Don't Miss "A Weekend for Lucas"

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

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!

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

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!

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!

(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

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

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

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

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 .

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Wed, Nov 10

Better Than Yesterday!

Please be sure to vote from every computer you have access to! And please try to find some new voters who will vote daily. Maybe a church youth group who will take us on as a project? Or a school class or extra-curricular activity? Or a business where you trade, like Sutherland's in El Campo where we buy building materials for the dogs' townhomes and play yards.

If you get a group or a business to agree to vote for us daily, let me know so that I can acknowledge them here!

To vote, just click on:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

Today, we gained some ground on the Basenj Rescue in Texas, picking up .07%. We are now 2.11% ahead of them! Great Job Team!

We did not move up from .74%, but we did not slip back any further. The guys who moved ahead of us into 8th place are only at .75%. We only need .02% to move back ahead of them!

We Can Do This! TODAY!

Let's try to be back in 8th Place again tomorrow with .76%!

The $43,000,000 Man is still in first with 1.96. They have not moved up for a week, but neither have they lost any ground.

Our immediate goal is to get back into 8th Place, then chase after 7th!

Best Buddies, Samson and Miles, Arrive After Two Day Trek Across America!

Miles and Samson are relaxing on the bed at the Galveston beach house. They had a long journey from Hinesville, GA to Texas this past weekend. It took two long days on the road, and an overnight stop along the way, to make it here!

These guys are best buddies. They roamed the streets together. They were picked up by Animal Control together. And they would have died together, if they had not come to Smiling Dog Farms!

This is Miles. He is the extrovert. He loves hugs and gives long, slurpy kisses! He has a wonderful disposition.

This is Samson. He is the quieter one of the two. He also has a great disposition and is happy to be petted and will lean up against you as you fuss over him!

We learned about these guys from Tamatha and Mieke. Both were desperately looking for a rescue for Samson and Miles.

We agreed to bring them to the farm and find a home for them together, so these best friends would always be together.

If you know someone who has room in their home and their heart for two larger guys like Samson and Miles, please have them contact us at Intake@smilingdogfarms.org .

We created a Chip In Fundraiser for the boys to raise money to build them a townhome and play yard, which Tamatha and Mieke have promised to promote and raise money for their housing. If you'd like to contribute toward their home, please go to http://smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/samson-and-miles

We know it takes longer to place two dogs instead of one. But if you could see these guys playing together and hanging out together, you would know it is worth waiting a little longer to find the right family who can appreciate their relationship.

Another Contest... Help Our Friends Win!

Our friend Judy and her organization, RPAL, is competing in the Pepsi Refresh contest. Their goal is to win $250,000 to purchase dog food, which RPAL will distribute to other rescues.

Please Vote Everyday using this Easy Link www.refresheverything.com/petdonationdistributioncenter

or Text 10246873774 Thank you!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Monday, Nov 8

At Risk of Dropping to 9th Place... Maybe as Early as Tomorrow!
Please be sure to vote today and every day from every computer you have access to... now more than ever! And please try to find some NEW voters every day. To vote, just click on


http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

The guys in 9th place are now just .01% behind us... they are at .73!

We have dropped back to .74 once again. We have been as high as .76, but we keep sliding backward.

The guys in 7th place, just ahead of us, are all the way up to .90... we now need .17% to move ahead of them. But they have been increasing the distance between us and them steadily every day.

And then there is the Basenji Rescue in Garland. They have closed the gap between us to only 2.04%. At our high water mark, we had a lead of 2.43% over them.

And the $43 Million Dollar Man is holding steady at 1.96... no evidence of any weakening there!

I think our team is still trying their best. We just don't seem to have the sheer numbers on our side.

I am open to ideas to share in this forum. If you can think of something we can do that we are not already doing, I will be glad to report in these contest updates!

If you are not receiving these posts from me and would like to be added to my list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.

Maybe tomorrow will be better!

Our Cookbook Project

It seems like all I ever have to report is unhappy stuff anymore.

The cookbook was a great idea, suggested by a volunteer who offered to do the lion's share of the work to create it -- receive the recipes, retype each in a standard format for publishing and generally organize the book.

My job was simply to edit the finished product, checking for standard format and checking spelling and the like. And to come up with the book's title!

Ricky was only supposed to choose the paper stock for the cover and the recipe pages, and coordinate the process of bringing the book together.

Shawn, our graphic artist and screen printer from Ballyhoo Specialteez (www.ballyhoospecialteez.com), developed a special graphic for our cookbook cover. You can see, above, what Shawn created for us.

The book was supposed to be finished, and ready for final edit no later than Nov. 1. That would have given us two weeks to edit, proof and print it so that we would have our cookbook ready for sale by mid-November.

Unfortunately, it has not worked out that way. Ricky and I are spending 4-6 hours a day on this project, trying to get it ready for print, and have been for the past couple weeks.

We still hope to have it printed and ready for sale by Thanksgiving. That would allow sales and shipping in time for Christmas. However, there is still very much work to be done before we can go to print, and we want it to be right.

So many of you have told us you plan to purchase cookbooks to give as gifts -- and we don't want to disappoint you or lose those potential sales. If we miss our next deadline, we are working on a "Plan B" to provide pictures of the book cover to give as gifts... we'll then contact buyers when the books are printed so they can pay for them, and we can ship the cookbooks directly to the intended recipients!

But we are hoping it won't come to that, and we will have the cookbooks ready to go by Thanksgiving! Cross your paws for us!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Thursday, Nov 4

Mixed Bag - Some Up, Some Down

Please vote every day from every computer you have access to! And please help us get NEW voters every day! Not just to vote, but to find NEW voters themselves! To vote, click on:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

On the good news side, we have shored up our position with Basenji Rescue in Texas. For the first time in a week and a half, we are slightly more ahead of them. Monday, the spread between us had shrunk to just 2.15%. Today that distance is 2.18%. It is a gain of .03% since Monday, so that is very good news.

And we have moved up .01% nationally and are back to .75%, after having slipped to .74% for several days.

Unfortnately, that is the only good news I have to report!

The guys in 7th place keep opening up the distance between us and them. Today, they are at .88%. On Monday, they were .86%. It will now take us a gain of .14% to overtake them. That number has been steadily growing for two weeks!

There is now a scarier prospect than even that. Number 9 has moved up to .67 from .65 on Monday! Even though we are up by .01, they are up by .02... so they have closed the gap a little bit! They just need .09 to move ahead of us!

And 10th place is keeping pace. They moved up from .64 on Monday to .66 today!

So we are further from the guy in front of us than the two guys behind us! That is not a good place to be in.

And The $43 Million Dollar Man just keeps increasing their lead. Today they are posting 1.96%, up another .01 from Monday.

We have about 45 Days to close the gap and pick up 1.22%! That is what it takes to win $10,000. And the guys in second place are at 1.53% today, up from 1.51 on Oct 28. Second place only pays $5000, but we need to pick up .79% to make that!

We have to bring in more votes than we have been getting.

We need to pick up .03% every single day above and beyond what we have been getting to overtake first place. In practical terms, that means we need four times as many votes as we normally get in a day.

I have spoken about Sutherlands in El Campo where we buy building materials for dog housing. They are voting for us every day from all six computers in their store. Do any of you have relationships with businesses that have multiple computers who might do the same?

If you have ideas for increasing our daily vote... If you have tried something that has worked... please email me so that I can share it in our daily Contest Update for others to try as well!

If you are not receiving these daily emails directly from me and would like to be added to my mailing list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.

Let's Shoot for .79% of the vote tomorrow!

Tragedy Strikes the Farm

Our Beautiful Eor




Ila Mae with Ricky






Ila Mae with Jay (Eor hidden in background)



Eor and Ila Mae, the two gentlest, sweetest donkeys to ever grace this world, are dead this morning.


They were victims of the savage electrical storm that swept through our part of the state overnight. Both babies were laying on the ground, nose to nose, beneath a huge tree that was split down the middle by lightning.




They died beneath the deceiving shelter of that massive tree, as they sought refuge during the storm. Both are victims of the lightning strike that severed the tree.


There are no words to describe the loss of these two special animals.




We will never again hear the playful hee-haw of our precious Eor as he gallps across the pasture. Never again will we kiss Ila Mae or Eor on their soft, velvety lips or put our arms around their necks and rub our faces against theirs.


Ila Mae has gone to join her precious baby, Aiden, whom we lost this past August. I hope that Eor and Ila Mae and Aiden are galloping happily over grassy fields in a place that is safe, where they are free from the pain and suffering of this life.


So many of you who have visited the farm know Eor and Ila Mae, the loving donkeys who would visit our guests and happily munch on treats of raisin bread or cinnamon rolls.


It is hard to imagine life on the farm without them. It will never, can never be the same.


We are devastated.

Jane Goes to Austin in Search of a Family!

Meet Jane. She came to the farm as a stray from a local family in Wharton.

On Friday, Doug drove her up to Houston to meet Deana, one of Smiling Dog Farms' Board Members who does many transports for us, as well.

Jane was Deana's house guest overnight, and on Saturday, Deana loaded her into the car and headed toward Austin.

Jane is now with Jennie, our Austin Adoption Partner. Jennie reports that Jane gets along well with the other dogs in her home. She also reports that Jane knows how to jump over the baby gate and scale the coffee table! lol

That said, Jane has been a good girl and has not had any accidents in the house!

Jennie is one of our valued Adoption Partners who take our dogs into their homes (or one of their fosters' homes) and just like My Fair Lady, teach our dogs the social graces -- like not to poop on the carpet or chew up the TV remote. This is an important step for our babies who live at the farm in their play yards on "dog rules". They need to learn how to behave with a family so that they will succeed in their adoptive placements.

Julie from Annie's Angels in Missouri City has been our Houston Adoption Partner since we began our adoption program in 2008. She is responsible for countless adoptable dogs from the farm finding loving families. Julie did the homestudy for Ella (see below).

And we are excited to have Elizabeth in Waller County coming on board as our newest Adoption Partner.

Our Adoption Partners are the backbone of our adoption program. They find good homes for our babies, and give adoptable dogs the opportunity to have families of their own. Our adoption partners ensure that our dogs find quality homes with families who will care for them and love them -- so they won't end up back at a shelter somewhere! My favorite part is when we get pictures and stories from the adopting families telling us how they are doing in their new homes!

We would like to have more Adoption Partners to help us place our adoptable dogs. If your rescue would consider partnering with us to help us find homes for our adoptable dogs, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com or call me at 979-559-1062. You don't have to be in or near Houston, or even Texas. We can arrange transports for dogs to travel back and forth between us. We would like to have an Adoption Partner in every major American city!

More News from the Farm...

Ella's transport is set for her to arrive at her new home with Tammy in New Hampshire on the 20th of November, just in time for Thanksgiving! Ella will have a lot to be thankful for this year! She will have her new family and will spend Thanksgiving Day in a cozy, warm New England home, enjoying her own turkey dinner! Thank you Tammy! And thank you Julie and Annie's Angels and Ed and Shauna and Pets In Need in Dracut, Massachusetts for making this adoption possible!

Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Update for Monday, Nov 1

Wish I Had Better News to Report!
Please vote today and every day from every computer you have access to! And please sign up ONE NEW VOTER ... who can then sign up one new voter... who will sign up a new voter... etc.
If there is any chance for us to win, that is how it will happen. Just click on this link to vote:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?

We are stuck. We are still sitting at .74% of the vote. Our high water mark was .76% a week ago. We have dropped .02% in a week!

While we are dropping, the $43 Million Dollar Man is still gaining. Up to 1.95% of the vote today. They have gained .02% in this past week, as we have lost .02% so the space between us is .04% more today than it was a week ago!

If you are not depressed enough yet, there is even worse news. Basenji Rescue of Texas is coming back strong and gaining on us every day for a week now! Just a week ago, the difference between them and us was 2.43%. The difference is now just 2.15%. We slipped another .07% just since Saturday! They have closed the gap between us by .28% in a single week!

That is the kind of stuff WE used to do!

We are still in 8th Place Nationally, but we cannot maintain that -- much less move forward -- without a whole lot of new votes and voters coming on board!

Our existing voter base is still voting daily. If they weren't we could not keep our total at .74%

But we need to add new votes daily to match Basenji Rescue... or they will soon overtake us and we may even fall out of the Top 10!

We need your vote... and we need you to go looking for new voters to add daily!

If you are not currently receiving these daily reminders directly from me and would like to be added to my database, please email me directly at hellerich@aol.com.

Sutherlands Home and Garden where we buy materials for building housing is voting daily from their six computers. Maybe you have vendors you deal with who would not mind taking a moment to vote from their business computers every day!

Let's Get Fired Up,

Team Smiling Dog!
Let's make our goal for tomorrow to be at .75% and moving UP!