many people around the nation supporting Bosco's right to live.

And when those of you who do the Fall leaf tours through New England travel to that region, you may want to remember Bosco's treatment by the city of Pelham, NH and just pass on through their town without stopping. Spend your tourism dollars in other New England communities. Send a message to Pelham, New Hampshire that there are consequences for killing dogs who have better alternatives.

Oz's Story... A Sad Story All Around

2011-02-26T03:46:00.000-08:00

This is just a sad story all around, even though you can see that Oz is a pretty happy guy!

His owner in New York City contacted us last Fall, asking if Oz could come to our sanctuary to live out his life. Oz had killed the owner's pomeranian and he did not feel comfortable with Oz around his daughter or in his home any longer.

We said "yes" and Oz came to live here at the farm. You can see from these poses that Oz enjoys it when it's his turn to sleep in the bed with us!

We know that people who send dogs here like to hear about those dogs. And we try to keep families and friends posted, and we always answer their emails. Most folks understand that Ricky and I put in long days here, strictly as volunteers, making sure that everything goes well. Taking photos of our dogs is something we'd like to do, but it does not always get done in the crush of other tasks. It is not our highest priority.

Today, we were blasted with the following attack on Facebook:

"We sent you a dog in October of 2010 named Oz. We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!There are no pictures of Oz on your farm in your website. Please> I beg of you for those concerned and for those who donated for him to have a safe flight and a home. You just recently posted a picture of Ruby and Jones welcome day. Yet we had not seen an inch or a spec of writing on welcoming Oz. Please. Is he alive? Is he on your farm? We are starting to think the worst....Here is our original posting: http://www.facebook.com/l/b6c8a/smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/mypages/view/id/4915a4905811137e ...Please relieve our worries."

This is a sad photo of Ricky holding Oz in front of our TV to prove that as of 2/26 Oz is alive and well and here at the farm. It is sad because Oz is really heavy and hard for Ricky to hold! And it is sad that we need to prove Oz is alive and well.

The writer ignores that back in October, we emailed all interested parties as well as telephoning Oz's owner. Everyone knew he made it to the farm alive and healthy. For the first couple of weeks, Ricky sent texts to Oz's owner every few days. Under these circumstances, for her to say "We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!... We are starting to think the worst" is just over the top.

A couple months ago, this same woman created a similar stir with similar accusations and demands. We contacted Oz's owner to ask if she spoke for him, and to figure out if he was unhappy with his decision to send Oz here. He assured us that he would talk to this woman and tell her to stop making trouble.

But here we are again, tonight, with the same demands and accusations.

Many dogs' arivals here go unheralded. We do not feature every dog on the blog or on Facebook. Not because we don't want to but because we can only do so much.

One would think this woman would be grateful... not just because we gave Oz his second chance that we think he deserved, but because we place the dogs' care and welfare above Public Relations and photo ops!

Well, those of you who know me, know my computer skills -- or lack thereof! (When I was in school, a computer took up a whole floor of the GM Building in downtown Detroit. High tech meant an electric typewriter!)

And I know even less about Facebook. If you have asked to be my friend on Facebook and I have not replied, it is not because I don't like you!! I have no clue what to do to declare my friendship to all the people who have asked!! I just don't get Facebook, and I doubt I ever will. I am operating with a 1950 model brain and it does not have all the bells and whistles modern brains come with!

Well, I got this unpleasant Facebook message from this unpleasant woman in my email. I read it and felt equal parts of hurt and outrage. So I shot off what I thought was an email to Ricky. Turns out, I sent it straight to Facebook!! lol So this woman -- and I guess everyone else on the planet earth -- got to read my knee-jerk reaction to this hateful Facebook posting!

I am the "A" personality whose emotions are all over the map, and Ricky is the calm, steadying "B" personality. He figured out how to remove my email from Facebook. And then I typed an entry that he posted, since I am clueless how to do that -- well, unless it is by mistake!

We love Oz here at the farm. He has a pathological hatred of other dogs, but he is sweet as pie with humans. As long as we keep him separated from other dogs, he is a really good guy.

But if the family who sent him here is sincerely worried about the way we are caring for him, then Oz needs to go back home. Asking "Is he alive? Is he on your farm" is frankly insulting to Ricky and me. We work too hard for our dogs, put in too many long hours to take this kind of abuse.

There is also a measure of entitlement evident in this woman's diatribe because she sent some money to help with Oz's funding. So we returned her $40 tonight. We need donations, but not so badly that we allow donors to treat us as chattel.

Anyone who contemplates sending a dog here should do their due diligence on the front end, long before a dog embarks on the long journey to the farm. They should contact our references and check with our vet to see what kind of people we are, and what level of care we offer our dogs. Shame on anyone who sends their dog someplace they do not trust!

I regret that my intemperate email to Ricky (I thought) was published. But I do not regret the sentiments, only the choice of words. If this woman means what she wrote on Facebook, Oz needs to go back home. And if she didn't mean it, she had no right to say it and needs to stop making trouble.

Titan from Seattle Suns Himself at the Farm

2011-02-18T22:11:00.000-08:00

Titan must have wondered if he had gotten on the wrong plane, when he arrived here a couple weeks ago and the temps dropped into the 20s and 30s!

We had promised him Florida-like weather! Our unprecedented cold spell is hopefully a part of history, now. We should never see anything like that again!

Today was more like it. Our high was 73 degrees, and our overnight low will drop down to 62 degrees. This is what we expect from winter, around here!

Titan got into trouble back home in Seattle. He bit someone. Technically, two people, but in one incident. Let me describe what happened and you tell me who was to blame!

Titan was on a walk with his new family. A jogger came running up from behind, intently texting and not really watching where she was going. She ran right into Titan, before she noticed him!

Titan was startled to have someone come up from behind and push right into him! A stranger, no less! So he turned around and he bit her. Because he felt attacked!

In the melee, he also bit a man who was trying to help the jogger.

Well, Titan was declared a dangerous dog. His friend Sevia went to work to find a safe haven for Titan, so that he would not have to be put down. She made a lot of phone calls and had a lot of disappointments. It seemed like there was no organization that would take a dog with a bite history, like Titan.

Then Sevia found Smiling Dog Farms. She called and told us Titan's story and asked if we would be willing to take him here. And we said "yes"!

Fortunately, the folks at Seattle Animal Control go above and beyond to help families find a safe place for their dogs who have been declared dangerous. Working with Sevia, they made arrangements for Titan to get a health certificate and an airline approved crate so he could fly to Texas. They even drove him to the airport!

I can say that we are proud of our partnership with Seattle Animal Control and consider them to be one of the most dog-oriented shelters in the nation. We have already accepted another Seattle dog who would have been put down if the folks at Seattle Animal Control had not intervened and suggested our program to the owner! Seattle AC follows all the rules, but they really care about the dogs.

Sevia paid for Titan's townhome and play yard, and she is working to find monthly sponsors to help pay for the day-to-day costs for Titan.

Titan is just glad he had a safe place to come, where he can spend the rest of his days without fear of being put down -- even if he bites us! lol

Deaf Girl Needs a Family of Her Own!

2011-02-11T01:21:00.000-08:00

My name is Marylou. I came from BARC, the animal shelter in Houston. Smiling Dog Farms was going to let me hang out at the farm until another rescue took me, but Jay and Ricky said that they would help me find a family of my own!
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They say I have a lot of personality. I guess that is because I like to engage people, and interact with them. I like everyone I meet!
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And I have a LOT of energy! I am still young and average size, approximately 35-40 lb.
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I get along pretty well with other dogs, but I prefer the company of humans! I would love to lay next to you on the sofa... and then maybe you could throw my chew-toy for me to chase!
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Oh... I almost forgot to mention that I am completely deaf. I can't hear you if you speak to me. But I can read your lips and your expression! And you will never have trouble figuring out what I am saying to you! Ha ha. My hearing loss doesn't bother me one bit.
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I am really anxious to have a family to love me and call me their own! Would you like to be my new family? Ricky and Jay said if you want me to come live with you to contact them at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org. They said they have Adoption Partners and friends who will help with homestudies all over the country -- you don't have to live in Texas to adopt me!

Vote NO on Pit Bull Ban

2011-02-11T01:09:00.000-08:00

Many of you already know that the Texas Legislature is considering a ban on pit bulls.
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Radio station KLBJ in Austin is doing a poll regarding this legislation. Because this station is in Austin, this may be a poll legislators listen to. It is really easy to vote. Just click on this link, http://www.590klbj.com/ . The poll is toward the upper right section of their home page, beneath bright yellow letters which say KLBJ Poll.
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It does not matter what state you live in. You can vote in this poll!
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If you live in Texas, make sure you contact your state representative and your state senator to let them know how offended you are that they would even consider such stupid legislation!

Rooster's Revenge...

2011-02-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

Had to pass along this story from our friend Ames McGarey in Arizona!

California man killed by fighting rooster

By Eyewitness News February 7, 2011
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EARLIMART, Calif. — A Lamont man was killed earlier this week by a chicken.
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Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was stabbed by a knife attached to the leg of a fighting rooster, the Kern County coroner's office said Friday.
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The accidental stab wound to Ochoa's calf, as determined by the autopsy, happened Sunday in Earlimart in Tulare County. He was taken to Delano Regional Medical Center, where he died about two hours later. The coroner didn't specify what killed Ochoa, whether it was excessive bleeding, infection or something else.
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Even though Kern County handled the autopsy, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department is handling the investigation.

More Arctic Weather ...

2011-02-09T22:20:00.001-08:00

We awoke to dropping temperatures and freezing rain today! Temperatures steadily dropped as the day wore on, hitting the TWENTIES! That is just unheard of around here.
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Most of you know we are in Wharton, Texas. That is about an hour and a half southwest of downtown Houston. Normally, our winters are very mild, with temperatures in the mid to high 60s and 70s.
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We were once again operating in Survival Mode today. Our team members brought in the older dogs, the smaller dogs, the dogs with medical issues. Once again, we have crates stacked floor to ceiling to accommodate all the dogs who needed to come inside.
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Those who remained outside all have big, cushy puffs, courtesy of Doskocil Industries in Arlington, TX who donated enough dog beds for everyone at the farm to have a big, fluffy bed of their own! Then we wrap their units with tarps to help keep in the warmth.
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All hoses have to be disconnected and drained and stored in the garage so the water does not freeze in them overnight. (Speaking of freezing, last week our refrigerator's water feed to the icemaker and water in the door froze inside our house! I guess it runs along the kitchen wall behind the cabinets and it was cold enough to freeze and we got no water from the water dispenser until the temperature warmed up!)
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In the morning, we do everything in reverse. Dogs go outside to their yards to play, tarps come off, and the dogs have access to their yards again.
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What was so rough about last week is that it did not happen for a single day, but lasted for four days! And for those four days, we did not accomplish much except to keep the dogs warm and safe. But there was no time for anything else!
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For our ZIP code the forecast is overnight lows in the 20s for the next two days and highs in the upper 30s to lower 40s. Saturday we are supposed to have a high of 60 and Sunday is supposed to be 65.
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We would normally consider that cold weather. But after this artic weather of last week and this, we will embrace 60 with enthusiasm!

These Were Too Good Not to Share....

2011-02-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

Instead of my usual report from the farm, I am sharing two really cute emails that I received today from friends of Smiling Dog Farms. The first is this incredible photo of a dog with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Thanks to Suzanne Young for sharing this!

And then there is this hilarious video from the UK of talking animals. It comes courtesy of our friend Linnea Attenson. This is too funny, and definitely worth the couple minutes it will take to watch!

http://www.wimp.com/animalvoiceovers/

Year End Fundraiser Finally Winds Down...

2011-02-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

Our Year End Fund Raiser has come to a close.

Including Paypal donations and checks we picked up at the Post Office, you donated $1225 today!
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That means we came to within $2853 of making our goal. That is pretty amazing, considering how much money we needed to raise.

We also had two new monthly sponsors sign up today for a total of $25. That means we got to within $630 of our goal for new sponsors.

Thank You, everyone!

All of you who make up Team Smiling Dog... who are always ready to help our dogs... YOU make it possible for Smiling Dog Farms to exist. We would literally not still be here if not for YOU!

We sincerely appreciate and welcome to the Smiling Dog Farms family everyone who became a monthly sponsor and everyone who donated during this Fundraiser.

And it is hard to find words to express just how much we appreciate those of you have have been part of Team Smiling Dog all along. We have come a long way, together, with your help!

Your donations really do save lives.

We look for 2011 to be our best year yet.

Going into this new year, we have two active Adoption Partners who are helping find quality families for our adoptable dogs.

We have an incredible website, packed with information.

We have a building program to slowly replace the older cottages with the new townhome and play yard model.

You ... the members of Team Smiling Dog... have made all this possible by sharing our dream, and believing, as we do, that all dogs deserve to live.

Thank you for making our Year End Fundraiser a success!

Bea and Efran Look for a Family Together

2011-02-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

This is Bea and Efran. They are a mom and her son. Efran was born at Smiling Dog Farms, and has grown up here. He has lived with his mommy his whole life!
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Bea came to us from a Texas shelter. She was a "cracker jack" dog, who came to us with a surprise inside! We had no idea she was pregnant when she arrived!
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Bea didn't really "show", so she caught us off guard when she finally delivered Efran. She had a second baby who was not born alive, sadly.
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Bea was an excellent mom to Efran. We don't really know if she had puppies before and was experienced at mothering, or if she just naturally knew by instinct. But she was a great mom to Efran. Efran still follows his mom everywhere she goes!
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That was a little over three years ago, before we had an adoption program.

Efran has never been separated from his mommy. And because they are so bonded and clearly love one another so much, we do not want to separate them in adoptive homes.
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We are hoping to find a family who will accept both Bea and Efran, together. They are not large dogs. Maybe 25 lb for Efran, and 30 lb for Bea.
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Bea is more gregarious with people, and Efran is somewhat more shy. But both dogs enjoy being petted and fussed over. They are easy going and get along with other dogs.
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If you or someone you know might consider providing a forever home for this special pair, please contact us at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org.

Ed Has Been Going Over the Books...

2011-02-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

My family brought me to Smiling Dog Farms from Dearborn, Michigan a while back. I have a cottage and an oversize play yard that I share with my friend, Ilse. She is kind of shy. I could not get her to join me for this photo. (And, no, that is not a funky hat I am wearing. That is our bed that we moved outside our cottage. Bad camera angle!)

I am one of the dogs who would not be alive without Smiling Dog Farms. There was just no one else, no other rescue or group willing to take me, because of my bite history!

I need to talk to you today about finances at the farm.

Today is the absolute last day of the Year End Fundraiser. It should have ended January 1. But we had not reached our goal, and American Dog Rescue offered a second $2500 Matching Grant, to try to get us over the top. (A friend of Smiling Dog Farms had offered a $2500 Matching Grant in December.) These matching grants each turned $2500 in donations into $5000 in new funds!

So we extended our Fundraiser through January. And then one last time to today, Monday, February 7. In hopes we would raise the money we need.

Sunday, you donated $100, which reduced the amount we still need to $4078. Thank you!

And we got one new sponsor for Blue, and another existing sponsor for Blue increased their monthly donation. That is a total of $20 in new monthly donations, reducing our goal to $655. Thank you!

Today is pretty much going to be it. We can't keep dragging this out. Whatever we have by the end of today will determine which programs we keep, and which ones have to wait until we can fund them.

Most of you who are reading this have already donated... or you are a regular monthly donor... or you are both!

We can't ever emphasize enough how important you are to our core mission. You are the reason we are still here, helping the dogs who have no where else to go. Quite literally, without you there would be no Smiling Dog Farms! We owe our very existence to you and your continuing support. Thank you does not seem adequate to express our appreciation.

We try to keep our fundraising efforts down to just three major events each year. No one likes to always be asked for money. And we don't like asking for it. So we will "give it a rest" after today.

If you know someone who might be willing to help us today... to keep chipping away that that $4000 we still need... please send this on to them.

All donations are fully tax deductible because Smiling Dog Farms is a 501c3 non profit corporation.

You can make a donation, or sign up as a regular monthly sponsor at http://smilingdogfarms.org/Donations_Page.html

If you have already donated... or already donate as a regular monthly sponsor... or have already gotten a friend to donate, THANK YOU! We are not asking you to donate again!

But if you know someone who might want to help, please pass this along to them.

We are still hoping for a $4000 day! All the dogs and me have been barking it up for a BIG final day that will put us over the top!

Nigel Reports on Odds & Ends...

2011-02-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

Since I live here, I guess I can report on "odds and ends"... information we wanted to share.

Cookbooks:

We all remember the sad story of the cookbooks. All summer, we collected recipes. A volunteer said she was reformatting them as they came in, getting them ready to go to print. She said she would turn them over to Ricky in September to be printed in plenty of time for Christmas. But what she turned in had not been formatted at all... in fact, it did not even include all the recipes that had been turned in! It was just a mess.

Ricky retrieved all the original emails that had been submitted but it was October by then and there was no chance of getting the cookbook completed for Christmas.

Thanks to our friend, Dione, we got some really great software for getting all the recipes into the same format, which is necessary to make a book out of them.

Now the problem is time. We just have not had any.

Ricky and Jay wanted me to ask if there was anyone who might be willing to help us get the recipes into this software program so we can get them print ready. It would have to be someone with some time to donate, and someone who is meticulous and pays attention to details!

If you think you might want to tackle this project for us, please contact Ricky at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org

Whatever it takes, we promise we will get this cookbook finished and printed, even if it takes until this coming Christmas to do it!

Weather Conditions:

Today, things were closer to normal for the first time in five days. Our high was 60, and the low overnight will be in the mid 40s. That is still extremely cold for our area, but it's positively balmy compared to what we have had all week!

Today, everyone enjoyed the sunshine and milder weather. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be even warmer. We are just holding our breath that whatever it was that took over our weather this past week is gone for good!

I always tell people that our climate is much like Tampa, Florida. And 99.9% of the time it is!

I don't know what blew through here this last week, but I hope we never see it again!

Building Schedule:

We have pretty much lost a whole week because of the weather. The artic weather left us in pure Survival Mode all week. The focus was on keeping the dogs warm and safe, and that was about all we got done! Even with most team members working overtime each day.

Even if there had been time, it was so cold it would have been impossible to build anything!

Ricky was able to resume his construction schedule today, and will be working at it again tomorrow. And we are hoping the weather will hold this coming week.

There are some ominous predictions for another cold wave, but it is hard to imagine that we could possibly have cold on the scale we just endured! This past week has been a once-in-a-lifetime kind of winter.

Yvette Visits Happy at the Farm...

2011-02-05T00:20:00.001-08:00

This is Yvette. She is in the military. She adopted me from a shelter in Virginia a while back, because I was an older girl and no one thought I would live much longer. She didn't want me to die at the shelter. So Yvette took me home with her.
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Back then, I could still run and play. My back legs had not given out on me, yet. Now I sort of drag myself around by my front legs because my back legs just don't work.
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But I still have fun and I can still get around!
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The problem came when I lived too long! ha ha I guess a better way to say that would be that I've lived longer than anyone expected, and Yvette is being deployed and has to go back to Iraq. And there was no one who could take care of a big girl like me, who has to be carried up and down stairs!
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Yvette found Smiling Dog Farms on the internet and she asked if I could come live out the rest of my life at the farm. And Ricky and Jay said "Yes"!
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So I came to live here last Summer.
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Because of my age and my bum back legs, I get to live inside the house.
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A couple weeks ago, Yvette came to see me here at the farm. She wanted to see me before she had to leave for Iraq. Neither one of us wanted to think about it, but we both knew that it may be my last chance to see Yvette, because she will be gone for about a year.
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We had a great time. She packed me up in her car and we went to the park and we just enjoyed being with each other once again. You can see how happy we both are in this photo Yvette took of us in her car!
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I am really glad that I got to spend the afternoon with Yvette one more time. She writes to Ricky and Jay about me, and they tell me how much she still cares about me. But it is still nice to be with Yvette, to touch her and feel her touching me again.
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This has to be one of the things I like best about living at Smiling Dog Farms -- families who send dogs to live here are encouraged to come back to visit and can even check us out for a day or a weekend or however long they want!
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It meant that I got to spend one very special afternoon with Yvette, whom I will always love! I will cherish those memories from that day, and keep them in my heart!

Puppy's Advice About Contests...

2011-02-03T22:32:00.001-08:00

I'm Puppy.

I'm an older guy. I'm supposed to have acquired a little wisdom over the years.

So here is my advice about The Animal Rescue Site Contest: Don't vote for us. Or anyone else!

We all remember what happened last December. Smiling Dog Farms was way ahead in Texas. A huge lead of 2.42% going into the final day of the "contest". Team Smiling Dog had really pumped out the votes and kept Smiling Dog Farms number one in Texas every single day from the middle of October right to the end of the contest!

But the prize went to another group. The folks at the Animal Rescue Site just pushed our concerns aside, condescendingly telling us "the other group got more votes than you"! Without so much as an explanation of HOW any group could make up 2.42% in a single day, when the MOST that had been recorded in a single day during the entire contest was just .23%... or less than 10% of what the "winning" group allegedly did on that final day.

Didn't make any sense then. Still doesn't make any sense now. Never will.

Well, when you look at how much time and energy our team expended... it was just not worth it.

When our supporters are focused on a contest we can never win, it saps energy that might be used more productively. It gives our supporters a false belief that their hard work might actually result in us winning that contest. But we have seen how that goes.

The worst part about voting for us -- or for anyone -- is that is tacitly approves the way those folks do business. It tells them that it's really ok the way they did us.

No, I don't think any of us on Team Smiling Dog want to send that message to Greater Good and Petfinder.

The message we want to send is that we know we had the votes, and we know we were Number 1 in Texas in that last contest. We are not stupid. They can't just say we got less votes and not back it up, when the contest was not even close!

Now we sure do appreciate all the good folks on Team Smiling Dog who have been voting for us on that contest again. We know you are doing it because you want to help us.

But it just sends the wrong message.

What do I think you oughta do? BOYCOTT that contest. Don't vote for us. Don't vote for anyone. Stay off their website altogether.

Let them know the folks on Team Smiling Dog believe in honesty and contests that are fairly run. And we just want no part of their contest.

That's what I'd do.

But I'm just an old dog -- who still has a few new tricks left in me! Ha ha!

Buddy Snuggles Under Covers to Stay Warm!

2011-02-02T22:15:00.000-08:00

It really got cold around here yesterday! I'm a Florida dog and I am not accustomed to this kind of weather!

You can see that I was one of the dogs who came inside last night because of the weather. Ricky and Jay said that all the smaller dogs, the older dogs and dogs like me who have issues that make us more vulnerable had to come inside. I am a cancer patient, so I could not risk staying out in the cold!

Most of the dogs who came inside stayed in kennels stacked in the living room and bedrooms and hall... but I got to spend the night in the bed! The covers really felt good!

Everyone who works here at the farm was working extra hard and extra long hours today, to make sure that everyone had a soft, cushiony puff to curl up in, and that the extra partitions were installed on the housing to keep dogs out of the cold night air.

We all got to go out today and play in the sunshine, even though it was still pretty cold. But it felt good to breathe the fresh air for a while and have a chance to run and play.

Tonight, we did the same drill as last night. We are back in the house to stay warm.

I heard Ricky and Jay saying that this cold spell is now looking like it is going to last longer than we first thought yesterday. So I guess we will just keep doing what we have been doing until the weather breaks and it feels like Texas here again!

I saw on the Weather Channel tonight that it is even going to be cold in Florida tomorrow and the next few days!

I thought we were supposed to be having Global Warming!

Winter Storm Hits Smiling Dog Farms

2011-02-01T23:28:00.001-08:00

When I woke up this morning, I had to check to make sure I wasn't back in Pennsylvania! Boy, was it cold!
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Normally, our overnight lows are in the 60s. We think it is cold when it drops into the 50s around here. So you can imagine everyone's shock today when it dropped into the low 40s and high 30s!
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The smaller dogs and the older dogs and the dogs who might be adversely affected by the cold came inside. They stacked crates from floor to ceiling all over the house, so everyone could spend the night inside where it was warm!
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All the team members at the farm were working overtime today to make sure that everyone was tucked in, snug and warm.
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I heard Ricky and Jay saying that it has never been this cold since Smiling Dog Farms moved to Texas! The weather report is calling for bitter cold again tomorrow and Thursday, then slowly getting back to normal for the weekend.
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Wednesday will be in the 40s and then Thursday will creep up into the 50s and by Saturday it is supposed to be in the 70s again.
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Today was actually the worst. In the early morning, we not only had cold but strong, gusting winds. My friends Oreo, and Lyndon Baines, and Anastasia each had the roof blown off their cottage! Ricky and his team members were out in the yards, putting roofing back on houses!
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However, not a single one of the new townhomes were affected by the gusting winds! Ricky and Jay were proud that the new construction is so much stronger than the old.
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We will all be glad when it warms up again and things get back to normal!

What Happened to John & Yoko?

2011-01-31T23:46:00.001-08:00

They have a home and a family! Together!
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Our Houston Adoption Partner, Julie Martinez from Annie's Angels, placed John and Yoko in the same family.
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Julie took them into her home to foster, and she was struck with how attached they were to one another.
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Julie said she actually had six quality families who had applied to adopt these adorable little dogs, who have not had much of a life with a backyard breeder.
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It is not uncommon for adopters to change the names of dogs when they are adopted. But not so with John and Yoko. It seems that the adoptive mom was once on the Oprah Winfrey Show... and the other guest that day? Yoko Ono! I am not making this up!!
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John and Yoko will never be allowed to get all matted again, and they will have a loving family to hold them and love them and give them the kind of life we wish for all our adoptable dogs!
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Thank you, Julie, for your efforts to place Smiling Dog Farms dogs into adoptive homes!
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And thank you to all of you who asked about John and Yoko, or considered adopting them!

Our Mommy Was a "Cracker Jack" Dog!

2011-01-30T23:47:00.000-08:00

We didn't come to Smiling Dog Farms in the usual way. We were "smuggled" in. No one knew about us, because we were tucked away and hiding! Inside our mommy's tummy!
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Jay says that our mommy was a Cracker Jack dog because she came to the farm with a "surprise" inside!
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Boy, were Ricky and Jay surprised to see us all crowded around our mommy the morning we were born! Ha, ha! They had no idea we were hiding out inside.
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Lucky for us, Smiling Dog Farms works with Pup Squad, a super rescue group in Houston that specializes in placing puppies! Just like us!
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Kathy, from Pup Squad, told Jay that she could find homes for us. So as soon as we were old enough, he drove us up to Houston so Kathy could take us into foster care until we were placed.
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It didn't take Pup Squad long at all until we all found homes of our own!

Saved... Just in the Nick of Time!

2011-01-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

Whew! That was a close call!
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I was totally out of time at BARC, Houston's Animal Shelter. Today -- Saturday -- was my last day. If someone did not come get me today, I would not have lived to see tomorrow!
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Cindi, a volunteer at BARC, had been trying to find a rescue to get me out of the shelter.
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A group called Pure Mutts Sanctuary agreed to take me into their program. But they needed me to be in "quarantine" somewhere for at least a week before they would be able to take me.
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It was really frustrating to know I had a place to go... but I was still in danger!
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So Cindi called Smiling Dog Farms to see if I could stay there for a week or ten days. And Ricky and Jay said "yes"! They said I am welcome to live at the farm until the other rescue is ready for me!
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Jay jumped in the station wagon and raced up to BARC late this afternoon to get me. Juan from BARC had me all ready to go.
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So now I am a guest at Smiling Dog Farms. And glad to be here! Considering the alternative! Yikes!

Doggie Packs on the Pounds!

2011-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

My name is Doggie. I was named by Marie, a woman who rescued me and helped me find a place where I could stay until I find a family of my own!
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My original family just abandoned me... they moved away and left me behind, like an old piece of furniture they didn't want any more. It hurt my heart that the family I had loved and been loyal to would just dump me and never look back.
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A kind woman in the neighborhood tried to take care of me. I was placed in a fenced back yard. But I didn't fully understand where I was or why I had to stay there. So I kept digging and digging until I found just the right place to dig under that fence and get out!
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Once I was out of that yard, I managed to elude everyone's efforts to catch me for over a month. I had to forage for food and find it where I could. And often I found none at all!
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During this time, I really lost a lot of weight. When I finally allowed them to catch me, I was nothing but skin and bones. Marie kept looking for a rescue to take me in, but no one wanted me -- especially as skinny and forlorn as I looked back then!
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Then she called Smiling Dog Farms to ask if they would take me in, because I had no where else to go. And Ricky and Jay said "yes"!
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Since I arrived at the farm, I have really put on some weight. Jay said that he wished they had taken photos of me when I was really skinny and new here! Look at me now! You would never know what a scrawny guy I once was!
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Ricky and Jay say that I am a candidate for adoption. They say I am really good natured and get along with other dogs. And I am really eager to please... I will try really hard to make my new family proud of me!

Jay said that anyone who might consider adopting me can contact them at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org and one of Smiling Dog Farms' Adoption Partners will get right back to them!

How I Got In Trouble...

2011-01-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

Hi! My name is Dre. Cool name, don't you think?
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That's because I have a cool mom. Her name is Jaime.
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We used to live together in California. But I got in trouble. I get nervous around people I don't know and I sometimes bite them.
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Jaime tried everything to help me get over my fear biting. But nothing seemed to work. When I am scared and unsure, I just bite. I don't know why I do it. I just do.
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Jaime finally realized that I could not continue to live there, because I was so unpredictable and might easily bite someone again. She was afraid I might hurt someone, and she was afraid of what might happen to me if I bit the wrong person!
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Jaime searched the internet, looking for a place where I could be safe to live out my life. That's where she found Smiling Dog Farms. She asked Ricky and Jay if I could go live there, and they said "yes"!
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Jaime got busy and sent around a Chip In fund raiser to raise the money for me to have a townhome and play yard of my own. She raised the $1096 to build my housing in just a few days! And she even got some of her friends to sign up as monthly sponsors to cover the day-to-day cost of me living here at the farm.
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I have my own yard to run and play in. I have my toys. My mom sent me a really big, soft cushy puff for me to curl up and sleep in. Ricky put it in the upstairs loft of my townhome. I have fun running up the ramp to my upstairs, and then down again.
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I'm glad Jaime found Smiling Dog Farms. Here I can't get in trouble. (The other dogs told me that even if you bite someone at the farm, you don't get in trouble for it!) I am happy with my new life at Smiling Dog Farms.

I Keep Watching for My New Family...

2011-01-26T23:24:00.001-08:00

Hi. My name is Goliath. I guess if you look at me, you can see why!

I just feel lucky to be alive! I had completely run out of time at a small shelter. They said if no one would take me, they would have to euthanize me. Lots of rescues were contacted, but no one wanted me!
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Because I was a pit bull. And because I was so big.
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So the shelter director contacted Smiling Dog Farms to see if they would take me. And Ricky and Jay said, "yes"!
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Boy, was I glad to see Jay when he came to get me! Even though I am a really big guy, and I weigh about 80 lb, I climbed right onto Jay's lap and rode all the way to the farm like that, while he was driving!
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Ricky and Jay told me that I would get a chance to be adopted. But they said it is harder to place pit bulls -- even well behaved ones like me who dont have an aggressive bone in our bodies! They said I would have to be patient until it was my turn.
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I wish that more rescues would become Adoption Partners with Smiling Dog Farms so that guys like me could have families of our own!
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I think some people are afraid of me, because of my size. But I am as gentle as they come. I just want to snuggle close to you and be your best friend. I really try hard to be a good boy.

Recently, I met Cathie and Kathy, who came to visit the farm. They spent some time visiting with me and said they would try to help me find a family of my own.
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Ricky and Jay say I would make a perfect companion dog.
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If you know somebody who'd like a big guy to love them, please tell them about me. I am patiently waiting for my turn to have a family!

Here's Johnny....

2011-01-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

How many of you remember me? I'm Johnny. I came from a shelter in Texas. I had a really bad case of mange. I guess you can tell from this photo. No one wanted me. Because of my mange.
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A rescue worker named Seanna sent emails to other rescues, begging them to take me so I would not be euthanized at the shelter. She was having no luck finding a rescue willing to take a dog like me.
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Then she contacted Smiling Dog Farms to see if they would take me, mange and all. And Ricky and Jay said "Yes"!

Here I am getting my first sulphur bath. Ricky and staff members gave me these baths once a week for a couple of months. You can see how bad the mange had gotten. I had open, bleeding sores all over my body. I kept scratching myself to try to alleviate the torment of the mange mites.
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In addition to the sulphur baths, I got Ivermectin shots once a week, and the sores were treated with Nu Stock sulphur paste every day.
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At the farm, I was also given Petinic, a liquid vitamin to build up my blood and my immune system. Every day. I am still taking it! Ricky and Jay say it is good for me and will help me to continue to grow stronger.

You can see my progress in this photo. My fur was starting to grow back and I was putting on some weight. I felt a lot better, and I was not scratching much at all. I guess those sulphur baths work!

Well here I am today. Some change, huh? I have a nice coat of fur and no more sores! I am standing in front of one of the new townhouses and play yards, they are building here at the farm. They are really nice! Ricky and Jay tell me there is a Chip In being circulated, trying to raise money to build one of these fancy new townhomes for me!!! I can hardly wait to have one of my own! You can go to my Chip In at http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/johnny
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Jay asked me to pose for this photo below. He wanted to contrast what I look like today, with the sad picture of me at the shelter at the top. I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help but laugh! That's why my tongue is sticking out! Ha ha!! I am just happy that Smiling Dog Farms said "yes" and gave me a second chance at life!
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Ricky and Jay said that I am adoptable. That means that they are trying to find a family just for me. I'm not really fond of other dogs, and I have to admit that I really don't like cats at all! But I am hoping to find a family where I can be their "only" dog -- and no cats! Ha ha!

Dante Makes a Friend at the Farm!

2011-01-13T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hi! My name is Dante! I used to live in Dallas. I really love my mom. That was my problem. I loved her so much, I could not stand it when she left to go to work or go to the store or anywhere! I would get so worried, I would start chewing at the drywall and anything I could get my mouth around. I was trying to find where she went, so I could go join her.
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She tried all kinds of things to help me not be so fearful -- and destructive! But nothing ever seemed to work.
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I guess you can see from my photo that I am an energetic guy. I love to run and play and stay active. So when my mom would be gone to work, I would just wreak havoc in her house.
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And things didn't work out any better in the yard. I would dig and chew on the fence and find a way out. I don't know why I did those things. I just couldn't help myself!
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Then my mom had her elderly parents come to live with her. They were nice enough, but they weren't my mom. So when she left, I was still as crazy and destructive. Only my mom was worried that I could accidentally hurt one of her elderly parents with my energy when she was gone.
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Reluctantly, my mom decided I could not stay. But she wanted me to go someplace where I would be safe and would be happy. She called other rescues about finding me a new adoptive home, but none of them would take me.
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Then she called Smiling Dog Farms to ask if I could come live there, and Ricky and Jay said "yes"!

My mom drove me down to the farm herself. She got to see my townhome and play yard. It was hard for both of us to say, "good bye". I didn't understand why I was staying and she was leaving.
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But I liked my yard. And the townhouse with the ramp that goes to the upstairs loft is lots of fun. I run up and down and then back up again! My mom bought this place for me!
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But the best part of coming to live on the farm is Annabeth! She is my new friend. We live in the same yard together. We play and nap in the sunshine together. I like Annabeth a lot.
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I heard Ricky and Jay saying that Annabeth is a "shelter dog". She came from a shelter where she would have been euthanized, just because they needed the space for another dog. She came to the farm with no funding at all. But because my mom bought me this townhome and play yard, now Annabeth has a really nice place to live with me. And we both have a friend!

John & Yoko Escape Breeder Hell... Need Family

2011-01-11T17:31:00.001-08:00

This is John and Yoko... two young shitzus, approximately two years old. They came to us from a rescuer who got them from a breeder.
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When they arrived, their hair was long and matted. In fact, they smelled so badly, we had to drive them back to the farm with the window down in the car!

Because they had not been socialized, they were skittish and afraid around people. In spite of that, they had to go visit Dan's Waggin' Tails Grooming in Bay City right away. We had to get all the matted, smelly hair off them! Dan and his wife, Jackie, are good friends of Smiling Dog Farms and take good care of our babies who require grooming!

As you can see, they came out looking like real shitzus! They are living with my son at his house, so they are snug and warm during this cold spell. And they are learning to trust humans and not be so fearful.
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We are hoping to find a family who will take both John and Yoko together. They are brother and sister and have been together their entire lives. The one constant that they could count on was each other. We can't take that away from them!
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We have Adoption Partners in many different cities across America, so if you know someone who would be interested in adopting these two, please have them contact us at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org .

Oreo and Elvis Need a Family Together!

2011-01-10T11:25:00.001-08:00

This is Oreo and Elvis. They are two very committed dogs who love one another. They need a family where they can stay together.
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They came to us from BARC, Houston's animal shelter. Oreo, the female, had heartworms and we agreed to put her on the holistic heartworm treatment that we use to eliminate her heartworms. Sadly, many rescues will not take a heartworm positive dog. So our job was to eliminate the heartworms so that Oreo could move into a rescue.
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Elvis, the male, had been accepted by a rescue in New England. He is already heartworm negative. Our job was to get him to the vet so he could be neutered, and then get him to his transport to Vermont.
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But it didn't quite work out that way.
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When we took Elvis to the vet for his operation, he stayed overnight.

As soon as he was out of their yard, Oreo began crying long, loud, sorrowful howls. At first, we thought she was hurt in some way! But after checking her out thoroughly, and observing her howling, we concluded she was sad that Elvis was gone!
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Oreo howled through that night. Her long, mournful cries could be heard throughout the farm. The other dogs who sometimes play or bark at the cats at nighttime were respectfully silent, as Oreo's cries of desperate sorrow were broadcast through the farm.
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Next day, Elvis returned from the vet, to await his transport.
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And the happy reunion was beyond description. You just had to be there. It was VJ Day and Christmas morning and every other major occasion all rolled into one giant celebration in that yard!
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They danced together. Yes. Literally. They danced!
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They embraced each other, up on their back two legs... I promise I am not making this up!
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And once again, all the dogs within earshot joined the happy celebration! There was no barking, just happy stares and smiles from dogs all around their play yard! It was uncanny!
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They danced and embraced and cried happy cries at each other for nearly 30 minutes before they finally settled down together, laying side by side as they always do.
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That was when we knew that Elvis would not be catching the bus to Vermont. At least not without his best friend, Oreo!
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We explained their deep commitment to one another, and that we just could not bring ourselves to separate these two. We apologized for changing the plans for Elvis, and hoped that some other dog might be able to have that wonderful opportunity to go to the Vermont rescue.

Our commitment was to give them high priority in our adoption program. My goal was to have them in a home of their own -- together -- by Christmas.

Unfortunately, that has not happened. So we are going to keep featuring them on our website and in our blog until we find a family who has room for two friendly, happy, healthy larger dogs... who clearly love each other! If you know a family who might be right for these two special dogs, please have them contact us so we can get a homestudy going for Oreo and Elvis!

Greater Good and Petfinder Response to the Disputed Contest Results...

2011-01-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

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I am publishing my emails to Rosemary Jones at Greater Good, regarding the disputed contest results. I spent over two hours on the phone with her on Dec. 29 explaining why we believe the contest results are incorrect. I thought I had made some progress and that she would review the results as they were posted day by day. Her email reply to me (not printed because I do not have her permission) made it clear that she would continue to parrot the "party line" that BART got more votes than we did -- with no explanation as to HOW that might have so miraculously occurred.

We did FINALLY just receive their $1000 check for being a weekly "high vote" getter. I have included my emails to her and Liz at Petfinder regarding the elusive check.

Unless Greater Good can supply some actual figures to support their contention, I will always believe that it was statistically impossible for Basenji Rescue to get 2.42% in a single day!

I also do not anticipate that we will ever have an adequate response or explanation from Greater Good or Petfinder. I think this entire episode was a disgrace.

Should any of you have any final words for them, their email addresses are: rosemary@greatergood.com, liz@petfinderfoundation.com, and lisa@petfinderfoundation.com. I don't plan to waste any more of my time on this useless endeavor, now that we finally have the $1000 check for weekly winner.

my email sent today to Rosemary Jones....

We finally received your erstwhile check. It was postmarked JAN 6! That is 3 DAYS after my last email to you (below), 8 DAYS after my phone conversation with you and Liz at Petfinder in which she said she would be sending it right out that very day. It is 15 DAYS after you told us the check was mailed on Dec. 22. And it is 24 DAYS after you told one of our friends that the check was mailed Dec. 13.

I think this speaks volumes about why so many of us have troulble believing you and trusting your word!

Your response to my presentation of the actual numbers during the contest (also below) is insultingly vague. The issue is not "inclusiveness". It is that WE WON first place in Texas but the prize was given to someone else.

You have yet to offer any cogent explanation other than "BART had more votes" and that we should simply take you at your word. You completely ignore the central point. As of Sunday morning, your own numbers showed us ahead by 2.42%

During the entire contest, the most movement in a single day was only .23%.

You would ask us to suspend intelligent thinking and just accept on blind faith that BART received 2.42% in a single day! That is 10 TIMES MORE than the best single day either of us posted during the contest!

I don't believe it. Our friends don't believe it. Anyone with a functioning brain will not believe it.

When a miscreant leaves DNA at the scene of a crime, the statistical likelihood that it belongs to the perp is calculated. Let's say it is 1 in 1,000,000 that he left the DNA. In empirical reality, it is possible that there was the 1,000,001st guy who left the DNA and not the perp. But it is not statistically likely. He goes to jail.

It is NOT STATISTICALLY LIKELY that any other group rounded up IN A SINGLE DAY 2.42% of the total votes cast! That is 10 TIMES more than the BEST day of the entire contest. That is 27 TIMES more than the average daily gain throughout the life of the contest.

Unless you can show on paper how the votes came in day-by-day, matching the numbers you were reporting on your website, and how many votes are alleged to have been gained by BART on the last day of the contest, there will always be the conviction that the results are wrong.

And the stories about when the check was mailed simply reinforce this conviction.

jay hellerich

In a message dated 1/3/2011 11:54:22 P.M. Central Standard Time, HELLERICH@aol.com writes:

For what it is worth, we have NEITHER check at this point.

We returned to Wharton last night, late. Went to P.O. Box this afternoon and no check -- not the old one, not the new one...

Checked mail box here at the farm, in case it was mailed to the physical address. No checks there either.

If a check was mailed on Dec 22, it most certainly should be here by now.

If a check was mailed to us on Dec. 29, I would think that four business days would be sufficient time for it to arrive, as well (subtracting Sat, a holiday, and Sunday).

The mailing address that appears in our website is P.O. Box 743, Wharton, TX 77488. I cannot imagine what other mailing address you would be using.

On 12/29/10 2:59 PM, HELLERICH@aol.com wrote:

we are out of town and will not return until monday, Jan 3... we can check the po box then... the confusion over the check was based on one of our supporters being told that the check had been mailed on Monday, Dec 13... since it was not actually mailed until Dec 22, it did not surprise me that it was not there before Christmas...

i do want to recap my conversation with you, rosemary, about the contest results so you will understand the outrage that Smiling Dog Farms supporters feel...

it is NOT that we "lost"... it is the belief that we did not lose, that we had the votes to remain on top in Texas and that statistically it was not possible for us to lose...

we all checked the contest results daily, as they were posted on the Greater Good website... by all, i mean not just ricky and me but countless supporters... the one thing i could count on every day was that i would have several emails telling me the day's statistics by the time i looked at the computer every day!

i wish that you had a way to pull back up every day's bar graphs, nationally and for Texas... i have incomplete results, but i think they will help you understand what we were all seeing daily: (from at least October 25 right up to December 19 we were never out of First Place in Texas... that is what should be noted... while they had days when they closed the gap, they NEVER took over 1st place... and since we cannot see raw votes, but only percentages, we can only speculate as to how many votes each had... what you can see is that even though one day they might do better and the next we might do better, their aggregate votes were NEVER more than us... EVER from Oct 25 forward...)

Date Smiling Dog Basenji Our Pct. Lead Daily Gain/(Loss)
10/25 2.28
10/26 2.43 .15
10/27 2.37 (.06)
10/28 2.29 (.08)
10/29 2.23 (.06)
10/31 2.22 (.01)
11/1 15.52 13.37 2.15 (.07)
11/4 15.47 13.29 2.18 .03
15.30 13.26 2.04 (.14)
15.34 13.23 2.11 .07
15.40 13.20 2.20 .09
15.05 13.08 1.97 (.23)
14.93 13.04 1.89 (.08)
14.87 13.06 1.81 (.08)
14.61 12.97 1.64 (.17)
14.58 12.94 1.64 -----
14.61 12.90 1.71 .07
14.67 12.85 1.82 .11
14.82 12.86 1.96 .14
12/15 14.98 12.80 2.18 .22
12/16 15.09 12.76 2.33 .15
12/17 15.14 12.73 2.41 .08
12/18 15.13 12.71 2.42 .01
12/19 15.12 12.70 2.42 -----

Obviously, I do not have every day in here... on my yellow legal pad, these are my notes... if i go back through my blogs, it will have more data... but here is what is important...

1) At no time... on no day... between Oct 25 and Dec 19 did Basenji Rescue go ahead of us into first place... even if you said, "well you dont have all the days on your chart -- maybe they went ahead on one of the days you dont have tracked", the answer would be that i would have heard it before i ever opened the website that day from at least one of our supporters...

Furthermore, the numbers do not support that... you can see that we stayed between 15.52% of the Texas vote and 14.58%... Basenji stayed between 13.37% and 12.70%...

Their highest number is not greater than our lowest number...

So it is fair to say that from Oct 25 to Dec 19, Smiling Dog was No 1 in Texas and never relinquished that position to Basenji...

2) The single BIGGEST day for either Basenji or us was .23%.. not .50%, not .75% and certainly not as great as 1.00%... check the statistics above... .06 or .14 was the norm...

that is the statistics that were true for the entire contest... no one in Texas ever got 1.00% on a single day, much less 2.42%... that is why we find it impossible to believe that Basenji suddenly got over TEN TIMES the number of votes in a single day than had been reported in the entire contest up to that point!

it is statistically impossible...

here is what i mean... when they test DNA on an accused murdered, and the DNA test comes back with a certainty to within 1,000,000,000... it means that only one guy out of 1,000,000,000 could match this DNA...

now in all of reality, it is possible that it was another guy with that identical DNA... the 1,000,001st guy on the planet...

but the statistical model says that it is just not likely it was anyone else but the accused...

and for us, the numbers show that things moved by .01 or .14 or .23on the biggest single day of movement... to suggest that one group -- even on the last day when everyone is pulling out all the stops -- could garner 10 TIMES MORE votes than all the previous history just does not make sense to a reasonable person...

EITHER... someone in your computing department DOES have a relationship with Basenji and "created" a lot of votes to make them first....

OR... the votes were NEVER accurately reported on the Greater Good website from the start...

those are the only two possibilities in logic and probability... it is just simple math...

we did not drop 2.42% of the TOTAL VOTES in a single day...

think about that a minute... we are not even talking about Basenji betting 2.42% more votes on any given day... we are talking about them getting 2.42% of ALL THE VOTES CAST in the entire contest, from Sept to December 19! all the cumulative votes we had received up to Dec 19 left us 2.42% ahead... so they had to make up 2.42% of the cumulative vote from the entire contest!! Given the typical movement of .01 to .23 per day, it is just ridiculous to suggest that they managed to gain over 10 TIMES the typical vote registered on all the other days of the contest (and that 10 TIMES is based on the only one single day that got .23...
if you average the daily difference from my notes, that number drops to .09 and we are looking at Basenji getting 27 TIMES the average daily vote in a single day!

that is just not believeable...

that is the source of our outrage... i wish you could bring up the daily charts and graphs that we all used to arrive at these numbers... our team was watching them daily, using them as our guide to what was happening...

when your technical people say there was jockeying back and forth between Basenji and us, that may mean that on some days they did better and on some days we did better... that is reflected in my chart...

but the NEVER did enough better to take back first place.. we rode out the last month of the contest in 9th place nationally, and the last TWO MONTHS of the contest in 1st place in Texas...

their TOTAL vote never surpassed our from Oct 25 forward... and if it did, then your graphs and numbers that you presented were in error...

jay hellerich
979-559-1062

Miles & Samson... Still Waiting...

2010-12-31T10:11:00.001-08:00

Miles is the black and tan guy standing, and Samson is the German Shepherd laying down. I don't normally write about the same topic two days in a row, but we are having issues with Miles that are directly related to their sending parties just taking a hike on us!

I have written about them before, when they first came to the farm last Fall. A rescue woman in Kentucky contacted us about Samson. Samson was actually in Georgia, not Kentucky. Another rescue woman was helping Samson in Georgia. He was out of time and was going to be euthanized.

We outlined our Intake Policy and asked these ladies to help us with fundraising. The one in Kentucky made a point to tell us how good she was at raising money for dogs, and she assured us she would have no problem raising funding for Samson.
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We did not ask for any money up front, but trusted that these two rescuers would keep their word. Our immediate concern was to save Samson!

It was only then that we learned, sort of back-handedly, that Samson came in to the shelter with a running buddy, Miles, and that Miles was in even greater danger of losing his life at the shelter.

We asked if they would be willing to save both dogs. We believe strongly that bonded dogs should never be separated. We felt that Samson and Miles should stay together, and these rescue women agreed.

Since Samson and Miles would live together, the cost for housing was the same as it would have been for Samson alone. The only additional cost was for operational expenses for a second dog. Suzanne Young in Alabama arranged the long transport from Georgia to Texas, and volunteers all along the route donated their time and gas to get Samson and Miles to safety.

Miles and Samson have been here at the farm since the beginning of November. We have nudged and reminded and begged and pleaded with these rescuers to remember their commitment to us and to Samson and Miles!

The one in Georgia signed up for $10/mo and says that is all she can do and she is much too busy to send around our email. The woman in Kentucky made a donation, says that she has sent out the Chip In, but has done nothing more to continue moving this forward.

The Chip In for Samson and Miles has been stuck $347 since November 15. We have only $10/mo in monthly donors for them. (We explain that since Paypal does not give you a place to put the dog's name, it is important for the fundraisers to email us when someone new signs on so that their dog will get credit.)

Since there was no activity on monthly donations except that $10, we calculated a year's monthly donations for each dog and added it to the Chip In. Sometimes it is easier to get a one-time donation than a regular monthly one. So when their Chip In fills, it will cover their expenses for a year, as well as build them a play yard and townhome.

In practical terms, it means that Samson and Miles have been waiting for a play yard and townhome for nearly two months, and are no where near having one!

Temporary housing for dogs who are waiting for a play yard and town home of their own consists of living in a "condo". The condos are each approximately 4'x4' and they are attached to one large yard that services several condos. Dogs spend part of their day in the yard, and then must return to their condo so that another dog can use the play yard.

It is not ideal, but it is all we have to house dogs who come without funding, until we can raise the money to build them their own townhome and play yard.

Miles is not adapting as well to condo-living as Samson. (Each has his own condo, since condos are too small to occupy together, unlike the townhomes which are more spacious, have an upstairs loft and unlimited access to the large play yard!)

Yesterday, Miles bit Manuel, one of our team members. Today, he bit Shawn, another of our team members. Condo dogs have to be handled more because they have to go in and out of their condos a couple times a day. Miles is not a bad dog. He just does not like going back to his condo, and the close proximity of other condo dogs puts him on edge.

This could have all been avoided if their funding had come in last November. They would already be living in their townhome and play yard, and not have to share a yard with other dogs.

It saddens us that people will tell us they will help with fundraising, but once the dog is here and is safe, they just melt away like the snow in the afternoon sun. And we are left holding the bag. It is sad that they just forget about the unfinished business of their last "rescue" as they move on to the next!

We don't regret that Samson and Miles came to Smiling Dog Farms. They would both be dead if they had not come here, and if all the volunteers who helped transport them had not made it possible!
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But two of our team members have been bit in the past two days because Miles doesn't yet have a play yard and townhome of his own. And if the rescue ladies who sent Miles and Samson had kept their word to keep fundraising until we reached our goal, this would not have happened!

Why Are We Always Asking for Money?

2010-12-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

This is Dan. He is every bit as sweet and friendly and special as he looks in his photos, lounging in our bed! But Dan is the poster child for why we seem to always be asking for money! Let me explain.
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There are pretty much three ways a dog comes to Smiling Dog Farms: through a shelter, through another rescue or through a private party.
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Our goal is to make ourselves accessible to anyone who needs to send a dog here. We try to always say "yes". And we have the most liberal Intake Policy of any sanctuary in North America!

We don't ever want a dog to be turned away over money, and yet we have to acknowledge that every new dog coming here adds to our expenses.

So we ask the person or group sending the dog to help us with funding.

There are two kinds of funding we need help with. One is for housing and the other is for day-to-day operational costs.

Housing is a one-time expense. Our current cost for materials to build a play yard and town home is $1096. If a dog is a jumper or a climber, we need to add $96 for "jumper panels". We tell people sending a dog here, "If you have $1096, you need to send it to us. But if you don't, we will show you how to raise that money."

We create a Chip In fund raiser, and ask the person sending the dog to circulate this to all their friends, family and business contacts. It tracks how much has been raised and how much is still needed. All we ask is that the sending party donate time on their computer to keep moving around the Chip In fundraiser until we meet our goal.

Once we have housing covered, we still have to pay for the day-to-day costs of caring for a dog. It costs us $2.67 per day, which is pretty reasonable compared to boarding facilities. But that still adds up to $80/mo. That pays the salaries of our team members who service the dogs each day (Ricky and I do not receive a penny in compensation; we are 100% volunteers) and buys dog food and pays for vet care.

We don't ask the sending party to pay $80/mo from their checkbook. We ask them to donate more time on the computer to sign up monthly sponsors. Just 8 people at $10/mo will cover the costs for one dog. Or 4 people at $20/mo. You get the idea.

But we must cover our operational costs, or every new dog will just stretch our meager resources that much thinner. Everyone has sadly read of rescues which have to close their doors because they said yes too many times, without keeping an eye on the bank account. And then all their dogs are at risk!

We are clear with people sending dogs here that they must commit to meeting these funding goals. We provide the emails and Chip Ins to send out. They just need to dilligently keep sending them until we meet our goals.

So what does all this have to do with old Dan, you ask?

Unfortunately, he is an example of a sending party who wrote a check for his housing... and has not been heard from since! We have emailed her many times, but she has not responded.
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It means that Dan has no monthly sponsors to cover his costs. And there is no one even trying to find some!
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We agreed to take Dan in good faith, expecting that the sending party would do her part to find monthly donors that total $80. That is $80 each month we have to pay -- and we just don't have the extra money to do that!
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Every time someone sends a dog and does not keep their word to help us fundraise, it puts us in a real bind. Dan's case is not the only one like this. He is just one example of larger problem.
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We're glad Dan is here with us, where he is safe and loved.
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But as long as people don't follow through and keep their word to help fundraise for their dog, we will have to keep asking for money!
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It is sad but true that rescue is all about money. If you have it, you can do anything. If you don't have it, you can do nothing.

When Koda Met Blossom!

2010-12-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

This is Koda, on the left. That is his new friend, Blossom, on the right. They met at the farm and they became fast friends immediately!
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Koda came to Smiling Dog Farms from California. His family loves him a lot, but his behavior is unpredictable. Sometimes he will bite, and it is usually without warning. His family has a new baby on the way, and Koda just could not stay.

But they wanted a safe place for Koda -- a place where he could be... well... Koda!

After searching the internet for alternatives, and having little luck, his family found Smiling Dog Farms. They asked if Koda could come live the rest of his life in peace and safety at the farm, and Ricky and Jay said "yes"!

Blossom came from a family in Dallas. The family was moving and could only take two of their three dogs. Blossom was the one they elected to rehome because she was more temperamental than the others.

Blossom's family wanted her to go to a place that was safe, and where her behavior issues would not result in her being put down.

They also called Smiling Dog Farms to see if Blossom would be able to live there, and Ricky and Jay said "yes" to Blossom, as well.

Each dog needed a friend, and each seemed suited for the other.

When we introduced them, it was clear that Koda was smitten with Blossom. His whole demeanor changed. He smiled. He became calmer. And they have been best friends ever since. They play together. They nap in the sunshine together. They bark at the squirrels together.

Koda and Blossom are enjoying their new life together in their townhome and play yard.

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest FINAL POST

2010-12-22T09:17:00.002-08:00

Stolen Election! Election Fraud Suspected!

Final votes totals were posted today and WE did NOT win First Place in Texas! They gave it to Basenji Rescue!

Here is what we know: We were 2.42% ahead of Basenji Rescue on Sunday, the last day of reporting. Voting ended Sunday at midnight, Pacific time.

We had 15.42% of the vote in Texas, to Basenji Rescue's 12.70% of the Texas vote Sunday. That is a 2.42% spread. If you watched the numbers daily, you noted that things only moved by .01 to maybe .03% on a daily basis... that is hundredths of a percentage point differece to move daily. We were two FULL points AND 42 hundredths ahead of them on Sunday, the last day of reporting.

You tell me if you believe that somehow, against all odds. Basenji Rescue piled in more than 2.42% in a single day?

Not the First Time an Election Has Been Stolen

One of our good rescue friends in Alabama had told us that they participated in this same contest a while back... that they were in first place the day the contest ended... and then somehow, miraculously, between Sunday and Wednesday when results were posted, the group below them eased into First Place!

This is apparently a pattern with the Animal Rescue Site. It is a tight little circle of the same groups exchanging opportunities to win the prizes. Outsiders are clearly not welcome.

Protest This Injustice

I am asking Team Smiling Dog for one more thing, before we wash our hands of this so-called contest. I am asking every one of you to contact these people and tell them of your outrage. Let them know that it is statistically IMPOSSIBLE for Basenji Rescue to have made up 2.42% IN A SINGLE DAY!

Our good friend Adele had the name of a contact person, Rosemary Jones and her email address is rosemary@greatergood.com. I would also challenge some of you to find an email address and a phone for the head guy at so-called Greater Good so you can pelt him with emails.

Apparently it is Greater Good for their friends and cronies, and Not Much Good for everyone else.. Apparently Basenji Rescue is on their list of "best friends". (pun intended)

No More Contests

We will never participate in a contest again. That is firm and final.

We had to fight IAMS to deliver the amount of dog food that was promised in their contest, which we won with more votes than any other group in the history of that contest.

We will only win $1000 from this contest. Which I might add we have NOT received yet! They said that the check had already been mailed. But that was over a week ago and it is still not here!

The second $1000 prize was stolen from us. There is no other way to put it. Numbers don't lie. Basenji Resue -- even Best Friends, the $43 Million Dollar Man who dominated this contest all along -- NEVER gained 1.00% in a single day, must less 2.42%. It is statistically impossible.

The fact that they report in percentages and not raw numbers leaves things open to fraud. If they are not manipulating results, then they should report in raw numbers so we know if we got 30 votes or 300 votes... and so we know what kind of numbers the others are getting. All we could ever deduce from percentages was that the $43 Million Man was getting roughly 3 times the votes we were getting every day. But were they getting 90 to our 30? 900 to our 300? If we knew the number, we might be able to make up the difference.

More importantly, please consider this: You have been working at this, diligently voting every day, sending emails to friends since September! We have poured immense amounts of energy and time into this rigged contest for over two months. For what? $1000, IF they ever send the check.

You have raised nearly 3 TIMES that amount for us in the past week on our end of year fund raiser!

Contests put our destiny in the hands of strangers who do not care about Smiling Dog Farms. This particular contest proves how much wasted effort we poured into this, trying to win the $10,000 prize against an organization like Best Friends which took in $43,000,000 last year to our $150,000. It was not a fair contest from the start.

In the end, we were relegated to picking up the crumbs. Based on your cumulative effort, we should not only have won $1000 for most votes in a week, but we clearly got more votes in Texas than anyone, including Basenji Rescue, their annointed winner. But we will never see that $1000 prize.

I will not waste my time and yours on a contest again. I hope you will join me in this resolve.

We need Team Smiling Dog's energy to focus on honest ways of raising funds to help us help the dogs who have no where else to go.

We are making plans right now for a BIG fundraiser in the Spring... It will be called Garage Sale Across America, and we will call on Team Smiling Dog in the different cities and states across the U.S. to have a garage sale on the same weekend to raise money. There will be more details as we flesh this out. But one of the concepts I want to include is to ask Team Smiling Dog in their various cities to donate 25% of the money we raise to a local rescue. That way we benefit, and local, traditional rescues will benefit, too!

Thank You Team Smiling Dog
for Your Hard Work and Effort!

You are the Reason We Are Still Here Helping Dogs Who Have Nowhere Else to Go!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Final

2010-12-22T09:17:00.001-08:00

Martin and Lewis Team Up Once Again!

2010-12-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

That's Martin on the left. He's the tall good looking one. And that's Lewis on the right. He's the funny one! These guys were doing their stand up act at the Wharton City Animal Shelter, when they learned that they had overstayed their welcome and were on the short list to be euthed!

Local rescuer Amy Lewing put out the word that these two funny guys were on the ropes and needed some help right away!

A number of rescue ladies formed a group and posted them all over Texas and the United States, looking for a rescue to step up and take them into their program.

But no one was buying their act. They had no where to go and were on the verge of being permanently cancelled as a comedy routine!

Then the group working to save this team asked Smiling Dog Farms if they could book thier act at the farm for an indefinite engagement! And Ricky and Jay said "yes"!

Martin (on the right) and Lewis (on the left) are seen here goofing around with a rope tug-toy, entertaining the standing-room only crowds at the farm.

Everyone finds them wildly entertaining, and they are happy to have a fresh start in their flagging career!

Martin and Lewis are both part of Smiling Dog Farms adoption program, and the goal is for each to find his own way to a family where he can be a successful solo act!

Rescue Loses a True Friend, a Tireless Worker

2010-12-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

I regret to announce the passing of one of rescue's best friends. Her impact on the many dogs and cats whose lives were changed because of her caring involvement is incalculable. Marjorie Banks will be greatly missed.

Marjorie Banks Memorial Page:
http://www.remember-me-memorial.com/Humans/MarjorieBanks.html

Rufus Enjoys Life at the Sanctuary

2010-12-21T00:20:00.000-08:00

Rufus is one of our classic "sanctuary" dogs. He came here to live out his life in a safe place, where he can be who he is. One of our friends put it this way: "Smiling Dog Farms is a place where a dog can be a dog!"

And that has been true for Rufie! He is the poster boy for why sanctuaries exist! Rufus is not a candidate for adoption.
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Rufus was rescued from a shelter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by a group that thought he could be adopted. The way Rufie's advocate and friend, Dianne, explains it, Rufus is great 99% of the time. It's that 1% that gets him into trouble!

When Rufus arrived, he was such a gentleman in every way that we doubted Dianne's beliefs about Rufus. He was sweet and loved to be held and loved on. We thought that he had been unfairly labeled.

Right up until he bit Sarah, one of our team members here at the farm!

And it was just as Dianne had explained it. After being so wonderfully behaved for several weeks, he simply turned around and bit Sarah on the arm. There was no provocation and no warning from Rufus. He just bit her. And then wagged his tail and acted like he had never done it!

Another of our good rescue friends, Jodie, who has a lot of insight and experience with dogs, suggested that dogs like Rufus are having seizures when they bite. It does make sense. It is over in a hurry, and then Rufus acts like nothing happened!

You can see from this picture that Rufus can be very gentle and loving. You just never know when he will go into one of his "spells" and bite!

The sanctuary was the ideal place for Rufie to live. He can bite team members like Sarah with impunity here. There are no penalties for biting at Smiling Dog Farms!

He has a play yard of his own and one of our older model cottages. He has his toys, and periodically he receives a package with more toys and treats from Dianne, who still asks about Rufus.

We love and accept Rufus just the way he is!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Monday, Dec 20

2010-12-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

Not much to report today!

The contest ended last night at midnight, Pacific Time.

We had a pretty significant lead over Basenji Rescue in Texas, but we urged Team Smiling Dog to keep piling up the votes right up until voting stopped, just to be sure we stayed Number 1 in Texas. We need to win that $1000 prize for 1st Place in our home state!

But the final results will not post until Wednesday, December 22!

So all we can do now is wait.

Thank you, all of you, who worked so hard for us. We have already won $1000 for most votes in a week. We are probably going to win another $1000 for being first place in Texas.

This would not have happened without your diligent, daily voting.

Thank you, Team Smiling Dog!

Woody & Buster: Grumpy Old Men!

2010-12-19T19:01:00.001-08:00

Did you happen to see the movie, Grumpy Old Men? Woody and Buster do a great Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. They hate other dogs, but they hate each other even more!

This is Woody in his new townhome. Note that there is a ramp to the loft, but Woody has not yet mastered that. He is happiest laying on his big cushy puff. He is the "indoor" guy who prefers his bed and his townhome to his yard.

This is Buster. You can see that he is laying in the sunshine in his new play yard. He more of an "outdoor" guy. It helps that our climate is sort of like Tampa, Florida. It went into the low 70s today (Dec. 19) and tomorrow it is supposed to hit 76 degrees! He has a big soft puff like Woody, but he only goes inside his townhome if it is raining. Some nights, he even sleeps in his yard instead of on his puff!

If you look beyond Buster, you can see Woody's townhome and play yard right next door! Some days they will stand at their respective fences and bark menacingly at one another, for old time's sake, I guess.

Woody and Buster were originally used for fighting. They are both older guys now, but you can see all their scars.

They were rescued and sent to a facility where they were supposed to be retrained to lose their aggression toward other dogs. But it turned out to be a kind of scary place, and the rescuers wanted to get them out and get them to a safe, non-demanding place where they could just live out their golden years comfortably.

Buster is telling a squirrel that he has gotten too close to his play yard! I think he enjoys being "grumpy".

Beate and Sylva, the two advocates for these guys, worked as a team to get the dogs here to Smiling Dog Farms. It is difficult to find a rescue to take dogs like Woody and Buster. Smiling Dog Farms' sanctuary program seemed like a perfect fit for these cantankerous old guys.
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Because they are so strongly dog aggressive, they really are not candidates for adoption.
They are actually very sweet and gentle with people, and they have become favorites here at the farm. Everyone loves Woody and Buster, our two grumpy old men!
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They will live out their days here in the sanctuary, happily barking and grumping at the squirrels and the birds and each other from their yards!

Just like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Sunday, Dec 19

2010-12-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

We Have Slipped Today!

Please vote TODAY - SUNDAY - from EVERY COMPUTER you can up until 3:00 AM Eastern, 2:00 AM Central, 1:00 AM Mountain, Midnight Pacific at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

I am posting this at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. We have exactly SEVEN HOURS left in this contest!

Between yesterday and today, we have slipped down from .73 nationally to .72! We need to find people to vote for us in the next seven hours to push us back to .73 or MORE when all the votes are finally counted.

Our lead over Basenji Rescue in Texas did not change. We are still 2.42% ahead of them.

Team Smiling Dog -- We Can't Take a Chance on Basenji Rescue dumping in a ton of votes just before 2 am here in Texas, midnight Pacific, and squeezing ahead of us to win the $1000 prize for Number 1 in Texas!

We have to find some votes to throw at this contest NOW, tonight, before voting ends!

Please don't take winning First Place in Texas for granted. Basenji Rescue is a seasoned competitor in these contests. They could be holding their votes until the very end, just before the contest ends, to catch us off guard!

That's why we MUST find some votes -- LOTS of votes -- between now and midnight Pacific (2 am Central here in Texas).

Please give it your best shot. If everyone could just find ONE new vote... one person who still has not voted from their computer today... we can lock up this $1000 prize!

Go Team Smiling Dog!
Let's Get the Most Votes Between Now and Contest's End!

My Quest for a New Life!

2010-12-18T21:30:00.001-08:00

My name is Quest. I traveled all the way from Wisconsin to Smiling Dog Farms. You can't really tell from this photo, but I have scars from puncture wounds on my head and face and neck and front legs from fighting. I used to live at a place where they made me fight with other dogs. I didn't like it, but I didn't have any choice!
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I must not have been a good enough fighter, because one day they took me on a thick nylon lead to a wooded area and then tied me to a tree stump and just left me there to die! They didn't leave me any food or water... and it gets pretty cold in Wisconsin over night, too!
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I didn't know what to do. I was afraid that if I got someone's attention, I might get sent back to the place where I had to fight other dogs. And I sure didn't want that.

But if no one noticed me, I would just die there.
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I had lost a lot of weight and was down to just 48 lb when I finally decided I had no choice, so I started to bark and bark, as loud as I could.

Lucky for me, I got the attention of a really nice woman named Paula. She heard my barking and got me some help. I was taken to a place called the Humane Society where they took good care of me -- and they did not make me fight with other dogs there!

They told me that Paula was working to find some place for me to go where I could stay and would be safe. They said that with my background they would not be able to place me for adoption.

Paula got some of her friends to help her, and they were all looking for a safe place where I could go. But they weren't having any luck. The places they called either didn't have any room, or they didn't want to take a pit bull, or they did not want a dog who had been a fighting dog. It was always something. They were getting discouraged.

Then someone found Smiling Dog Farms. They contacted Ricky and Jay to see if I could come live at the farm... and Ricky and Jay said "yes"!

Paula and her friends found a great family-owned transport company that took me all the way from Wisconsin to Texas.

And now the same ladies are raising money to build a townhome and play yard, just for me.

I like it here at the farm. The temperatures a lot warmer than Wisconsin! And someone checks on me and makes sure I have food and fresh clean water every day. Best of all, I don't have to fight other dogs. Ricky and Jay told me I would never have to do that again! They said I might be able to be adopted, depending on how I get along with people and other dogs. But if I can't be adopted, they said I can live out the rest of my life right here in my own play yard and townhome!

They wrote a newspaper article about me, back in Wisconsin. You can read it by clicking on this link, http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2010/12/15/news/local_news/news1505.txt

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Saturday, Dec 18

2010-12-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

We Held Our Own...
Let's Make the Last Day Our BEST!

Please vote TODAY from EVERY COMPUTER you can at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
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Sunday is the last day for voting. Let's put more votes up than anyone else in the history of this contest!
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We are holding firm at .73 Nationally, which puts us in 9th Place among all the rescues in America who chose to compete, regardless of their size!
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The team that is in 10th Place behind us is still at .61. It is unlikely they could surge ahead of us on the last day, but we want to make sure we're as strong on the last day as we were on the first!
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We only gained .01 on Basenji Rescue today. But we are still 2.42% ahead of them. Still, being #1 in Texas is the only other way for us to win another $1000 prize, so we HAVE to pour on the votes to insure that we stay in 1st Place in Texas... because we need that $1000!

Please make sure you vote for us Sunday, one last time. We will let you know Monday if we won First Place in Texas!

Thank you, Team Smiling Dog
for Making This Possible for Our Dogs!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Friday, Dec 17

2010-12-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Team Smiling Dog -
You Guys Are Amazing!

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 2 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
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You pushed us up another .01 today to .73 Nationally! The Cat Rescue at #10, right behind us, lost another .01 and are down to .61.
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Thanks to you, we look really solid to finish the contest in 9th Place Nationally. Considering the competition we faced, that is an amazing feat!
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And once again we put more distance between us and the #2 Basenji Rescue in Texas. Today, we are 2.41% ahead of them. That is a gain of .08 in a single day.
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We want to keep pouring on the votes Saturday and Sunday for a strong finish, just to ensure we retain 1st Place in Texas for another $1000 prize!
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Thank you for helping us win $1000
and for being positioned to win another $1000

Cookbook Reminder...

2010-12-16T17:19:00.001-08:00

Just a quick reminder that if you wanted to give our Smiling Dog Farms cookbook as a Christmas gift, we can send you a color cover that you can wrap up for Christmas morning.

When we finally get the books published -- hopefully in February -- we can just send you an invoice then, and we will drop ship them. Cookbooks will cost $19.95 plus shipping.

We had really hoped they would be ready for Christmas but unfortunately that did not happen. Long story!

Send no money now. Just email me at hellerich@aol.com and let me know how many covers you would like us to mail you. Please also include a mailing address for us to send the book covers!

Thank you for your patience. I can promise you, they will be worth the wait! I am already trying some of these recipes in our kitchen! : )

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Thursday, Dec 16

2010-12-16T14:52:00.001-08:00

Still Gaining!
Go Team Smiling Dog!

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 3 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We are still climbing! We have increased our lead over Basenji Rescue in Texas by another .15% today! We are now 2.33% ahead of them!

Nationally, we are still holding firm at .72 -- that is after being at .70 for a couple of weeks! The Cat Rescue in 10th Place is still at .62.

We have won the prize for most votes during the 12th week of the contest. That is $1000 they are sending us! Because of YOU!

All we have to do now is hold on to our lead in Texas for another $1000 prize -- this time for being Number 1 in our state!

Please keep voting.... every day, from every computer you can get behind! We don't want to take for granted finishing first in Texas. We need to work for it, right up to the end!

Thank You Team Smiling Dog
for Coming Through Again!

Rocky Wins His Court Battle, and Now He Gets to Go Home!

2010-12-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Rocky got into trouble in his small suburban berg of Desoto, Texas. He got out of his fenced yard and went exploring next door at the neighbor's.

Because Rocky is a bully breed, the neighbors panicked. He was barking at them through their patio door. They did not realize he was just being playful. They called police and animal control and reported Rocky as a danger and a menace!

By the time authorities arrived, Rocky had retreated to his own back yard again.

But a privacy fence was no match for Desoto's finest, who barged into the yard and confiscated poor, frightened Rocky and hauled him off to the town Animal Shelter.

With no evidence to support their charges, Rocky was declared a dangerous dog and a menace to the good people of Desoto and ordered out of the city limits. His mom, Sandra, was told that she could appeal their arrogant decision, but that Rocky absolutely could not stay with her, even if she kept him indoors.

Sandra is a single mom, just struggling to get by. She had no money for boarding and had no family who could take Rocky.

Fortunately, she found Smiling Dog Farms. We invited Rocky to stay here at the farm until the whole mess could be straightened out.

When Rocky arrived, he was afraid of everything! He had to be one of the most timid dogs we had ever met. It took Rocky awhile to get accustomed to us and to allow us to be near him.

As you can see from this photo of Rocky with Ricky, Rocky has learned to trust us in the several weeks he has been here. He will now let us love on him!

Fortunately, Sandra found an attorney who volunteered to represent Rocky in his appeal against the city. Rocky's attorney got the citation dismissed this past Wednesday, so now Rocky can go home for Christmas!

Rocky will not be allowed in his fenced back yard alone any more. Sandra will take him out on a lead and then bring him back into the house. The worry is that the police and animal control in Desoto will be "gunning" for Rocky, since he beat their trumped up charges.

Our advice to Sandra is to move from Desoto as fast as she can. There must be a community in Dallas-Fort Worth that is more dog-friendly and family-friendly than Desoto!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Wednesday, Dec 15

2010-12-15T15:06:00.001-08:00

You Did It!!!!!!!!!

We won the weekly prize for most votes in week 12! That is a $1000 prize for Smiling Dog Farms! Thanks to every one of YOU! They just announced it today!

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 4 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

Congratulations Team Smiling Dog!

Not only did we win $1000 thanks to your dilligent effort, but we moved up another notch to .72 nationally, from .71 yesterday and .70 the day before that! This is an amazing feat, up against the players we are competing against!

The SBU Cat Network remained at .62, so we have widened the gap over them yet again!

And in Texas, the news just gets better! We are still Number 1... and we are now ahead of Basenji Rescue by 2.18% That is an increase of .22 in a single day!

You have really come through for us, one more time, Team Smiling Dog. You really put us up on the board and demonstrated the strength of our team members!

I do have to report that Ricky read the Dark Horse rules more closely and discovered that it is reserved only for those who have not won any other prize. Since we have now won a weekly prize, we are no longer eligible.

However, we can still win a second $1000 prize for being No. 1 in Texas.

We don't want to stop now. We want to keep the votes piling up every day to ensure that no one can sandbag us on the last day of voting and scoot ahead of us in Texas!

This has really been a great day for us!

Thank You, Team Smiling Dog!

Luna's Big Weekend!

2010-12-14T11:04:00.001-08:00

This is Luna and Hailey. Hailey brought Luna to live at Smiling Dog Farms about six months ago.

Luna has issues with other dogs. She just doesn't like them, and -- given the opportunity -- will go after them! Hailey and Luna lived in a neighborhood in California where there were lots of dogs and Luna kept getting into trouble.

Sadly, Luna could not continue to live with Hailey for her own protection. It is just a matter of time before a dog-aggressive girl like Luna will get into a fight and Animal Control will intervene. At that point, Luna could lose her life, if Animal Control decides she is the aggressor.

And so Hailey made the hard decision to bring Luna to live at the farm. Hailey said that the thing she liked about Luna living here is that Luna can be who she is. Another of our families once said that Smiling Dog Farms is a place where a dog can be a dog! And I guess that is true for Luna.

Luna has adjusted well to her new life at the farm. And this past weekend, Hailey took advantage of our Weekend Adventure program to return and spend the weekend with Luna!

You can see from these photos we took how excited Luna is! Hailey looks pretty happy, too!

It turned out to be a wonderful weekend for Hailey and Luna. Hailey flew in from California and rented a car at the airport. She picked up Luna Friday afternoon and checked into the Tee Pee Motel in Wharton.

After spending the night in the bed, Luna and Hailey were off to Galveston and the beach on Saturday! Luna got a bath from Hailey Saturday night, after frolicking in the salty Gulf waters. And another night in the bed with Hailey!

Sunday Luna and Hailey went to Brazos Park in Fort Bend County and walked the trails.

Weekends like this one always end too soon, and Sunday afternoon Hailey returned Luna to the farm. Luna had lots of stories to tell about her big adventure, and Luna is marking her calendar for the next time Hailey returns to spend a weekend with her!

We were really happy that Hailey was able to return to the farm and spend some time with Luna. Our dogs really enjoy these outings. We encourage families who have sent their dogs here to check them out and spend a day or a weekend or a whole week with them!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Tuesday, Dec 14

2010-12-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Wow!
Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 6 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

You really pulled out all the stops! Good job, Team Smiling Dog!

Today we moved up .01 NATIONALLY to .71! To get some perspective, I don't think any other group did that today. Everyone else stayed where they were yesterday. The SBU Cat Network in 10th Place remained at .62, so we put a little more distance between them and us. We were the only ones who moved up!

We did even better in Texas! Yesterday the distance between us and Basenji Rescue was 1.82, and today it is 1.96!!! That is an amazing jump of .14 in SINGLE DAY!

If we can keep this up for the next four days, they cannot deny us the prize for most votes in a single week... and that is $1000 we really need for the dogs who live here!

Last night I playfully suggested to several people that they needed to go door to door, to every home on their block, and ask if they could vote for us on that family's computer!

We will give a FREE Smiling Dog T-Shirt to anyone who emails us a picture of them going door to door in their neighborhood, asking to vote for us on the neighbor's computer!! I will publish that photo right here in the Smiling Dog Daily News!

Extreme times require extreme measures!

There is $3000 on the table that we can and should be able to win in this contest. $1000 for the most votes in a week, this last week of the contest... $1000 for coming in No. 1 in Texas... and $1000 for the "Dark Horse" prize of a group who did exceptionally well in their first time out, even though they did not win the big prizes!

We can win those first two prizes fair and square by SHEER NUMBERS... We need to FLOOD them with Smiling Dog Votes in the next four days...

And then they cannot deny us the Dark Horse prize... because coming in #9 nationally, #1 in our home state (and a BIG state at that) on our first time out has to earn a Dark Horse prize, or no one is entitled to it! NO other newcomer has outperformed Team Smiling Dog

Whatever you did yesterday, DO IT AGAIN TODAY!

And remember... we'll print your photo and send you a FREE Smiling Dog T-Shirt if you'll submit a picture of you going door to door on your block, asking your neighbors to vote for us on their computers! ; )

Go Team Smiling Dog!
Just 4 More Days!!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Monday, Dec 13

2010-12-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Team Smiling Dog :
Something is VERY Wrong Here

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 6 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

You have really done your part this past week. We have gained in Texas once again, up .06% from the weekend to 1.82 today. We have now gained on Basenji Rescue every day for a week. We are up .21% over last week in Texas. Way to go, Team Smiling Dog!

Furthermore, we have maintained our position of .70 nationally every day, all week long. We never once dropped. And since we gained in Texas, we know that we had more votes coming in each day.

And while we were holding firm at .70, the Cat Rescue at #10 was holding at .63 nationally each day. In fact, today they have actually dropped .01 to .62, while we have held firm, so we have actually increased our lead over them as of today.

Now if I am just too stupid to follow the logic here, someone please inform me of my error.

But if WE are holding steady at .70 all week and #10 Cat Group is holding at .63 all week, how could they be getting MORE votes than us?

Granted, they make it much harder than IAMS to figure out how many actual votes you collect every day because they report only in percentages.

But let's assume we each got the exact, same number of votes all last week. For the sake of argument, say 100 votes. Those 100 votes would represent MORE of a percentage increase to them than to us because they are BEHIND us. Does that make sense?

So for them to get MORE VOTES THAN SMILING DOG FARMS, their percentage should have moved upward. But it didn't.

If you think about it, they stayed at .63 and we stayed at .70. What that means is that their RAW VOTES had to be LESS than ours every day, since it takes fewer votes to support .63 than it does .70.

We did not go backwards last week. We moved up in Texas -- our percentage increased by .21% over the course of the week, and we maintained our .70 percent nationally.

So can somebody please tell me how #10 Cat Rescue wins the $1000 prize for the most votes this past week?????

What am I missing here?

This is the last week of this contest. There is only one more chance to win $1000 for most votes in a week. Everyone above us and now two below us has already won and cannot win again.

What obscure group will come out on top next week, to ensure that we do not win that prize again?

If you read the 11 winners of that weekly prize, you will find everyone in the Top 10 plus The Basenji Rescue EXCEPT US!!!

Are you mad yet, Team Smiling Dog?

We have to DELUGE them in votes, more than anyone gets, even the $43 Million Dollar man. We have to find computers we didn't even know existed to vote on this week. We have to talk to people we don't even know, people we don't even like to get them to PLEASE vote for us this week. It is our last chance to win this $1000.

Frankly, since we have been pushed out of winning the weekly prize, I seriously doubt they will award us the Dark Horse prize, even though NO OTHER TEAM deserves it more that you guys!

There is no clear criteria for the Dark Horse prizes, so I think it is safe to say that one is off the table.

We have to FORCE them to award us the two remaining prizes by dropping more votes on them this week than they have ever seen before. They need to see to strength of Team Smiling Dog... especially when they rile us!

Don't just get mad... Get Even!

Go find some extra votes today... and tomorrow.... and each day for the rest of the week and FORCE them to award us the $1000 for most weekly votes, as well as the $1000 prize for #1 in Texas.

And let's make them look lame if they DONT award us a Dark Horse prize... because YOU have EARNED it, Team Smiling Dog!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Challenge Daily Contest Update for Sunday, Dec 12

2010-12-12T19:18:00.001-08:00

Still Looking Good...

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 6 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

I don't think they tabulate on Sundays, because the numbers across the board are unchanged from yesterday. We should see some more gains tomorrow, Monday.

I think we will win the prize this week for most votes in a week. That is $1000.

I think we are now on track to make sure we stay No. 1 in Texas to the end of the contest. That is another $1000.

And I think if we continue to pour on the votes at the end, we will earn a "Dark Horse" prize for a group who has never entered this contest before, but still made a good showing their first time out. Finishing in 9th Place nationally should qualify us for one of those prizes. That is another $1000!

We have a serious chance to get $3000 from this contest, if we keep voting from every computer, every day.

This is the LAST WEEK for this contest. It ends this coming Saturday at midnight, Pacific Time. We need to pour on the votes and not let anyone catch us by surprise!

Please try to find at least ONE new computer to vote from for the rest of the week. If everyone does that, we can double our votes for this week and assure ourselves $3000 in prize money!

Go Team Smiling Dog!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Challenge Daily Contest Update for Saturday, Dec 11

2010-12-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Still Inching Upward... Four Days in a Row!

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 8 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
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We picked up .01% on Basenji Rescue again today. We now lead them by 1.76%. We have increased our lead every day for four days in a row now! We have gone from a lead of 1.61 to 1.76 in less than a week!

Way to go Team Smiling Dog!

We are still holding firm at .70 nationally which keeps us solidly in 9th Place. The guys behind us in 10th Place continue to hold at .63.

And as long as we increase our lead over Basenji Rescue, we will hang on to 9th Place Nationally and 1st Place in Texas.

We need to pour on the votes over the weekend and get a LOT of points up on the board.
We are down to the last week of this contest. If we can come on strong at the end, we should not only win a $1000 weekly prize for most votes, but also $1000 for being #1 in Texas and $1000 for "Dark Horse" -- a group which had not previously entered the contest and did exceptionally well in their first time out. And I think that describes us climbing to 9th Place nationally in our first time out!

I have heard from others who have done this contest before that sometimes groups will pull out all the stops on for the last day of the competition to "surprise" their competitors.

Let's not get caught by surprise. Let's try to DOUBLE the votes we have been delivering for this last week of the contest.

Please try to find one more computer to get voting for us this last week.

Thank you, Team Smiling Dog, for all you have done to get us this far!

Hattie Is on Her Way Home to South Carolina

2010-12-10T11:26:00.001-08:00

Hattie came from BARC, the Houston animal shelter. Like so many other seniors, she had not been adopted and had not been selected by a Rescue. She had run out the clock, and would have been put down if she had not come to Smiling Dog Farms.

As awful as that sounds, please don't blame the folks at BARC. They don't want to put down dogs, and they work really hard to avoid it. But like shelters everywhere, every day they have a new batch of dogs come washing into the shelter, like waves at the seashore. There is only so much space at any shelter, and when a dog has had their allotted time, there is no choice for a shelter which must accommodate the newest arrivals, too.

Luckily, BARC contacted us about Hattie and we agreed that she could come here. In fact, I wrote about her right here in the Smiling Dog Daily News the same day we agreed to take her. Within 15 minutes of publishing her story, we had a request to adopt her!

Unfortunately, that did not work out because Hattie has some mobility issues and the potential adopter lived in a second floor home, which would have required Hattie to navigate a full set of stairs getting in and out of her new home.

Within just a few days of sharing that story here, we had another adopter for Hattie, this one without the long set of stairs to get in and out of the house.

Hattie's new mom came to pick her up on Thursday, and she is on her way to her new home in South Carolina!

I think these photos of Hattie reveal that while her body is older, she still has the spirit of a pup and an adventuresome soul! Hattie is up for anything, and you can see her sitting in Dione's car, ready for her journey home!

We are happy for Hattie that she has found a home where she will be valued and loved for however much time she has left!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Challenge Daily Contest Update for Friday, Dec 10

2010-12-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

Still Gaining! 3 Days in a Row!

Go Team Smiling Dog!

Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 9 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
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We have increased our lead over the Basenji Rescue to 1.75%! That is .04% more than our lead from yesterday. This means that we are steadily piling up more votes than them each day.

That bodes well for us winning the $1000 weekly prize for most votes in a single week. Everyone who is ahead of us has already won this prize, and so they cannot win it again. Even Basenji Rescue has won it, so they cannot win again either. We are looking good to win this prize this week!

And as long as we stay on top in Texas and continue to expand our lead each day, that is another $1000 prize we can count on.

And if we keep coming on strong for the next nine days, I think we have a very good chance of winning one of the eight "Dark Horse" prizes for $1000. These prizes are awarded to a new group which has not competed before and did surprisingly well for a newcomer. Landing in 9th Place nationally should certainly qualify us for that prize, too!

We are heading into the weekend, so let's not lose momentum! Please find ways to vote from new computers over the weekend -- maybe your neighbor will let you vote from their computer in addition to your own.

We are still at .70 nationally. Although we have not gone up, more importantly, we have not gone down. The guys in 10th Place are still at .63. Everyone seems to be locked in place nationally, and as long as we put on a full-court press for these last nine days, we will hold on to 9th Place in the national competition.

Remember... you can vote from as many computers as you have access to... You can't vote more than once from any computer. But you can vote from your iPhone and your laptop and that computer you put away in the attic when you got a new one! Your friends, your family can all vote from their computer.

It only takes 30 seconds -- literally -- to vote! Each day, for the next 9 Days, just go to the link above and your computer will already be registered, so all you do is vote for Smiling Dog Farms, confirm the animal's picture, and you are done!

Thank you, everyone, for coming back and helping us try to win the $3000 that is within our grasp!

Ella Will Be Home for Christmas!

2010-12-09T16:45:00.001-08:00

You can see that Ella is anxious to leave on her trip to her new home, even if she has to drive herself!
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Ella's new mom has been approved and waiting for Ella for over a month! But today was the big day for Ella to finally be on her way. She is traveling from Texas all the way to New Hampshire where she is sure to have her first-ever white Christmas!

Ella is blind and Dr. Stern estimated she is about 13 years old. Her new mom, Tammy, will give Ella a wonderful "retirement home" in which to live out the remainder of her golden years.

Everyone at the farm was excited for Ella, today. We are glad that she will have a family of her own in her twilight years.

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Thursday, Dec 9

2010-12-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

You Did It! And Then Some!!
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Please vote TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 10 DAYS! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
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Our goal for today was to be 1.67% ahead of the Basenji Rescue. You gave us a 1,71% lead for today!
That's .04% over our goal! Way to go Team Smiling Dog!

We are still holding at .70 nationally. And just as important, the team behind us at number 10 is still at .63.

We are looking good for winning the weekly $1000 prize if we can keep up our momentum.

And I just learned from our friend, Trish, who actually reads the contest rules, that we will win another $1000 for being number 1 in Texas! I did not realize that! (Although I guess I might have if I had read the rules like Trish did! lol)

So there is actually $3000 on the table that we can realistically win. $1000 for the most votes in a week (Remember, everyone ahead of us has already won this and cannot win again, so this is a realistic goal for us)... $1000 for being number 1 in Texas... and $1000 for being one of the Dark Horse winners, which is a category reserved for those who have not competed before and did very well for a new comer. I think that pretty much describes us, coming in at number 9 nationally on our first outing!

Please vote today... Your vote means more now than ever before.

Can You Help 2 Scared Labs at Victoria?

2010-12-08T23:06:00.001-08:00

You can tell how frightened this poor black lab girl is -- she is hiding in the corner! She is an adult lab who weighs 65 lb.

Her friend is also frightened. He is a chocolate lab and weighs 75 lb. He is approximately 1-2 years old.

Both are at the Victoria, Texas animal shelter, which unfortunately is a gassing shelter.

There are two people offering donations to a legitimate 501c3 rescue who will take them. One does not specify the amount, and the other offers $300 for the pair to any rescue which can rehome them.

If you can help these sweet, frightened babies, please contact Chyrl Burris at ccdsz1@aol.com or by calling (361)920-0055 .

We can help by pulling them and holding them until a transport can be arranged. You can contact us at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org

Cookbooks as Christmas Gifts...

2010-12-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

This is the cover for our cookbook. The cookbook was supposed to be finished and ready to ship by now. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

The good news is that there will be a cookbook. We are currently getting it typed into the proper format for publishing. There are over 300 recipes from friends of Smiling Dog Farms, all across America! You can see that the cover has already been designed and approved for publication!

The cost will be $19.95 per cookbook, plus the cost of shipping. And we have an idea for how you can still give them as Christmas gifts.

Let us know how many books you would like for gift-giving. We will send you that many photos of the cover of the cookbook, which you can box and wrap to give as gifts. Don't send any money. Yet!

When the cookbooks are finally printed, we will send you an invoice and then we will drop-ship your cookbook to all the persons on your gift list!

I know this is not as good as having the books on Christmas Day, but it will give your friends and family a pleasant surprise that will arrive in the mail, after the holidays are behind us!

To order photos of the cookbook cover for gift-giving, just contact us at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org . Remember, you don't send any money now. We will bill you when we have the cookbooks printed and ready to ship!

We want to do this again next year, and I think I can say that we will have the systems in place then so that we will have our cookbook printed on time! For this year, and our innaugural edition, thank you for your patience! You will LOVE the recipes! (I have been making some of these recipes already in our kitchen! One of the prerogatives of editing a cookbook!!)

Orson Has a Secret!

2010-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Orson's story is one you've heard so many times before. An older dog who ended up at BARC, Houston's animal shelter. His family never claimed him. No one wanted him. Covered in mange that made his already slim chances of being adopted even slimmer.

Until Pame Parks from Two Step Sanctuary entered the picture! She agreed to take Orson into her program and give him a safe, quiet place to live out his remaining days.

But she did not have room for him just then, and he needed a place to stay until she did. He had run out the clock at the shelter, which has to make room for the next huge wave of abandoned dogs that deluges them daily.

That is where Smiling Dog Farms got involved! Cindi, an indefatigable volunteer at BARC, asked if we could foster Orson until Pam could take him.

We started feeding him a high protein, high fat diet to build up his body weight. And as you can see in the photo above, we began treating his mange, which included weekly sulphur baths!

Here is Orson after a couple weeks at the farm, getting ready to go meet Pame. While Orson was still not totally "healed", he was well on his way. His fur was growing back and he had put on some weight.

We met Pame up in Houston and Orson went to live with her at the sanctuary. And THAT is when Orson's secret was revealed!

He is not an old man at all!

Turns out that Orson only seemed elderly because of his mange and malnutrician. The slowness of gait was not because of his age, but because of his condition!

Pam reports that he runs with the big dogs and that she has had to put a cow bell around Orson's neck to keep track of him and his antics! He has learned to walk in the creek with the other dogs, and he can jump straight up in the air from a standing position!

Pame would like Orson to be adopted!

Orson has a safe place to live, but Pame would like for him to have a family of his own. If you know someone who would be interested in this special guy who has truly come back from the brink, please contact us at Intake@SmilingDogFarms.org and we will put you in touch with Pame!

All in all, a happy ending for sweet Orson who had everyone fooled into thinking he was an old man!

Animal Rescue Site Holliday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Wed, Dec 8

2010-12-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Progress! Go Team Smiling Dog!

Please VOTE for us TODAY and EVERY DAY from EVERY COMPUTER to which you have access for the next 11 DAYS! Go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We advanced on the Basenji Rescue yesterday, for the first time in two months! Yesterday, our lead of them was 1.61%... today our lead is 1.64%! That is .03% in a single day!

Way to go Team Smiling Dog!

We are still holding at .70 nationally and the team behind us is holding at .63. We are still in 9th Place throughout the entire USA!

We have a real chance to win TWO $1000 Prizes...

One will be for the most votes in a week. Because the other teams ahead of us -- and even the Basenji Rescue behind us -- have already won this weekly prize, they cannot win again. So we have a excellent chance to be the winners this week, if we keep pushing in the votes!

The other way we can still win $1000 is one of the eight "Dark Horse" prizes, which are given to a group which has not competed before and which showed surprising strength, even though they did not win first, second or third. This is our first time competing in this contest, and we soared all the way to 9th Place nationally against some huge, well-financed groups like Best Friends.

If we can come on really strong these last 11 days, we have an excellent chance at winning a Dark Horse prize as well!

Let's see if we can put more distance between us and Basenji Rescue tomorrow... and let's try to pick up at least .01 nationally.

Today's Goals - Distance Ahead of Basenji Rescue... 1.67, and .71 nationally!

Go Team Smiling Dog!

We can DO this!!

Second Life Raises Over $1300 in a Single Weekend to Benefit Smiling Dog Farms

2010-12-07T13:41:00.001-08:00

Second Life raised over $1300 in a single weekend, November 26, 27 and 28 in honor of Lucas, the elderly shar pei who was rescued from euthanasia by Robert Cabral and Bound Angels in Los Angeles, CA. Lucas came to Smiling Dog Farms to live out his life, however much God gave him. (You can read about Lucas in prior blog postings.)

This year's event was the fourth annual benefit performed live by world-class artists, all weekend long.

Special thanks to all of you who posted press releases with your local news media to help make this such a stunning success from sea to shining sea! I know that our press releases were in such disparate markets as Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, Albuquerque, Detroit and Columbus, to name only a few!

We eagerly look forward to next year when we can do it all again, and everyone can enjoy the assembled talent of the many artists who donate their time and artistry to benefit Smiling Dog Farms!

Thank you, Lance!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update

2010-12-06T11:48:00.001-08:00

We CAN Win $1000 With Your Help!

Please vote for us TODAY and EVERY DAY for the next 12 DAYS from every computer to which you have access! Just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

This contest is coming to a close... just 12 days left!

We cannot win the big prize money for first or second place. But we can win $1000 for having the most votes this week! How so?

Every group who is ahead of us has already won $1000 for the most votes in a week. They are disqualified from winning again!

How did Basenji Rescue win this week when we are ahead of them in the standings? Because they got more votes than us this past week. We still have more votes than them, overall, but every week for almost two months they have been nibbling away at our lead. As of today, we are just 1.61% ahead of them. Keep in mind that at our highest level, we were 2.43% ahead of them!

So here is what it all boils down to: If we can get the high vote totals we used to get back at the beginning of this contest, we will win $1000. This is within our grasp. We can really, actually do this. The guys with the huge "machines" behind them cannot win this prize again, so we should be next in line to win!

Please help us.

It will not cost anything but a few seconds of your time to go to their site and vote.

The second way we can win $1000 is to capture one of the 8 "Dark Horse" prizes. Those are for groups who have not competed before and did exceptionally well, even though they may not have won. For us to place 9th nationally against giants like Best Friends is nothing short of amazing!

We need to "get out the vote" these final 12 days so that we still look competitive to the judges for the Dark Horse prizes, and that we don't just look like we gave up.

We have dropped from a high of .76 all the way down to .70 which is where we are today.

Please help us with these $1000 prizes.

Goal for tomorrow: .72

Goal for lead over Basenji Rescue: 1.70

Go Team Smiling Dog!

We can win these $1000 prizes!

Don't Miss "A Weekend for Lucas"

2010-11-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Click on poster to enlarge

This is Day 2 of A Weekend for Lucas... just click on http://173.193.223.178:8202..... you might need to play it through your iTunes software or VLC media player...

This is the fourth year that Lance and his team from Second Life have done this Three-Day Event in honor of Lucas, a special elderly shar pei mix who was sent to us by Robert Cabral and Bound Angels to live out his days at Smiling Dog Farms. He was scheduled to be euthanized at the Los Angeles shelter, until Robert rescued him and sent him to the farm. In many ways, Lucas typifies the kind of dogs who come here -- dogs who have no where else to go and without Smiling Dog Farms, would have been euthanized.

Lucas has since passed away, but Second Life continues to memorialize Lucas with their annual benefit for Smiling Dog Farms.

Please tune in today and again tomorrow. These are world-class musicians and performers, all donating their time and talent to benefit our work of providing homes for dogs who have no alternatives.

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Saturday, Nov 27

2010-11-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

We Are In Free-Fall! Help!

Every day it seems the news just gets worse! PLEASE!! We desperately need your vote TODAY and every day until Dec 16... from every computer you have access to... just go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We are past the point of voting to win prizes... We are now voting to regain our self-respect!

Although we are still in 9th Place nationally, we did not gain at all. We are still at .71. The team in 8th Place is up .01 to .96. You can do the math on that.

The $43 Million Dollar Man still sits astride the entire contest with 1.98, and there is no one to challenge them. They will win. Second Place has no chance to beat them.

The ONLY good news (if you can call it that) is that the guys behind us in 10th Place are stuck at .64.... BUT....

The Basenji Rescue is still gaining on us! The ultimate embarrassment would be for us to get passed by Basehji Rescue after we already passed them early in the contest! The difference in just one day has gone from 1.81 to 1.78... they picked up .03 on us in a single day!

The Villalobos Rescue who bumped us out of 8th Place is now up to 6th Place, having passed the two groups ahead of us as well. (Like the $43 Million Dollar Man, they are pretty well "wired"... they have Animal Planet doing a benefit for them where $1 is donated for every viewer on a certain night!)

I hold no illusions about winning this contest. That is not in the cards. We can win $1000 for the highest votes in a week (when everyone ahead of us has already won this, so cannot win again) and we can win $1000 as one of the eight Dark Horse groups.

But what we MUST win is our self respect!

I can handle not winning against really big players. I cannot handle us folding our hands and walking away and slipping out of the Top Ten!

There are 19 DAYS LEFT in this contest. We need to pour on EVERYTHING WE HAVE to keep our 9th Place position right through the end, and win those two $1000 prizes that are within our grasp.

We need to focus on what we CAN do, and not what we can't.

We need to make sure we win the prize this coming week for "most votes in a single week" (that is MORE than attainable, becuase the big guys have already won that and cannot win it again!)... not just for the $1000 but for our self respect!

And if we make a strong showing at the end -- as we did at the beginning -- we CAN win one of the eight Dark Horse awards for $1000!

There is $2000 on the table that we actually can win!

We need to pour it on so that we start putting distance between us and the Basenji Rescue... no more dropping!! We MUST start gaining on them again. That will keep us strong competitors and insure that we hold 9th Place Nationally through the end of the contest.

Weekends are notoriously slow on these contests. This is a golden opportunity for us to get out in front of Basenji Rescue and stay No. 1 in Texas.

Come on, Team Smiling Dog. We need you to get motivated. We are in the fourth quarter. We can still come out of this contest looking good, capturing 9th Place Nationally against some of the biggest rescue groups in the nation!

Tomorrow's Goal: .72 Nationally, and a spread of 1.82 over Basenji Rescue

We can do this, Team Smiling Dog!

This Is It! A Weekend for Lucas! You Won't Want to Miss this Event!

2010-11-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge

The fourth annual A Weekend for Lucas is on NOW! Just click on this link: http://173.193.223.178:8202

The recording artists from Second Life will be on board today, tomorrow and Sunday to raise awareness of the plight of homeless dogs, and to raise money for Smiling Dog Farms' programs that benefit dogs who have no where else to go.

Please be sure to "tune in" from your computer. As many as 1000 people may listen at any given time, so if you cannot get through, just keep trying until you get in! Think of it as a concert with 1000 seats in the auditorium... you just have to wait to get in until a seat is available!

This is a world-wide event with listeners and participants from all over the globe!

You can learn more about Second Life and A Weekend for Lucas by going to our website special events page, http://www.smilingdogfarms.org/sdf_lucas_2010.html

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Friday, Nov 26

2010-11-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

Are We Still Doing This Contest?
The reason I ask is that we have been going backwards instead of forward for a couple weeks, now! PLEASE... don't let us slip out of the Top Ten!!! Please vote from every computer you have access to. It only takes seconds. Here is the link: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We have now dropped to .71... from a high water mark of .76! We have lost .05 points in two weeks!

We have only two ways to win anything at this point. One is to be the highest vote getter in a single week. Of course the guys ahead of us get more votes than us. But once you have won that weekly category, you cannot win again. So as they work their way down from first to ninth, we should be able to win that category IF we get our engines revved up and start producing votes in large numbers once again.

It should have been "our turn" finally to win that prize last week... but it skipped right over us, because we are not putting up the votes we once did! That is $1000 which we can win IF we can be the highest vote getter from the teams remaining who have not already won.

The only other way for us to win anything is to win a "dark horse" prize. That means a team that has not been in competition before and did very well for their first time out. Normally, that would describe us. That is another $1000 prize.

But we seem to be losing all our momemtum and we can't even hold our percentage of the vote... we have gone steadily backwards for two weeks. That means we are not getting as many votes NOW as we did a month ago!

Where is every body?

Realistically, it is not likely we are going to overtake Best Friends with all their resources. They are up another .01 to 1.98. They are unstoppable. Not even the second place team can overtake them.

We have been as high as 8th. The guys who walked past us into 8th place are now at .95 -- to our .71... they just keep opening up the gap between us... just to reclaim 8th place, we have to jump .25 points!

And the Basenji Rescue is still whittling away at our lead over them. The distance is now only 1.81, compared to 1.89 just a few days ago. There are enough days left in this contest for them to overtake us and bump us out of the Top Ten.

That would REALLY be embarrassing. To get into the Top Ten... and then just slowly slide backward until we hit rock bottom.

We need to take the opportunity of the Thanksgiving Weekend, when everyone is busy with other things, to make up some ground!

We can do this. We can certainly be the top vote getter for one week. We can win one of the Dark Horse prizes. Let's get our momentum back and get our votes up every day, from every computer you have access to.

Let's put some distance between us and Basenji Rescue so we will stay in the Top Ten.

Let's increase our percentage from .71 to .72 tomorrow and .73 the next day... etc.

We can't quit now! Let's win that $1000 prize for weekly highest vote getter!

Please Listen to LIVE Interview TODAY!

2010-11-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

There is a LIVE interview with Lance TODAY at noon PST, 1:00 MST, 2:00CST and 3:00EST, about this weekend's Major Event by Second Life. Just click on this link, http://184.82.87.122:8676/ and once you are there, click on "Listen".

This is the fourth year that Lance and Second Life have done this benefit in honor of Lucas, an elderly shar pei mix who came to the farm several years ago to live out his life. He was saved from being euthanized at the Los Angeles Shelter by Robert Cabral from Bound Angels.

This year's benefit for Lucas will be Friday-Saturday-Sunday, November 26-27-28. Last year's event raised $4600 for Smiling Dog Farms, which made it possible for us to save many dogs who had no where else to go! Our goal for this year's event is to raise $5000!

To learn more about Second Life and the amazing people who make this event possible, go to http://www.smilingdogfarms.org/sdf_lucas_2010.html

We Need Your Help Getting Out The Word!

2010-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

(Click on poster to enlarge)

I need you to be our Press Secretary for a day!

Our friend, Lance, has been doing Second Life benefits for Smiling Dog Farms in memory of Lucas, a very special older guy who came to us from Los Angeles to live out his golden years. This will be the fourth year that Lance and Second Life have helped us with this major fundraiser. They are amazing people!

Can you do this for us? Will you please send the press release, below, to the newspapers, bloggers and radio stations in your city? We have rescue friends all across America. We need everyone we know to be our Press Secretary for a day, and get out these press releases to as many people as you can!

A really good resource would be the "alternative" news media. Every large city has, in addition to the daily papers, the avant garde tabloids and magazines that cover the things big city papers ignore. These are the best way to reach potential listeners in your city. If you pick up a copy, it will give you the phone and email address for that publication.

But be sure to go to radio stations and daily newspapers, too!

The event is NEXT WEEKEND... the weekend after Thanksgiving... so this week is the optimal time to get our press release published. Please contact the alternative media immediately, because they will be coming up on their deadlines for next week's publication. Most publish on Friday or Saturday, so the timing will be perfect.

And then find local bloggers who may be willing to help us. If you send the initial press release this weekend, please follow up with the bloggers next Friday... and maybe even Saturday, also, to keep reminding people in their blogs.

Finally, please send the web link http://www.smilingdogfarms.org/sdf_lucas_2010.html to everyone you know on Facebook... let's try to stir up some real interest in this project!

I am the first to admit I am computer-challenged... so if some of you have other ideas for promoting this, please let me know! If you are somewhat "old school" yourself, you can learn about Second Life and even how to join it on this link: http://www.smilingdogfarms.org/sdf_lucas_2010.html Our new website designer, Linda, has done an outstanding job!

Let's show Lance and his team from Second Life how much we appreciate their effort on behalf of Smiling Dog Farms by getting publicity about this event from sea to shining sea!

Press Release

Real Life Meets Second Life:
A WEEKEND FOR LUCAS
BENEFIT for SMILING DOG FARMS
November 26th, 27th and 28th.

With the innovation of the Internet comes the virtual world, Second Life.

Second Life is a 3d virtual world environment that allows people from all over the world to meet and chat and interact. It is becoming very popular and well known throughout the country and the world. Corporations like Intel, Cisco, CNN, IBM, and many others have placed in world locations in the virtual world.

The live music scene in Second Life has become something of it’s own innovation. Music companies are looking and listening. Several musicians have actually signed contracts and the talent is incredible. It is amazing to have musicians from all over the world be heard by others in a unique forum such as Second Life. There are 3d venues and people come as if they were attending a real world concert.

November 26tth, 27th, and 28th is the big event, called “A WEEKEND FOR LUCAS”. Over 25 hours of live music each day with some of Second Life’s best musicians. To learn more about Second Life and this huge event, go to http://www.smilingdogfarms.org/sdf_lucas_2010.html

Lucas was a dog that was rescued from certain death over a year ago by Robert Cabral from www.boundangels.org. Lucas was abused and neglected most of his life. Finally, Smiling Dog Farms, was contacted and agreed to take Lucas. Lucas sadly passed away since but we know that his last days were his best ones. In his honor we have created this wonderful event, now on our 4th year. All proceeds going to www.smilingdogfarms.com.

Smiling Dog Farms is a private animal sanctuary that survives solely on donations. Their efforts to save lives is truly rare in this day and age

This is a wonderful newsworthy story that needs to be told. To bring the efforts of a virtual world to the real world in a positive way can make a difference.

The true hope is that this event can raise awareness not only at the local levels but the national levels as well.

(Jay Hellerich is available for interviews and any specific information you may need at 979-559-1062)

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Challenge Daily Contest Update Friday, Nov 19

2010-11-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

We Have Get Motivated, Team Smiling Dog!

Please vote from every computer you have access to every day. Just go to this link:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We are losing ground on every front in this contest.

Our number has now dropped from a high of .77 to only .72. The team in 8th Place is way ahead of us now, at .89! Luckily, the guys behind us are "stuck" as well at .66.

The 43 Million Dollar Man stilll dominates the whole contest, up a notch to 1.97.

We are still No. 1 in Texas, but the news there is really not good either. The distance between us and second place Basenji Rescue is BELOW 2.00 for the first time since early October! They are now just 1.97 behind us!

We can blame me for not getting a daily blog out for a week. Try as I might, I keep running out of day before I get my blog posted. We have had one issue after another to deal with this past week, which got placed ahead of the blog on priority.

But we are, after all, a team. And when I cannot get out a blog, I need you guys to come along beside me and get the word out as best you can that we still have a month left in this contest and we need to get our votes on the board every day.

Please remember to vote today... and Saturday and Sunday... and please keep trying to find some new voters every day. If nothing else, let's at least reclaim 8th Place! There is no prize money, just our own sense of satisfaction from retaking 8th Place.

We can do this!

Update on Hattie, the Elderly Lab

2010-11-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I introduced you to Hattie, the elderly black lab who came to us from Houston's BARC. Like many elderly shelter dogs, she had run out of time and had not been adopted. We agreed that she could come live out her days at the farm, where she would be safe. And we promised to look for an adoptive home for her.

The Good News: Within 15 minutes of posting the blog yesterday, we had someone interested in adopting Hattie! It is a dog-savvy person who is sensitive to the needs of an elderly dog, and would be an excellent home for sweet Hattie.

The Bad News: The only qualification was that Hattie had to able to climb stairs, because our adopter lives on the second floor and Hattie would have to be able to navigate the stairs. Today, Doug gave Hattie the "stair test" at the farm, and unfortunately, she failed. Hattie cannot go up and down stairs.

We have some other elderly dogs we are going to introduce to our prospective adopter to see if they might be fortunate enough to find a home with her.

But we need to find a family for Hattie who has a single floor home, because Hattie is just not able to do stairs comfortably.

We are also going to start her on Flaxseed Oil, in hopes that it may help her move a little easier. It is a holistic nuitritional supplement with many positive uses.

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Thursday, Nov 11

2010-11-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

We Are Slipping Nationally, But Gaining in Texas

Please be sure to vote from every computer you have access to today and every day. And please try to find some NEW voters who will vote every day. Just click on

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We are losing ground nationally to Villalobos. Yesterday they were at .75. Today they are at .77! They gained .02 in a single day.

We stood still. We have .74 today, just as we did yesterday. So instead of getting ahead of them and regaining 8th Place, we lost ground and now we will need .04 to get ahead of them -- if they don't continue to climb!

The $43 Million Dollar Man continues to dominate the contest at 1.96% with no signs of dropping backward.

The only good news on the national scene is that the poor souls behind us in tenth place dropped .01 from yesterday, so now they are back at .66.

Our only good news is that we have opened up the distance between us and the Basenji Rescue in Texas. Today we are 2.20% ahead of them. Yesterday it was a lead of 2.11%

If you have some ideas for how we can increase the number of new voters every day, please share them with me. If you can get a school group, a church group, a business in your area to start voting daily for us, let me know so that I can recognize them in this news article!

I'd like to think we have it in us to climb back into 8th Place and work our way ahead of Villalobos once again! Let's make that our goal for tomorrow!

Please... just find one new voter today, somehow, somewhere

If everyone could do that today, we could surge past Villalobos and reclaim 8th place!

Another Elderly Girl Finds Refuge at the Farm

2010-11-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

This is Hattie. She came to us from BARC, Houston's animal shelter. You can tell by looking at her that she is an older girl.

But she is heartworm negative and she is a well mannered girl, who does not have an aggressive bone in her ancient body!

Hattie is a big girl, but she loves to lay next to you on the sofa, and will even sneak part of her up on your lap if you let her!

Like most seniors, it is hard to say how much time she has left. A rescue in Mississippi once sent us an elderly hound dog named Lester. He was coming to the farm to live out his final days. Everyone figured he had a few weeks, maybe a few months left. But Lester surprised everyone and lived for another three and a half YEARS! And he enjoyed every day he had!

We don't know how much time sweeet Hattie has left, but we do know that she deserves to spend that time with a family who will love her and value her!

If you know someone who might have the space in their heart and their home for a special older girl like Hattie, please have them contact us at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org .