Updated 2/24/10
A little over five months ago, a cartoonist friend and I were wrestling with a book project that seemed like it was taking forever to complete. "Wouldn't it be nice," said Jim George to me, "If we didn't have to work through a publisher and editor and publicist and..." You get the idea.
The next day, Jim woke up with a fully formed idea for a website that featured black and white dog cartoons that seem to draw themselves. Three days later, we had a basic site up and running. Since then, we've posted a new cartoon every day except for Sundays. This is not so much due to our religious beliefs, but mostly because we are tired by then.
We already knew how much people love dogs. But it is one thing to be aware of something, and another to experience it deeply. Since that first week, we have received wave after wave of heartfelt stories. Some describe their new puppies. Other describe long-lost dogs, whose memories return when the owners take the time to share his or her stories with us.
People from 108 countries have discovered our site. The first big wave came from Finland; we're not sure how. Lately, we've been getting a growing number of stories from the UK, Australia and South Africa.
Along the way, we've been trying to think of some way to support the many thousands of dog rescue groups. For example, we published a color "Rescue Me" cartoon that any rescue group can use for free, as part of a fundraising effort on their behalf.
As I type this, my latest rescue dog - an Australian Shepherd/Doberman puppy named Hadley - is sitting at my feet having a blast eating an envelope. From time to time, she licks or bites my feet. It's hard to be too serious with a dog around, which is one reason why so many people own and love dogs.
Our goal is simple - make people smile.
By the way, this story - which I originally posted in November - has spurred quite a few blogs and media outlets to request that they be able to let a Draw the Dog cartoon draw itself on their pages. We invite others to do the same; the surprise factor grabs readers' attentions.
Okay, enough words. Back to the cartoons.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
Thanks for this. It’s a little bit of genius I think.
Rated and appreciated
Subscribed.
Thanks!!
BTW - my dog would enjoy his own private mountain of underwear.