July 3, 2021: Production / Timeline Updates

Hello Dogs BOND Pack Members!

TL;DR: GREAT NEWS. 1. Dogs BOND is officially in print

2. Passed all child safety checks for US and EU requirements

3. Custom illustration cards are officially in hand

The game we all worked so hard to bring to life is on its way – we are just as excited for the game as you are. I’m is still trying not to explode from the anticipation. We’re so close!

1. Dogs BOND : Printing is Complete!

WHAT? WHAT!?! Our little-project-that-could is printed, reviewed, and packaged up just ready to be shipped to our backers worldwide! What an incredible journey it’s been to get from the “ruff” concept to the final form!

A big thanks, as always, to Sarah and Kiki who have stuck with me throughout the entire process to ensure that the emphasis on quality was always forefront for our project. There were hard decisions to make, and especially since we couldn’t just walk down the street to see how things were going there was a lot of extra emphasis that we placed on making sure any files that were sent across were going to be amazing quality.

“Seeing the games in that wrap makes me want to rip it all open!” ~Sarah

“Finally!” ~Kiki

“It feels like I can almost touch the games!” ~Alex

2. Dogs BOND passes US & EU safety standards!

There wasn’t really any doubt that our project would pass those standards, but because we’re a mission-driven project it was very important that you and your family could have 1000% confidence in what we produced. We talked a bit more about them in this previous update; but the fact that we’ve passed both standards is a huge milestone!

3. Dogs BOND custom illustrations cards are done! They look AMAZING.

“Joy” is a word I use a lot on this project, but getting to see all of these custom illustrations which are based on real dogs just made my heart SING when we got them from the short-run printer. These are the same level quality as what’s in all of our games. It was extra special for our backers who were able to work directly with Sarah! What gorgeous dogs! They all have a super special ability that is only available through our Kickstarter – and Kiki did the special icon design for their abilities too!

“The colors and design really bring out the character in each of these dogs!” ~Kiki

“These were amazing to paint. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the dogs.” ~Sarah

“The same joy I felt when I got one dog at a time for the base set, it’s the same feeling I have all over right now. But for all these dogs! ” ~Alex

Thanks to our backers Adam and George who gave us permission to share these great cards with everyone in this update! Want to know what the backs look like? You'll have to ask for permission in the comments! Want to see the other cards? Ask for it in the comments!

4. What's Next for the Backers?

Sit back and relax. We're working hard on this side to navigate the high seas to get freight shipping confirmed. There are some challenges that we mentioned in our previous update, but we are working with professionals in the industry to help steer the ship towards friendly shores.

As always, send us any questions!

Social Media for Rescues: June 2021

And then it was June! There's a lot of good reasons to celebrate and to be much more "pawsitive" in our overall communication. As communities start going back to the office and out to restaurants, it's going to be challenging to stay relevant and top of mind for small projects and rescues like ours. Remember to focus on the good work that you're all doing, and celebrate that effort!

This is June's upcoming global hashtags and trends that I hope will inspire some of our rescue partners in their content creation this month. If you see a day and a global hashtag that you want to use, go ahead! Use your own photos and then tag #dogsbondgame so we can like and boost your post!

CALL TO ACTION

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are still listing us as robots when we like/follow as many of the rescues as we do - so please like/follow us using your social media first so we can hit that "Follow Back" button.

MONTH OF JUNE GLOBAL HASHTAGS

#NationalZooMonth

#NationalAquariumMonth

#NationalAdoptaCatMonth

Yes, we still care about our feline friends even though this particular board game isn't about them!

#NationalPetPreparednessMonth

Have a plan, a medkit, and most importantly communicate that to one another. Encourage each other to build those plans into your emergency preparedness conversations.

#NationalFosterAPetMonth

This is obviously very important for all of our volunteer run partner rescues. We have all started to see / hear about rescues being returned to shelters; so we need to be cognizant about our plans for fostering as we go forwards.

#NationalMicrochippingMonth

Funny enough, I've been looking at microchipping my tortoises but that doesn't seem to be really necessary at this time.

JUNE WEEK-LONG CELEBRATIONS & GLOBAL HASHTAGS

June 6-12: #PetAppreciationWeek

A great opportunity to connect back to the folks you've worked so hard with to adopt to, give your supporters a chance to create their own posts about your wonderful organization

June 20-26: #AnimalRightsAwarenessWeek

Sometimes animal rights gets swept up in the conversation; but it's important to demonstrate that legislation also puts a huge burden on our animals. Things like Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) that ban dog breeds outright are what our project stands against through education and compassion.

JUNE DAY CELEBRATIONS & GLOBAL HASHTAGS

June 8: #BestFriendsDay

What better way than to celebrate man's best friend?

June 8: #PetMemorialDay

You can also use #rainbowbridge

June 20: #FathersDay

I haven't found a #DogDadsDay yet. Anyone?

June 21: #NationalDogPartyDay

Ain't no party like a puppy party!

June 24: #CatWorldDominationDay

Maybe we'll have to launch Cats BOND on this day.

I'd love to get your thoughts, feedback, and of course ideas on how I might be able to build this into a greater resource for rescues! Have a great June!

June 1, 2021: Production / Timeline Updates!

Hi everyone!

TL;DR: Check out your backer name on our website! Printing, production, and shipping are now entirely in the hands of our great vendor partners. Printing is expected to be complete by June 25th. We are optimistic that we're going to be have games in hand by the end of the summer. Alex is on the edge of his seat trying not to explode.

June 1 - Project Update

Thank You Backers!

If you haven't yet seen your name in highlights, please visit the updated Meet the Pack page! This project is such an underdog success story, and now you can show off to your friends that you were with us the whole time! Bragging rights forever!

Printing and Production Update

This project has been a series of skips, hops, and now leaps of faith. Our team turned over everything to the factory and fulfillment partners and at this point we are waiting for final updates on the completion of the printing, quality control, packing, and freight shipping of the games. ETA for all games to be printed completely with quality assurance checks is now June 25th.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the transitive property of high fives!

Printing ETA June 25. Due to challenges with the inks, drying, and printing quality of the artwork on final physical materials, there were several late stage adjustments that Sarah had to make. Unfortunately BODA had not identified the challenges earlier, but that's one of the hurdles we knew we would face working with an overseas team. Thankfully, Sarah's determination and skill really won out and we are delighted with the results. It really became an international effort to get this done correctly.

The good news is that we're officially "hands off" at this part of the process.

"I can't believe that I've closed Photoshop for this whole project. Even if I opened up the files, there's nothing we can do at this point because everything is with the print team! It's really exciting." ~ Sarah

"I'm easily the most excited person to have everyone get their copy of the game!" ~ Alex

"We've double triple checked all of our big question marks at this point, so it seems safe to me to move forward!" ~ Kiki

Child Safety Testing - We're getting these complete data results soon. There was a lot shared in our previous update about the testing. Key to the project being available to ages 10+ we knew we needed to execute the testing on the materials. This also allows us to be considered, eventually, by big box retailers.

Shipping and logistics are dependent upon the completion of the printing, so I've put together some best guesses.

Optimistic schedule:

COMPLETE - approval of proof/production copy

June 25th - BODA games will complete printing / packaging of the games

Late June - truck from factory to dock

Early July - picked up and loaded on to ship

July - arrives in Portland

July - cleared customs / offloaded from ship

July - arrives at warehouse

August - in the mail to backers

Late August arrivals of all official copies to our backers

Impacts to the timelines at this point:

+3 weeks printing prioritization at factory and quality assurance process

+2 weeks for the loading / shipping of the game (prioritization of perishable goods by the shipping companies, and Suez Canal debacle)

+1 weeks to offload from ship

+1 weeks to clear customs since this is our first project and customs is scrutinizing stuff from China

Late Summer for the delivery of games to our backers

Dogs BOND Product Shot

Dogs BOND is on the way! If the past year has shown us anything, it's that patience and resilience does pay off. We know that you're excited for the game and that everyone is eager to share it with friends and family back at the game table.

We cannot thank you all enough for your support. Dogs BOND has always been a “little project that could”, and that’s all thanks to our backers.

FAQ: I need to update my shipping information / email / order

Delivery Dates & Shipping FAQ

Thank you all for your patience and support!