What am I going to do?

Dear Reader,
I just received the following email from the winner of the Have You Seen My Dog? contest.  I have also posted my reply.  Do you think the FTC or the FCC or the F-some-other-Big-Brother Commission will get me if I don't award this prize?  These are murky waters I've entered.  I can already feel creepy black critters bumping against my ankles.

Dear Annie,
Thank you for selecting me to be the big human/dog face winner. Except for a deluxe Barbie and Ken wedding gift set (she was bald with three wigs!), I have never won anything else. I KNEW I had it in me! However, seeing that you sent me books already (Thank You by the way), I decline the prize. It does concern me though, that so many people buy dogs which look like them…or do we morph into looking like them? Either way, I’m staying away from Shar-peis …

Dear Terry,
I had to smile when you said I'd selected you to be the Big Human/Dog Face winner. No wonder you don't want to accept the prize. It doesn't sound like a very complimentary contest to have won.  I, for one, wouldn't want to be known as the Big Human Dog Face. But seriously now. I send my hearty congratulations on the Barbie and Ken Wedding Gift set. I'm breathless that I even know you. In all my years of Barbie-philia, I never dreamed that such a treasure existed. Wow. Barbie Wigs. I'd love to just hold one; to feel the thrill of stretching it over Barbie's bald head. And you WON three. You are so lucky. So cool, kid. So groovy.

Now, as for Human/Dog Morphing Syndrome.  This is an important theory and it deserves great consideration.  I'll bet that's what's going on with my droopy body: It thinks I own a Shar-Pei!  This settles it; I am buying a greyhound.

And finally, you HAVE to accept your prize.  I'm sorry, you just do.    My vast, dedicated and trusting blog audience will be so disillusioned if I don't pay up.  And now, they all know.

Love, Annie

Editor's note: The above picture is not of Terry.  Rather, it is- 

Jan Vermeer – A Lady Writing
1665-66, oil on canvas 18 x 16 in.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

And the winner is . . .

Congratulations to Terry from Rhode Island!  You're the Grand Prize winner in SkinnyLink's, Have You Seen My Dog? contest!  Please drop me an email with your mailing address and your choice of gift certificates: PetsMart or Barnes and Nobel, and we'll get that $25 gift card out to you right away! Oh yes, I also offered good old U.S. greenback dollars,--25 of 'em,--so if you'd rather have that, I'm happy to oblige. I figured it out: Back in the olden days, when I was a freshman in college, paying my own rent and buying my own food and gas, this same $25 would have bought me over 100 gallons of gas!  You heard me, I said over ONE HUNDRED gallons! True story. The station down the street from my little apartment (the one where the peeping Tom scared the bejeebers out of all of us--twice!) sold gas for only 24 cents per gallon!  So, Terry, if you'd like me to send the cashola, I'm happy to oblige. But please don't spend it on gas. I'm not even going to do the math on that; it's just too depressing.  A n y w a y . . . thanks to everyone who dropped by the SkinnyLink to play the doggie game!  I love you all--really, I do! 

Photo credit: chantalzoe.blogspot.com

Found my dog! First round winners!

Well, all I can say is, there are some pretty smart puppies out there reading the SkinnyLink! Congratulations to our FIRST ROUND PRIZE WINNERS:

• lyn.
• gemma
• terry
• nancy sue
• kathy 
• michael
• heather
• pierces
• max and duke (of barefoot gypsy girl)
• amy
• shelly
• stephanie
• votistdot (oh!  I just got it!  hahahahaha!)
• barry
• raleigh- who's answers weren't EXACTLY right, but wins honorable mention as our youngest player!

Now, I know that some of you feel pretty darn strongly that certain dogs from this pack would be a lot better suited to owners other than the ones they're matched with here. I feel your pain. This has got to be really tough. Why don't you take a deep breath and sleep on it tonight. If, by tomorrow morning, this is still an issue for you, drop me an email, and we'll have a good talk about it. I have a feeling you're gonna be fine, I'm just sure of it.

But, disappointment and heartache aside, I would like to offer a Big SkinnyLink congratulations to all of you lucky First Round winners!  Your names will go into our giant diamond studded doggie bowl for the big drawing this weekend. Tune in again on Monday to see who our LUCKY Grand Prize winner will be! 

And Raleigh, good job! You WON a pack of ORANGE TIC-TACS!  Watch for them in the mail!  and thanks for playing! I love you, Grammie

Have you seen my dog? Win $25!

Once upon a time, Cesar Dog Food ran a clever ad where they posted pictures of the supposed winners of an "I Look Like My Dog" contest. Supposed? Was the contest even real? I'm sorry, I have no clue. But this contest is real! And, there's a $25 prize on the table. Want to give it a try?  Scroll through the pictures of these dogs and their humans, and see if you can match each dog with his or her human. I'll give you the easiest one: Human #1 belongs to Dog F.  See how easy that is? Once you've matched all six pairs, post your guesses under COMMENTS below, and on Friday, I'll post the answers--along with the names of our first round winners. Then, over the weekend, my puppies and I will randomly select a lucky Grand Prize winner from all the first round winning entries. Grand Prize: A $25 gift certificate to PetsMart! (Not a pet owner? If you're our winner, we'll come up with a $25 gift card that works for you. How about Barnes and Noble? Or just plain green dollars?  You tell me.) All you have to do is start matching.  Best of luck to all! 

All photos found online, without any sort of attribution.  I assume they belong to the CESAR Pet Food Company.  Click here: CESAR for link to special offers.