Puppy's Advice About Contests...

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!