Cover Dog Contest

On Sunday, Mom took me to compete in a cover dog contest. There will be four contests around the Seattle area from now through October. One winner will be chosen from each contest then the big winner will be selected from the four finalists. The big winner gets to be the cover dog for the winter issue of City Dog Magazine.

I was looking pretty handsome. Mom pressed and starched my bandanna so it would be very crisp. I had just been to the groomer on Friday, so I was clean and very soft and fluffy. Since Dad wasn’t home yet, Kat had to stay home.

When we got to the contest, we checked in and got a number. We were #48. Once I heard that, I thought “Wow, there are a lot of dogs here.” We had about 30 minutes to wait until we were supposed to line up for the contest, so Mom and I walked around the festival for a bit. Everyone who saw me told me that I was so handsome.

Finally it was time to line up. You should have seen how many dogs were there! It was insane. There were almost 150 dogs entered into the contest.

The contest organizers made all of us dogs and parents line up right against the lake. Mom said that wasn’t very smart to have a beauty pageant for dogs and expect them to stay clean when they hand to stand a couple feet away from the lake and watch the ducks swimming. I was good though and with Mom’s guidance (and some treats), I didn’t get in the water.

Here's a video of the ducks.

When it was my turn, I got my picture taken. I think it was a good picture because I tilted my head, looked right at the camera and smiled. Then I had to walk across the stage. I sat and looked at the judges, but I wouldn’t shake like Mom wanted.

After my turn, we still had a while to wait for all of the other dogs to go, so Mom and I went and got some ice cream. The only ice cream she could find had chocolate on it, but she bought an ice cream bar and we shared it. Mom ate the chocolate shell and I ate the vanilla ice cream inside. It was really tasty and cooled me off since it was pretty hot outside.

By the time we were done with our ice cream bar, it was about time for the winners to be announced. I had a pretty good feeling about my chances. Mom and I headed back over to the contest area and the judges announced the top three dogs.

Unfortunately I was not in the top three. (The little dog won.)  Can you believe it? I was really disappointed. Mom and I had a long, depressing walk back to the car.

The good news is that I get my picture in the magazine because every dog who entered will be included. Mom says we’ll try again at another contest and take Kat along so she can get her picture in the magazine too. I’m working on an impressive trick for the next contest.

Steve