Nation’s cutest dog will win a million

By ALYSE KNORR

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Who is the cutest dog in the nation?

That’s the question All American Pet Company hopes to answer with its $1 million Cutest Dog Competition, which kicked off Saturday and continues through October.

It could be Maxx, a Boston Terrier from Cumming cuddling with a stuffed gorilla in his photo.

Or Skippy, from Boise, Idaho, wearing a red cape and blue swim goggles.

Or any of the other more than 4,000 cuddly, costumed dogs whose photos have been posted in the last two days.

A note on the site Monday morning read: “We are expanding server capacity to handle the overwhelming interest in the contest. You still have 12 weeks to enter the contest. Please be patient.”

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009.

The contest’s 12 weekly semi-finalists, judged by online public voting, will each win $500. From those 12 weekly winners, four finalists will be determined by the greatest number of votes and each will win $5,000.

Dog owners can enter the contest by filling out an online entry form and uploading a picture of their dog at www.cutestdogcompetition.com .

Visitors to the site can vote by giving dogs a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

A panel of judges will choose from among the finalists and award the $1 million grand prize to the nation’s cutest dog on Thanksgiving.

All American Pet Company is the maker of Grrr-nola Natural Dog Food and Bow Wow Breakfast Cereal. The company parterned with DOG.com, iBeatYou.com and PromotingGroup.com to put on the competition.