Update: Congratulations to Scruffy AKA The Scruffster — you’ve won a superhero portrait with 1527 votes! Hurray! Thanks to everyone for entering!
A couple of weeks ago, we ran a contest inviting dog lovers across the globe to send in photos and descriptions of your dogs, telling us why your dog should win the title of Dogster Superhero and win a free drawing by Heromachine creator and illustrator Jeff Hebert. You posted 120 clever and charming entries! We felt overwhelmed and, frankly, unable to choose just one winner, so we need your help.
We selected our five favorite entries, and we want YOU to vote for your favorite Superhero. The winner of this round will receive a custom illustration of your dog that is suitable for framing, plus — of course — bragging rights.
Have a look at the dogs below and then vote on the ballot down below.
In no particular order, here are the five Dogster Superhero finalists:
1. Brady, a rescue Chihuahua/Yorkie mix owned by dotkoo
Superhero name: Taters, because he is so irresistible, just like those Tater Tots.
Weight: A perfect 10
Favorite Place: Anywhere he can bury himself — under the blanket, in the sand, in the bushes
Superpower: Being invisible
Kryptonite: Love-hate relationship with grass. Loves to roll around in it, but instantly breaks out in hives.
Greatest Strength: Did you say F-O-O-D ? He can hear that word from miles away.
Greatest Weakness: Ummm … what is that smell? I need to get closer.
2. Lumpy, owned by Trish B.
Superhero Name: Magna Cum Lumpae, because Lumpy has come such a long way. He was abused and neglected and brought in to my local kill shelter when he was about six months old. I was working there as a student intern. He came in on my birthday. He is the best birthday present I will ever receive!
Weight: 50 lbs
Favorite place: Snuggled up with Mom. He is a Mama’s boy, after all!
Superpowers: Has the ability to help Mom relax, finding food and eating, and king of the SBDs!
Kryptonite: Being left alone, thunder and fireworks
Greatest strength: Loving his Mom and Dad
Greatest weakness: Food allergies
3. Blue, a rescue French Bulldog mix owned by Michelle Lopez
Superhero Name: Clueless Blue, the Antibully Champion
Weight: 50 lbs; he is clueless about how big he is. Blue is one of seven French Bulldogs (yes, a family of 7 Frenchies!). As a rescue we believe he was mixed with English Bulldog because he is almost twice the size of his brothers and sisters.
Favorite Place: Any place his blue hardball will take him.
Superpower: The big bully dog is on a mission to show everyone that even though he was born a bully he doesn’t have to act like a bully, but it is really because he doesn’t even know that he is a bulldog — he is lovable but clueless.
Greatest strength: Being a gentle giant
Kryptonite: His shadow. When he sees it he thinks he is being chased by a big strange animal.
Greatest weakness: HIs breathing takes in a lot of excess air, so he has a lot of gas coming out of both ends.
4. Scruffy, owned by HERMANSmom
Superhero name: The Scruffster
Weight: Seemingly weightless
Favorite Place: Airborne
Superpower: Vertical Leaps to go nose-to-nose with llamas
Kryptonite: Sticky Snow
Greatest Strength: Cuteness Supreme
Greatest Weakness: Weighted down by snowballs.
5. Trig, owned by Kytkattin
Superhero name: The Triangle Terror
Weight: Still growing
Favorite Place: Snuggling under a blanket.
Superpower: Leaping from the couch onto the cat.
Kryptonite: Those evil crinkling plastic bags…
Greatest Strength: Endless fetching ability.
Greatest Weakness: Wanting to eat what the other dogs have.
How to enter the contest
Now here’s your ballot — vote by clicking on the checkmark icon in the lower right hand corner of each dog’s photo. If you can’t see the ballot below, vote by clicking here instead, and following the same directions. Good luck! We’ll pick the winner on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at noon Pacific. May the best dog win!
Remember that holiday season is approaching, so you can commission Jeff to make a custom illustrated portrait of your superhero pup at a very reasonable price.
About Annie Phenix: Positive-reinforcement dog trainer and author Annie Phenix never met a mountain she did not love. This explains why she lives in Durango, Colorado, where she’s surrounded by mountains, and why she is always smiling. She delights in the snowy season here, as do her five dogs, two horses, and six adorably cute donkeys.
