** WENDELL SPITZ THE WANDERING DOG **

[eskieagilitygal]

Helene spent some time drawing up the general rules of the game to get this going.  They are as follows, I have added some eliments in italic for clearification.

1.   In order to get the ball rolling and avoid duplicate purchases, Tammy will purchase the stuffed dog (so Helene thinks - Maybe/Maybe not... I may have a trick or two up my sleeve) and send it to the 1st participant in the game.

2.   To be able to have a better control on the game, Tammy will act as Coordinator/Dispatcher. Those interested in the Wendell game must notify her as soon as possible through E-Mail (Eskiegal@cinci.rr.com) with  username, real name & address. She’ll make sure that Wendell gets to your home at some point in the game. Don’t worry; you will be notified in advance that it's on its way so you can start planning your photo shoot.

3.   She will inform the current holder where to ship it next AND the person next in line to expect a package to arrive shortly so in turn they can get ready. This is done to make sure that Wendell will be on time at major events he is scheduled to attend. After all, our mascot has an important role to play too.

4.   We request that you try to limit your time with Wendell to no more than two weeks in order not to stall the game. Preferrably one week, but we know how time can get away from you.

5.   To keep the suspense during its transit from one home to the next, a picture(s) with Wendell alone at the “actual” surprise site will be taken. People will have to try to guess which town (member) Wendell is in. After a few shots at the guessing game, the 2nd set of picture(s) (of member and/or its’ dog(s) taken at the same site as the original picture will be posted. The mystery will then be solved (if not done with 1st set of pictures).

6.   To keep the “secrecy” of who took the pictures, you will be sending your pictures to Tammy.  She will make sure they are posted on the board.

7.   We ask you to make sure to wrap Wendell properly to avoid any damage to it and do not forget to put sufficient stamps on the package (and a return address just in case).   We would not want Wendell wandering into the wrong hands or worse end up at  a Lost & Found somewhere all alone.

8.   To make it interesting in passing along Wendell, the person sending Wendell off to the next one could include (and it is not mandatory) something like a tourist guide from their towns (those are free) or a fridge magnet for instance or something commemorating their own town (or area).  Example:  A Buckeye from a Buckeye Tree for Ohio (The Buckeye State).    No needs to spend a fortune as little things like that are free or minimal costs (way under $5). It’s just for the fun of seeing what is interesting in other towns across the counties. Might as well make this an educational game at the same time. Why not!

9.   Have fun and let the game begin!!!!!!

-----

Wendell will appear this weekend and his first journey will begin shortly after.  So get those e-mails to me, so I can determine where he will be going next.   

[vlynn]

I thought of this.
If Wendell is going to travel in a plastic box ... we could make a small sticker to represent luggage labels with the places he has traveled and stick them on the box.
Like they used to do when people traveled with trunks.

http://www.hellotraveler.com/detail.aspx?ID=264&Name=American-Byways-Luggage-Labels

[eskieagilitygal]

Great Idea!!!  All tourist/gift shops have stickers with state name/attraction name. We'll just need to keep them small as possible.   But we could line the inside and outside of the box with the stickers.

I'm also going to PM Michael and ask if he'll make a Wendell Map, so we can see him journey as he moves around.

[vlynn]

Cool. A map would be fun to follow Wendell's travels, if Michael agrees.

[Roxbear]

I'm having a dumb moment here--if we take Wendall's picture at a well known place in our town, then where's the suspense?   

[Saint Mom]

It won't be that easy Roxbear all the time. You don't need to see the Statue of Liberty...it could be anything. For instance, even if I took a pic of our olympic stadium, it's not everyone who would have known what it looked like.

Google images might come in verrrry handy at some point.

And it will turn into an educational discussion too.

[Roxbear]

OK--at first (I didn't thoroughly read through this thread from the beginning) I thought the place of notoriety where we take the picture should be identified (for instance, if I took a picture at Sea World--get the sign in the picture).

*And I just had a good idea if I could make it work....

[UKTWA]

This sounds like it is going to be so much fun     

[Saint Mom]

It can be this also (with the name). Even if it said Sea World...there are many sea worlds out there. It is a game for fun. Nothing to go over the board trying to get THE perfect thing. It can turn out to be an hilarious picture as much as a serious one. No rules for those! Have fun! That is the motto!

[snowballsmom]

I'm also going to PM Michael and ask if he'll make a Wendell Map, so we can see him journey as he moves around.

maybe throw one in the box with him and have people mark where he's been in marker, too?

[Eskielvr]

Can we take multiple pictures of different areas? For example, our mailing address is Columbus, but we don't actually live there. While there are a few things I can think of in Columbus, I'd rather go to some local places here and share these town's history.

[Saint Mom]

Do as you wish Melissa. Nothing complicated! But limit to one picture if possible to stick to the game.

[Avalanche]

I still want to know if I live in a town where there is really nothing around that ANYONE would recognize, how would you participate?  This is far from being a tourist site :0)  I suppose I could find something but not to sure anyone would ever guess "where in the world Wendell is now"
I am considering joining but I don't want to take the fun out of it for everyone. 

[Blizard's Mom]

Avalanche - perhaps just a town sign with the population on it would work - a quick trip to the Library may dig up some historical places close by - lots of Civil War sites still exist or The Underground Railroad  , Westward Expansion  - if it's something that would make the rest of us dig then we all learn a little more about this great world!  Most of the fun is in seeing where Wendell shows up next and taking the pictures anyway.  Don't worry about it too much! 

[UKTWA]

I think that will be the fun. because alot of town we live in no one has ever heard of. This way when he is in a town we know nothing about we can look it up and learn a little about it.

[BanaerEskies]

The creativity of what people do will be fun...and inspiring to others!

[Kathy]

But limit to one picture if possible to stick to the game.

WHAT????????  Only one picture????  What fun is that?     I had plans to take Wendell to more than one place. Now I have to pick just one?

I still want to know if I live in a town where there is really nothing around that ANYONE would recognize, how would you participate?  This is far from being a tourist site :0)  I suppose I could find something but not to sure anyone would ever guess "where in the world Wendell is now"
I am considering joining but I don't want to take the fun out of it for everyone. 

Don't worry, no one is going to guess mine either. But it will be fun to learn all the little trivia about various locations.

[MzLiz]

But limit to one picture if possible to stick to the game.

WHAT????????  Only one picture????  What fun is that?     I had plans to take Wendell to more than one place. Now I have to pick just one?

 No fair!!  My entire city (Los Angeles) is a tourist attraction.  How the heck am I supposed to decide?  Maybe those of us in larger citites can take a few more pics???       If not, i may have to coordinate with Yuki's mom and a few others here in LA so that we get a few shots in the mix.

This will be fun!

[Eskielvr]

If it's a larger place with more attractions, then you shouldn't need as many pictures as those of us "off the beaten path" would. 

[BLUcomet]

This sounds like so much fun! I'm in.

I like the rules for the "official" guess of the location.

5.   To keep the suspense during its transit from one home to the next, a picture(s) with Wendell alone at the "actual" surprise site will be taken. People will have to try to guess which town (member) Wendell is in. After a few shots at the guessing game, the 2nd set of picture(s) (of member and/or its’ dog(s) taken at the same site as the original picture will be posted. The mystery will then be solved (if not done with 1st set of pictures).

But......just try to stop me from taking more pictures while I'm at it! 

I think once Tammy has posted the "official picture" and the location has been guessed and revealed, it would be fun to post any additional pictures you took (maybe along with pictures of the local item that was in the box with him).


For those in small towns, we might not guess the location (because we've never heard of it before) but it will still be fun to see what's in your town. When planning vacations, there's been more than one occassion where I've decided to visit a specific town because I saw a picture of something in that town that looked interesting to me (a lake, a statue, a neat looking mural or building, etc.) The last time I went to Brazil, I decided to go to a town named Bonito (which was a 6 hour bus ride out of my way!!)  because I saw a picture of really cool looking phone booths. It turned out to have lots of other attractions in the area, but I really went because of the phone booths!

Who knows, your picture of Wendell might entice us to visit your town on a future vacation.

[xragrl]

My town will probably be easy to guess. It's a popular place to visit. My husband is even getting excited and already has a few places in mind. I might just turn him into a CEM after all! 

[Sandy S]

Wendell needs a collar with a tag of someone's (Tammy's?) address on it in case he "escapes" from his crate while enroute to his latest visit.

This might help prevent him ending up in the dog pound (lost and found) in some strange place.

[Saint Mom]

Very good point Sandy!!!! I was thinking putting in the box a return address. But it would be good to put a "if lost please return me home" tag.

[xragrl]

Wendell needs a collar with a tag of someone's (Tammy's?) address on it in case he "escapes" from his crate while enroute to his latest visit.

This might help prevent him ending up in the dog pound (lost and found) in some strange place.

Oooh! I like that idea. 

[eskieagilitygal]

I'll take him to the vet and get him microchipped as well.  LoL! 

WOW!!!  This game has rocketed and Wendell is not even born yet.  LoL!    He has over 25 homes to visit so far... my e-mail box is full.