Out of the hundreds of submissions we received we narrowed it down to a final six. Each contestant came in for a photo shoot and from these we voted on the winner. Here are the final six contestants and the winner.
Winner: Ellie
Ellie is a big puppy that thinks she can cuddle like a small dog, but a gentle giant, as like many Great Danes. Telethia Szuba found Ellie through her breeder, Maverik Leggo Leech in Central Florida. After a play date with her as a young puppy, they knew she was the one to join
the family.
Ellie was born March 7, 2017, the same day as the Szuba’s granddaughter, Blake Olson. She gains three to four pounds a week, and at this point Dr. David Retamozo, with Eau Gallie Veterinary Hospital, anticipates Ellie will be 110 pounds or more when full grown. She begins obedience training with Darlene at K9 Kampus next week. Ellie rides in the car beautifully and will put her big paws around Telethia’s neck and dance with her.
Ellie’s little sister, Bailey the boxer, is a month younger and 50 pounds lighter but the two are quite the pair. Typical of siblings, each fights for attention but they love each other fiercely. Ellie also has two kitty big brothers, Sam the Bengal cat and Knight the stray, whose pregnant mother was found by Telethia’s daughter at UCF. Ellie is the biggest member of the Szuba zoo, has the biggest heart and definitely
stole theirs.
Hambone Jones
Hambone Jones is a female Bloodhound born on Valentine’s Day 2016. She was brought home by Chris Jones from Ball Farm Bloodhounds in New Haven, Kentucky in April 2016. Hambone hates bath time, and would rather roll through mud and dirt. After her baths or a swim she will go to the closest dirt pile and roll her body through it to ensure she is no longer clean. She is a gentle giant who loves anyone that comes up to her and isn’t afraid to get slobbered on.
Bella Grace
Bella Grace is a 2-and-a-half-year-old Cavapoo (a designer mix of King Charles Cavalier and a Poodle).
Bella loves to spend her time chasing lizards when she is not loving on all the children at Tumbleweeds Gymnastics where she spends her days with her mom, Cheri Marks. They spend their weekends at the beach, playing in the sand and chasing crabs. Bella is also in training to become a therapy dog and already has her good citizens certificate. Bella loves to play with a ball or her favorite lamby toy.
Jack The Ripper
Imagine walking into PetSmart for some training pads and leaving with a new dog. That’s how Jack “The Ripper” (3) happened upon Ashlin and TJ Wyatt. Jack is an attention loving Chihuahuha/Shiba Inu mix. He doesn’t let his gimpy leg from previous abuse stop him from jumping off 6ft high surfaces and sprinting with the rest of his family. He likes to spend most of his time curled up with his daddy, trying to steal food off your plate when you’re not looking, or guarding his
Chewbacca toy.
Mabel
Mabel is a beautiful, 120-pound Bullmastiff puppy. She was born March 15th 2016, and was adopted at 4 months by April Burson and family from another family who underestimated life with a big dog. A perfect match for her new family, she is named after cartoon character Mabel Pines from “Gravity Falls” because of her quirky, genuine and fun loving personality. However, if you are familiar with the cartoon, her family narrates her voice with that of Mabel’s friend Grenda. Mabel loves to go on short walks, and to dig in the trash when no one is looking. She absolutely loves to sing “Happy Birthday Mabel,” and has almost mastered the “Mabel” howl at the end. Mabel also loves stuffed toys, chewing on meaty bones and playing with her boys. Mabel’s nicknames are “Maybe”, “May May”, and “Big Fat Sausage Dog.”
Turbo
Aroof humans, this is Turbo, the praying Siberian Husky. Turbo will work for food, especially human food. Turbo must be five years old because every March 16th, his parents, Sibo Chou and Yvonne Chi buy him a peanut butter carrot cake (his favorite), and they have done that five times. The last time, the cake had five candles, and he is terrified of candles. The first time he saw his future dad, Turbo was the only pup out of six that ran back into the doghouse hoping he wouldn’t be captured! Didn’t work. Turbo’s biggest accomplishment is learning to pray before a meal, praying about thanking the Lord, praying for mommy and daddy, and all the homeless dogs in the world. He has no idea what any of that means, but he likes to pray because it makes everyone so excited and happy.
If Turbo could talk, he would thank his mom and dad for giving him a loving home, occasionally mixing human food in his under-seasoned dog food, taking him out on walks, giving him belly rubs, teaching him a bunch of tricks, picking up his poo, taking him to a couple of commercial/print shoots, and finally, no more birthday candles! Search for “Eat Pray Dog Turbo” on YouTube to see Turbo.
