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Patch's Top Dog Contest: Meet Your Finalists

The winners of five regional Patch Top Dog contests, stretching from the Lehigh Valley through southern New Jersey, face off for our grand prize.

Dear Patch Readers,

We've spent the last month getting to know a lot of great dogs (and a lot of great dog owners), but now it's down to the final five.

Back in mid-June, we asked readers of more than 50 Patch sites in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey to submit and vote on nominees for the title of Top Dog in their towns.

The local winners then faced off in regional contests that stretched all the way from the Lehigh Valley down to South Jersey.

Meet the winners of those regional Top Dog contests:

  • Kadey and Bailey, from Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
  • Jazz, from Gloucester, N.J.
  • , from Northampton, Pa.
  • Bree, from South Whitehall, Pa.

One of these entrants will be named the Greater Philadelphia Patch Top Dog and win our grand prize package: A professional photo shoot at their home and a $250 gift card to PetSmart, as well as a gift basket compliments of local business in Hatboro. The basket includes dog treats, a dog toy and a candle. 

Which one takes the grand prize home is up to you. Voting runs through this week, and the winner will be announced Monday, July 30.

May the Patchiest dog win!

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Marc Lombardi July 25, 2012 at 01:16 am
I will say this...every time I check this thread from home or at work it gives me the opportunity to cast a vote. I have only voted once, but probably could have voted a few dozen times by now if I wanted to.
Tony Di Domizio (Editor) July 25, 2012 at 01:31 am
Meeka has been removed from the contest due to certain issues.
Tom Bartman July 25, 2012 at 01:51 am
Polling is flawed on Patch. I brought this up before but nobody fixed it. Anyone with Firefox running noscript and/or 'private browsing' does not save the tracking cookie for location/IP address. A simple perl script can cast votes in an automated way very easily. In addition, I notified the Mercury a year ago that logging in to post a comment saves a cookie on the user's computer with the password -- IN PLAIN TEXT.
marky mark duece July 25, 2012 at 02:17 am
I agree tom, I've seem some polls in other areas, where after an hour of being activated, certain shops, business or peoples jump extremely and unnaturally fast by repetition and over voting. Each login should get a vote and be done...maybe its been fixed by now, I am unsure of that
Captian Obvious July 25, 2012 at 03:46 am
LoL you guys are late to the Party on this topic, I exposed one of the contestants doing the whole fake reg/vote in the regional patch that bailey and kadey were in...it was blatant and ridiculous, and was actually rather easy to point out, Silly kids always thinking they can pull the wool over the old tech nerds faces when it comes to internet shenanigans LOOOOOL. Patch needs secure registration to combat even a basic bot, or crawler or wtf ever you want to call it. Verification should come before posting is allowed.
Pat July 25, 2012 at 03:36 pm
Let's keep this in perspective:
http://omfgdogs.com/
Debbie Thomas July 25, 2012 at 03:38 pm
OMG. How did a photo contest involving dogs get so vicious? What the hell is wrong with some of you?
Katie Ryan O'Connor (Editor) July 25, 2012 at 04:11 pm
Hi Debbie,
We couldn't agree more at Patch, which is why you will be seeing bad actors getting their comments deleted on sight, accounts suspended and whatever other measures we have to take. Awesome readers who would never do this: Please help by flagging any comment like that. Enough and it automatically gives you guys the deleting power. I'd hate to close or pre-moderate comments, but that's an option too. Thank you! My direct email is kathleen@patch.com for anything you need.
Eric Campbell (Editor) July 25, 2012 at 04:12 pm
And just like that, the dog-acid-trip website restored perspective.
Pat July 25, 2012 at 04:16 pm
Exactly. We should all be careful not to lose focus.
Kim July 26, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Debbie - Sadly, there are some people in this world who are losers at pretty much everything else in life. So, when they get the chance to "win" at anything at all(even vicariously through their dogs or children), they lose the spirit of fun and sportsmanship and become raging monsters(I mean have you seen those pageant moms.LOL). Its sick and sad. All dogs are beautiful in their own way. And, just like children, every dog will always be the most beautiful to their respective owners regardless of their faults. Its a shame the spirirt of fun was lost here and people turned into cheating, raging lunatics instead of just appreciating the beauty and stories of each contestant. Seems mental illness is rampant these days.
. July 26, 2012 at 01:05 pm
You people are fighting over an online dog contest? Really? This is why I stop taking my dogs to the Phoenixville dog park...too many weridos.
slyfox July 26, 2012 at 01:10 pm
I agree Kim. Even though my little dog did not become the "Top Dog" according to the votes, she will always be a Top Dog in our hearts. We immediately congratulated the winner of our area for she is a beautiful dog. I was so proud she was nominated to begin with and so very humbled that people voted for her I still cry about it for it fills my heart with happiness.
I cannot understand that when this contest began it was with such fun and friendly people, at least in my area and then it became a heartless sounding board for a few. I cannot understand why there were cruel comments made. It is sad. You are correct. All these dogs in the finals deserve the title of Top Dog. That is what they are.
slyfox July 26, 2012 at 01:16 pm
That's too bad, Richard. We don't have any issues up here in the Lehigh Valley. The dog parks we go to we meet the nicest people and pets. Maybe you should take a trip up to Bethlehem some day. Good luck!
Kim July 27, 2012 at 11:57 am
Slyfox- If only everyone in the contest were like you. You were proud of your baby either way but had no problem congratulating the other gorgeous pups that did win. Thats what this contest was meant to be and should have stayed that way. Richard, I agree with you about dog parks. We used to take our pug before he passed and there were some nuts there. My favorites are the owners of the dogs that consistently attack, bite and harrass other dogs but the owners insist "Oh my. Fluffy has NEVER done that before!" when in fact, Fluffy is a menace at home as well. Slyfox, you are lucky to have a good dog park. Ive tried many in many different areas and they all seem to be like the one Richard went to.
slyfox July 27, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Kim - how kind of you for those words. Dog parks are a touch & go I agree. Some people don't clean up after their pets, some people are ignorant in how to train their pets, etc. They insist they know what they are doing and their dogs attitude shows it. I am never that arrogant to know what is best for my dogs. Mazey May went to obedience school (3x's) the same is now for our newly rescued dog who has taken some of our sadness away. The dogs are not the ones who need to be trained - the OWNERS are. Some pet owners can't grasp that concept. Not every trip to the park is a good one though - we have the same issues as you do and that ruins it for everyone. We tend to stay at home more now due to the erratic behaviors of a few. Lake Nockamixon is a nice place at times too.
Every single pet here is a winner. Every single pet NOT here is also a winner. We love them all. They deserve our devotion and love. After all, we need them, not the other way around. Peace
Kim July 27, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Well said Sly!
Grace Jones July 27, 2012 at 01:33 pm
I was drinking my fruit smoothie this morning and near spit out my strawberries when this came up on my stereo speakers!!!!!
Grace Jones July 27, 2012 at 02:23 pm
REMEMBER PEOPLE THIS IS NOT A SCIENTIFICS POLL!
. July 27, 2012 at 02:57 pm
I don't have a dog in this fight (literally or figuritively) but I just want to know want "SCIENTIFICS" is?
Pat July 27, 2012 at 03:16 pm
haha, nice!
Ebbtide July 27, 2012 at 05:54 pm
I hope no one voted for the 2 pit bulls that viciously attached a small dog back in June. In case you missed it there was a few words about this in the July 4th paper. Shame on the owner of these 2 dogs for being so irresponsible. What ever happened about the follow up for this article?
KS July 27, 2012 at 06:37 pm
My goodness people! This contest is meant to be fun. ALL of the dogs are adorable, and this is not the place for anger or other agendas. There are plenty of miserable news stories out there to comment on, can't this just be something cute and silly? The only comment here should be "They are all so cute, I can't just choose one!".
RESQMOM July 27, 2012 at 08:42 pm
I agree with KS. All dogs are special but I will admit working with animal rescue, I do have a soft spot for the rescues. Congrats to them all!
KS July 30, 2012 at 01:39 am
I agree RESQMOM, I have two rescued racers (greyhounds) :)
And yes - congrats to all of the finalists!
Christopher Jenkins July 30, 2012 at 10:49 am
Hey. Let us know when and which SPCA you will be donating the gift card to. I want to get a camera crew over.
maria valencia July 31, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Tess u are awesome. cutie girl!!!!!
tamarya August 1, 2012 at 01:17 am
Pound puppies are stuffed animals, if you are making reference to shelter dogs, those dogs are more beautiful than any fancy expensive animal.
JS56 August 1, 2012 at 01:27 am
My dogs were strays and they are amazing and beautiful.
slyfox August 1, 2012 at 03:58 pm
Way to go, Bree! You are a wonderful dog and you deserve the title! Congrats to you Brian and good luck to you both!
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