Former Best Friends resident, Dundee Boy and his friend Scruffy Doo win contest thanks to Network collaboration.
By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Staff
When Best Friends Network member
Yvette Pina posted a plea for others to vote for her dogs Dundee Boy and Scruffy Doo in her blog,
Dundee Boy Comes Home, Tails of Animal Rescue & TNR Endeavors, little did she realize that Dundee’s legions of fans were up to the challenge.
For years, the television station
WCIU, THE U has always been closely associated with the canines included in their station identifications and is known throughout Chicago as “the dog channel.” However, after a re-launch of their website in February, they extended their animal-friendly identity with an even greater pet presence, UDog and Friends. While they are heavily promoting the Top Dog contest, which only started in April, the site also includes informative videos, dog breed information, and web links to local shelters and rescues.
The first Top Dog contest began in April as a way to give their viewers the opportunity to participate more. Local dogs and their guardians are invited to “dog-ditions,” where canine participants are filmed performing. Although this program is new, people and dogs already line up around the block to be given the chance to strut their stuff. 20 dogs are selected per month to be featured in promotional spots shown on the hour and half hour and web site visitors can vote for the dog they wish to become Top Dog.
While station representatives had hoped the new program would generate interest, they are amazed at the attention it has received. “Honestly, it was huge,” noted Christine Harland, Director of the WCIU website. “In the last two closing days of the contest, we tipped all the traffic on the website, because people are really logging in to vote and it’s not only the people that are participating; it’s people beyond that. The response is enormous; it’s really doubled our traffic.”
Future site plans include the addition of wildlife and cats, the ability for viewers to input their area code to receive a listing of local animal oriented resources and services, and for the pubic to send in their own content, such as videos and themed photos.
The path to fameYvette and her husband Frank first became aware of WCIU when they were not able to access cable television in a new room they had built to foster cats who had contracted feline leukemia (FeLV). They saw different dogs featured during the commercial breaks and wanted to know how their own dogs could participate. WCIU’s website gave instructions on how to audition, which they attended in March.
Instead of the typical single dog, the Pinas brought both their canine family members; Scruffy Doo who was adopted from
The Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago back in 2002 and Dundee Boy who was from
The Garden at Dogtown Heights at
Best Friends Animal Society, adopted in 2006. Yvette was nervous at the audition with around 100 dogs in the same room, despite having walked Dundee Boy approximately four miles prior to show time to tire him out. When being filmed, her dogs needed to be off leash and Yvette stated, “I was just praying under my breath, Dundee please do not knock over the $10,000 camera.” Despite feeling like a stage mom, she need not have worried as both pups performed like professionals. They were each selected to publicize
The King of Queens and were eligible in the vote for May Top Dog.
Yvette was surprised by the amount of attention her dogs have received on the Network. She was contacted by people from across the nation who had remembered Dundee Boy from past visits to Best Friends, had adopted another one of the Garden dogs, or who followed his exploits on her blog. Everyone was supporting them in their quest to become Top Dog. “It felt so nice that so many people cared and were having fun with it too.” She is so thankful for everyone’s caring, voting, and thoughtfulness.
The race to glory
On May 5th, after Yvette’s request, Dundee and Scruffy were only at 0.16% of the vote - far from the lead. The contest was featured with an
article in the Chicago community on May 9th and word quickly spread; however, since the voting process took so long they remained stagnant with only around 4% through May 13th. It was seemingly impossible to catch up to the leader.
May 14th will be a day to be remembered when fellow Network member,
Catblessed, had an epiphany. She had discovered a shortcut that significantly reduced the amount of time it took to submit a vote. After she posted, from that point on there was no stopping the determined group. That day alone they raised their score up multiple percentage points. On May 16th, they passed formerly third place Chico and by May 17th they overtook McBiskit for second, but everyone’s eyes were on the top spot Bear had held since the beginning.
Winning suddenly became a mission; rescued dogs versus purebreds and nothing was going to keep Dundee and Scruffy down, not even the threat of carpal tunnel syndrome. Morning, noon, and night, Network members from around the globe helped support their own. On May 22nd their dream became a real possibility, when Dundee Boy snatched the coveted lead from Bear; however, voting did not end until midnight on May 31st. There could be no slacking; Dundee and Scruffy’s new position had to be protected.
Bear’s supporters never quit fighting to regain their lead and the competition was fierce for the next week. Voting continued and no one knows the number of hours Network members spent clicking away to vote. In the end Dundee received over 38%, which represented 35,814 votes. To further put this in perspective, 94,157 votes were cast in May, opposed to 24,265 votes in April. While some of that can be attributed to the WCIU promotions, there can be no doubt that the Best Friends Network had a “paw” in the significant increase.
A photo of Scruffy Doo is now posted on the WCIU website for the month, with a link featuring not only the dogs, but also Yvette and Frank introducing them. In addition, the station is airing a special promotional spot on television that includes a ribbon graphic that says “Top Dog for May.” Ironically, Yvette has only seen the segment featuring Scruffy Doo. Friends around the city have texted her when they view Dundee Boy, but she herself has yet to see any of his commercials televised. Luckily they will also receive a DVD of their interview and promotional spots.
Fortunately their fame and success have not gone to their heads, though both Dundee Boy and Scruffy Doo continue to receive daily hugs and kisses. However, Dundee Boy’s numerous fans will have a couple opportunities to see their favorite Best Friends graduate later this month. He is making an appearance at the Dogs Deserve Better
Chain-Off Main Chicago Event on Saturday, June 28 at 11:00 AM at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. Dundee Boy will assist Yvette as she represents Best Friends as an
Ambassador. For those outside of the Chicago-land area, on June 19th at 11:00 AM central, you can view Dundee Boy during a doggy daycare fieldtrip to the pool. Tune in to the
webcam and log in with username: camview and password: camview.
Yvette is so touched that people, even those far from Chicago, became so invested in the competition. “It’s amazing how people unite. They unite for fun stuff and they unite for really important causes, for animals in distress and for animals in need. But it’s so great that it’s not just a bunch of radical or crazy people, it’s people who really care about the animals and can do fun stuff like this.” There were some people who took it very seriously and stayed up all night supporting Dundee and Scruffy, and even Frank and Yvette would stay up late and delay doing their chores, as they spent time online voting.
Dundee Boy and Scruffy Doo may have proved victorious; however, the real winners are all the individuals involved. How wonderful that a diverse group of people, most who have never met in person, could come together to support one another in such a way.
That is the power of the Best Friends Network.
It is not over though. Please start a training regiment to strengthen your mouse finger, as WCIU is planning an end of year Top Dog competition. Each month’s winners will be invited back to the studio to once again promote their pooches. Stay tuned for more information.
Now, where is that ice bath to soak my aching hand in again?
THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:1.
AdoptWhile voting for this particular contest is over, both Dundee Boy and Scruffy Doo have proved that rescue dogs
are winners. When selecting a new companion animal, please consider adopting your next pet from shelters or rescue organizations such as
The Anti-Cruelty Society or
Best Friends Animal Society. For those in other geographic areas, please consider searching through
Petfinder to find your perfect match.
2.
VolunteerAre you inspired by the feeling of community among Network members? If you want to help the Network become a better place, please consider signing up to become a
Best Friends Network Volunteer. Help is needed with writing stories, moderating forums, maintaining community calendars and more. If you are interested in more information, please contact
brandib@bestfriends.org.
Ambassadors are also needed to represent Best Friends at events around the country. For more information, please contact,
elleng@bestfriends.org.
3.
SupportJoin Dundee Boy in his support of
Dogs Deserve Better. The Chicago-land area is hosting this year’s national Chain-Off event, where Tammy Grimes and other advocates will chain themselves for 24 hours to raise awareness and funds to cease the tethering of dogs.
Date: Saturday, June 28
Time: 11:00 AM
Place: DuPage County Fairgrounds
Wheaton, Illinois
Cost: public admission is free
For more information:•
Vote for Dundee Boy! article•
Dundee Boy Comes Home, Tails of Animal Rescue & TNR Endeavors blog•
WCIU, THE U – to see their video, scroll down and click on “PETS How do I get my dog on TV?”, then click on “Congratulations to Scruffy Doo and Dundee Boy for winning May’s top dog!” under the May Top Dog photo. While there, also check out their many informative videos.
•
Scruffy Doo and Dundee Boy promotional advertisements on YouTubePhoto credit: pictures provided courtesy of Yvette Pina