It's probably the case that most of you reading this will be aware that our video showing the dogs being released into their new enclosure (in 2014) was licensed by ViralHog this June. They in turn sub-licensed it, and it went viral within hours, ultimately attracting 4.8m views (at the time of writing) on one site. What you don't necessarily know is that it was licensed to at least two other sites, with undisclosed counts for viewing; and then last week, on another where it again went viral, with 3.5m views (currently). We think it's reasonable to assume that at least 10m have now viewed it.
Whilst the licensing presented a much needed (if rather slim) income stream for us, what we couldn't control was how the licensees would be marketing the video in order to get people to watch it. We told ViralHog the full story, and directed them to our website. We explained that we ran a 'sanctuary' of sorts, and gave a forever home to certain specific dogs that were in rescue, and that we had dogs of our own that had not had such unfortunate experiences. Inevitably, the story is so complex that it couldn't be summed up in a brief strap line, and from a marketing perspective, it probably wouldn't be much of a draw anyway!
So when it appeared, we weren't wholly surprised that the description went no further than "Rescue dogs let out in their new run for first time". It was certainly snappier than "Pack of dogs, many of whom are rescues, get let out..." And of course it stopped a long way short of "Pack of dogs, most of whom are avatars and have been rescued at the behest of the etheric, get let out..."
Going viral is dependent upon the number of 'shares' a video receives. Tens of thousands of people have to feel compelled to publish it on their own social media sites before a video can even begin to attract viewings in the millions. But of those millions who get to see it, anyone can comment and anyone can pass judgement on what they believe they are seeing. So we were thrilled at the obvious pleasure it brought to so many. Literally tens of thousands expressed their 'liking' and thousands commented on their joy at seeing the dogs running in the freedom of their new playground. It was quite heartwarming for us that huge numbers expressed their desire to be able to offer something similar to dogs if the opportunity presented itself. Some were even moved to tears by what they saw.
But a very limited number expressed total cynicism about what they were seeing.
Their responses fell into three categories.
When I saw category 1 feedback, I added my own comments, pointing out that they looked good because they had already been rescued and were now well cared for and loved. But really, I didn't need to do this because plenty of other commentators made this rather obvious point.
With the Leonberger feedback, naturally enough, with the wording headlining the video, everyone assumed that every single dog was a rescue, and I found it necessary to explain the circumstances to several concerned parties. Nonetheless, some felt it necessary to tell me about the vast desire amongst the population to own Leonbergers, or even give me lectures about their temperament and their unsuitability for living in a pack environment. They seemed to jump to the conclusion that we were idiots who didn’t have the experience to know what we were doing. Quite apart from the immensely patronising nature of some of this input, the dubious 'expertise' being touted and the assumption that they knew the breed so much better than us, belied the fact that they were mostly uninformed and had precious little knowledge of how all dogs actually get on in packs. I recalled my first experiences of meeting with the breed, both times at breeders with numbers far in excess of ours. I shook my head in disbelief at the sheer guff other people were trying to convince me of. Clearly, they had precious little experience of what real pack living (i.e. more than half a dozen dogs) is like for dogs, yet still they felt that they should criticise.
But the comments in the last category ranged from the out-and-out foolish to the positively vitriolic. Several individuals were quite insistent that this couldn't possibly be a rescue simply because the dogs were purebred and because they had never seen anything like us before. And one particularly nasty and unpleasant individual was quite certain that we were running a scam operation, breeding dogs and using them for profit via some other nefarious means.
Her opening declaration was simply that we couldn't possibly be a rescue. I looked her up on FB and noted photos of her with dogs and horses, so assumed she must be an animal lover and took the time to explain that she was technically correct, if her definition was one that defined 'rescue' as a half-way house between rejection and a new home (which is, in fairness, the way most people seem to perceive of it). I clarified that we were more of a sanctuary, since the dogs that came to us from rescue were given a forever home.
She would have none of it. "Where are the mutts" she demanded. "You can't be a rescue if you only have purebred dogs." Arguments about purebreds needing help were deemed irrelevant by her. "Why don't you take mutts?" she repeatedly raged, clearly highly offended by the apparent absence of them. Even pointing out that we have 5, and there are actually 4 in the video, was to no avail.
To a limited number of commentators, I had explained the 'truth' of what we do, pointing them in the direction of this SDAA website and allowing them to explore the whole piece about avatars. We were delighted when one sainted individual who had actually identified them as angels in her comment, immediately signed up as a sponsor. But being ushered to this place and seeing the explanation on our website didn't impress this particular antagonist one iota. Instead, she was back with even more vitriol, decrying everything that was written on our website as "BS", and accusing us of every dog related conspiracy under the sun.
I questioned whether or not she really believed that we would have a website and that I would have written three books if we were disingenuous? "It's all just a front" she declared. She then revealed that she had 'exposed' no less than seven fake dog rescues, and that she would be informing on us to the charities commission and the revenue services. She was appalled by our big house, car and plane. Clearly we were using the dogs to live off and support our luxurious lifestyle.
I had to laugh. I pointed out that although our house may be large by Irish standards (she was from Belfast) it wasn't so big for Canada, and that anyway, we don't actually own it. I explained that the car was 10 years old and beginning to cost us dearly for repairs. And as for the plane..? Clearly, she had mistakenly assumed that the photo on one of our webpages of a dog and a plane featured me, not realising it is actually the very kind guy from Pilots for Paws who flew Boo from Utah to Idaho so that we could rescue her without so much driving! So I invited her to please contact both of the aforementioned institutions. "Please do your worst!" I asked. "But don't be surprised when you hear that they have discovered that we are just as we appear to be".
By now, my tolerance was wearing thin. I wasn't comfortable with this barely-out-of-teens, very rude and clearly rather poisonous young lady impeaching our integrity and leveling such ludicrous accusation at us; and worse, she was by now attacking other observers who had commented in my defence. Nonetheless, I offered to put her in touch with people who were aware of what we do. "Why would I want to talk to people you've bribed" she spat back at me. "I have a friend who has 32 dogs and she keeps them all and they're all mutts. Why can't you answer my question? Why don't you have any mutts?"
Big sigh from me.
"As I have already explained, because the dogs we have are the ones we're guided to rescue".
Another dismissive and abusive tirade followed before I ended the conversation by asserting that clearly the truth meant little to her. I mailed her the websites of our vets, both past and present, suggesting that perhaps if she was really that concerned, she might want to contact them and reveal her insidious assertions to them. Surely she could believe their responses? When there was no further comment, I blocked her.
[NB. I have removed the insults and toned down the deeply unpleasant and personal manner in which her comments were actually made.]
There is a certain vulnerability that results from laying aspects of your life out in a book, but far more when you allow it to be seen online where attacks can be immediate and insatiable. Frankly, I found all three lines of critical thinking simultaneously hurtful and really, plain stupid. Obviously, there is no way from the video that people can instantly grasp the truth of what they are seeing, nor know of the story behind it. But before they feel able to judge and criticise, perhaps they could at least do their research.
Although the attempts to rubbish us only formed a minuscule minority of the feedback, it was upsetting. When you have poured so much love and energy into creating a place like this, to have somebody, in an ill-informed and accusatory manner try to lay waste to what you have so much passion for, it is unpallatable. It grated when people either overtly or tacitly implied that we could not possibly be giving the dogs the individual attention they desire, when they have no notion of the reality of our lives with them, and cannot know just how much we adore them.
The depth of the cynicism is perhaps understandable in a society such as we have created today, but nonetheless, to attack without attempt to discover or comprehend the truth behind what you are seeing is something I struggle to reconcile with. Yet frankly, I see evidence of short-sightedness or plain unwillingness to look at the truth of a situation everywhere.
I guess the purebred dog thing got my goat the most. When I saw such comments generally, I asked those who made them if they imagined that pure bred dogs do not find their way into rescue?
I asked them to explain to me why on earth purebreds are less needy, less worthy and less at risk once they find their way into kill shelters?
Isn’t thinking that way almost a form of doggie racism?
And when they responded (as some did) that there are many breed specific rescues out there with waiting lists of people anxious to take dogs, I wondered where they were when our dogs had their hour of need?
To some, I pointed out that during the worst of the credit crunch in the US, purebred dogs were shed like so much loose hair, irrespective of their breed or original cost.
I explained that if they but searched for them, there were still tens of thousands on the likes of Petfinder.com.
I'm sure much of this unsolicited input was well intended, but it was upsetting to be told that we should be surrendering our dogs to breed specific rescues. I had a number of stock responses for this one:
With very few did I feel the compunction to reveal the whole truth and explain why avatars very much prefer purebred dogs because of the relative ease with which they might then arrive with their chosen guardians. I’m quite sure that of those millions of viewers, few would have had the interest, the patience or even the open mindedness to discover the truth behind the video. But I still found it rather a tragic indictment that there were those who looked for the negative rather than the positive, and obviously did so with malicious intent, without even attempting to research what they were seeing.
What are we coming to when we can’t see joy and accept it as such; when we can’t recognise creatures that are well cared for and loved without overlaying what is before us with snide thoughts, suspicion and scepticism?
So on the one hand, whilst we are very pleased that so many have found joy and have taken so much pleasure in watching the dog’s antics on that happy day, it is a disappointment that going viral does not necessarily mean helping all of those who, unaware or not, are on their ascension pathway.
NB. The photo is of Boo, (the passenger from the plane) a purebred and VERY worthy dog.
Whilst the licensing presented a much needed (if rather slim) income stream for us, what we couldn't control was how the licensees would be marketing the video in order to get people to watch it. We told ViralHog the full story, and directed them to our website. We explained that we ran a 'sanctuary' of sorts, and gave a forever home to certain specific dogs that were in rescue, and that we had dogs of our own that had not had such unfortunate experiences. Inevitably, the story is so complex that it couldn't be summed up in a brief strap line, and from a marketing perspective, it probably wouldn't be much of a draw anyway!
So when it appeared, we weren't wholly surprised that the description went no further than "Rescue dogs let out in their new run for first time". It was certainly snappier than "Pack of dogs, many of whom are rescues, get let out..." And of course it stopped a long way short of "Pack of dogs, most of whom are avatars and have been rescued at the behest of the etheric, get let out..."
Going viral is dependent upon the number of 'shares' a video receives. Tens of thousands of people have to feel compelled to publish it on their own social media sites before a video can even begin to attract viewings in the millions. But of those millions who get to see it, anyone can comment and anyone can pass judgement on what they believe they are seeing. So we were thrilled at the obvious pleasure it brought to so many. Literally tens of thousands expressed their 'liking' and thousands commented on their joy at seeing the dogs running in the freedom of their new playground. It was quite heartwarming for us that huge numbers expressed their desire to be able to offer something similar to dogs if the opportunity presented itself. Some were even moved to tears by what they saw.
But a very limited number expressed total cynicism about what they were seeing.
Their responses fell into three categories.
- Those who didn't believe they could be rescue dogs because they looked too well cared for.
- Those who didn’t believe it could be a rescue because of the Leonbergers.
- Those who thought they couldn't be rescue dogs because they were all purebred dogs.
When I saw category 1 feedback, I added my own comments, pointing out that they looked good because they had already been rescued and were now well cared for and loved. But really, I didn't need to do this because plenty of other commentators made this rather obvious point.
With the Leonberger feedback, naturally enough, with the wording headlining the video, everyone assumed that every single dog was a rescue, and I found it necessary to explain the circumstances to several concerned parties. Nonetheless, some felt it necessary to tell me about the vast desire amongst the population to own Leonbergers, or even give me lectures about their temperament and their unsuitability for living in a pack environment. They seemed to jump to the conclusion that we were idiots who didn’t have the experience to know what we were doing. Quite apart from the immensely patronising nature of some of this input, the dubious 'expertise' being touted and the assumption that they knew the breed so much better than us, belied the fact that they were mostly uninformed and had precious little knowledge of how all dogs actually get on in packs. I recalled my first experiences of meeting with the breed, both times at breeders with numbers far in excess of ours. I shook my head in disbelief at the sheer guff other people were trying to convince me of. Clearly, they had precious little experience of what real pack living (i.e. more than half a dozen dogs) is like for dogs, yet still they felt that they should criticise.
But the comments in the last category ranged from the out-and-out foolish to the positively vitriolic. Several individuals were quite insistent that this couldn't possibly be a rescue simply because the dogs were purebred and because they had never seen anything like us before. And one particularly nasty and unpleasant individual was quite certain that we were running a scam operation, breeding dogs and using them for profit via some other nefarious means.
Her opening declaration was simply that we couldn't possibly be a rescue. I looked her up on FB and noted photos of her with dogs and horses, so assumed she must be an animal lover and took the time to explain that she was technically correct, if her definition was one that defined 'rescue' as a half-way house between rejection and a new home (which is, in fairness, the way most people seem to perceive of it). I clarified that we were more of a sanctuary, since the dogs that came to us from rescue were given a forever home.
She would have none of it. "Where are the mutts" she demanded. "You can't be a rescue if you only have purebred dogs." Arguments about purebreds needing help were deemed irrelevant by her. "Why don't you take mutts?" she repeatedly raged, clearly highly offended by the apparent absence of them. Even pointing out that we have 5, and there are actually 4 in the video, was to no avail.
To a limited number of commentators, I had explained the 'truth' of what we do, pointing them in the direction of this SDAA website and allowing them to explore the whole piece about avatars. We were delighted when one sainted individual who had actually identified them as angels in her comment, immediately signed up as a sponsor. But being ushered to this place and seeing the explanation on our website didn't impress this particular antagonist one iota. Instead, she was back with even more vitriol, decrying everything that was written on our website as "BS", and accusing us of every dog related conspiracy under the sun.
I questioned whether or not she really believed that we would have a website and that I would have written three books if we were disingenuous? "It's all just a front" she declared. She then revealed that she had 'exposed' no less than seven fake dog rescues, and that she would be informing on us to the charities commission and the revenue services. She was appalled by our big house, car and plane. Clearly we were using the dogs to live off and support our luxurious lifestyle.
I had to laugh. I pointed out that although our house may be large by Irish standards (she was from Belfast) it wasn't so big for Canada, and that anyway, we don't actually own it. I explained that the car was 10 years old and beginning to cost us dearly for repairs. And as for the plane..? Clearly, she had mistakenly assumed that the photo on one of our webpages of a dog and a plane featured me, not realising it is actually the very kind guy from Pilots for Paws who flew Boo from Utah to Idaho so that we could rescue her without so much driving! So I invited her to please contact both of the aforementioned institutions. "Please do your worst!" I asked. "But don't be surprised when you hear that they have discovered that we are just as we appear to be".
By now, my tolerance was wearing thin. I wasn't comfortable with this barely-out-of-teens, very rude and clearly rather poisonous young lady impeaching our integrity and leveling such ludicrous accusation at us; and worse, she was by now attacking other observers who had commented in my defence. Nonetheless, I offered to put her in touch with people who were aware of what we do. "Why would I want to talk to people you've bribed" she spat back at me. "I have a friend who has 32 dogs and she keeps them all and they're all mutts. Why can't you answer my question? Why don't you have any mutts?"
Big sigh from me.
"As I have already explained, because the dogs we have are the ones we're guided to rescue".
Another dismissive and abusive tirade followed before I ended the conversation by asserting that clearly the truth meant little to her. I mailed her the websites of our vets, both past and present, suggesting that perhaps if she was really that concerned, she might want to contact them and reveal her insidious assertions to them. Surely she could believe their responses? When there was no further comment, I blocked her.
[NB. I have removed the insults and toned down the deeply unpleasant and personal manner in which her comments were actually made.]
There is a certain vulnerability that results from laying aspects of your life out in a book, but far more when you allow it to be seen online where attacks can be immediate and insatiable. Frankly, I found all three lines of critical thinking simultaneously hurtful and really, plain stupid. Obviously, there is no way from the video that people can instantly grasp the truth of what they are seeing, nor know of the story behind it. But before they feel able to judge and criticise, perhaps they could at least do their research.
Although the attempts to rubbish us only formed a minuscule minority of the feedback, it was upsetting. When you have poured so much love and energy into creating a place like this, to have somebody, in an ill-informed and accusatory manner try to lay waste to what you have so much passion for, it is unpallatable. It grated when people either overtly or tacitly implied that we could not possibly be giving the dogs the individual attention they desire, when they have no notion of the reality of our lives with them, and cannot know just how much we adore them.
The depth of the cynicism is perhaps understandable in a society such as we have created today, but nonetheless, to attack without attempt to discover or comprehend the truth behind what you are seeing is something I struggle to reconcile with. Yet frankly, I see evidence of short-sightedness or plain unwillingness to look at the truth of a situation everywhere.
I guess the purebred dog thing got my goat the most. When I saw such comments generally, I asked those who made them if they imagined that pure bred dogs do not find their way into rescue?
I asked them to explain to me why on earth purebreds are less needy, less worthy and less at risk once they find their way into kill shelters?
Isn’t thinking that way almost a form of doggie racism?
And when they responded (as some did) that there are many breed specific rescues out there with waiting lists of people anxious to take dogs, I wondered where they were when our dogs had their hour of need?
To some, I pointed out that during the worst of the credit crunch in the US, purebred dogs were shed like so much loose hair, irrespective of their breed or original cost.
I explained that if they but searched for them, there were still tens of thousands on the likes of Petfinder.com.
I'm sure much of this unsolicited input was well intended, but it was upsetting to be told that we should be surrendering our dogs to breed specific rescues. I had a number of stock responses for this one:
- Do the dogs look unhappy?
- How would losing a forever home in which they are happy benefit the dogs?
- How would it be kind to the dogs, some of which are on their second, third or even as many as sixth home, to be uprooted again?
- How would the dogs themselves feel to be displaced again?
- Would a breed specific rescue be able to find a better home than we can offer?
- Are there lots of owners out there who actually devote their lives to their dogs, never leave them alone, feed them a raw food diet, give them free access to a 4 acre play area, invite them to live as family members, and love and cherish them as if they are their children?
- Would you like to give up your children?
With very few did I feel the compunction to reveal the whole truth and explain why avatars very much prefer purebred dogs because of the relative ease with which they might then arrive with their chosen guardians. I’m quite sure that of those millions of viewers, few would have had the interest, the patience or even the open mindedness to discover the truth behind the video. But I still found it rather a tragic indictment that there were those who looked for the negative rather than the positive, and obviously did so with malicious intent, without even attempting to research what they were seeing.
What are we coming to when we can’t see joy and accept it as such; when we can’t recognise creatures that are well cared for and loved without overlaying what is before us with snide thoughts, suspicion and scepticism?
So on the one hand, whilst we are very pleased that so many have found joy and have taken so much pleasure in watching the dog’s antics on that happy day, it is a disappointment that going viral does not necessarily mean helping all of those who, unaware or not, are on their ascension pathway.
NB. The photo is of Boo, (the passenger from the plane) a purebred and VERY worthy dog.