If you think you have the cutest dog in the Madison area, you could enter them into the Pooch Playoffs, an annual contest featuring more than 30 dogs.
For the fifth year in a row, Shalicia Johnson, who founded Arrowstar Photography, will be running a contest called the Pooch Playoffs to determine the area’s best-looking dog.
The Pooch Playoff is an NCAA tournament-style contest where approximately 32 dogs compete against each other. Winners are chosen by fan vote. Voting begins online at the end of March.
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Right now, Johnson is scheduling sessions with interested people to photograph their dogs.
“At the end of 2020, people weren’t getting their pictures taken because they couldn’t get their haircut,” Johnson said. “Someone said ‘Well, dogs don’t care what they look like.’”
The Pooch Playoffs have been very popular, according to Johnson. Last year, she had 32 dogs enter. In 2023, 44 entered.
“Some people enter more than one dog,” Johnson said. “Sometimes people enter 1-3 dogs.”
This year’s contest features a new twist. Each dog is being asked to represent a Wisconsin dog rescue.
Owners can choose the rescue they want their dog to represent and then that rescue will receive money if that dog wins.
“This year we switched it up so when the dog wins, whatever Wisconsin dog rescue they are representing wins,” Johnson said. “So, even if your dog is not a rescue themselves, I would ask you to throw in a name of a local dog rescue.”
Registration is open now and Johnson says she will take as many submissions as she can until she is full.
Just like March Madness, the tournament will begin with every dog participating. Fan vote determines which dog wins each round until it is down to a Final Four and, ultimately, a crowned champion.
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“I introduce them as a winner,” Johnson says of the eventual champion. “They get accolades on social media and a bunch of prizes from local businesses. Some stuff is just for the dog and some is just for the owners. It’s swag for the two-legged and the four-legged.”
But the championship-winning dog’s journey will not end there. The champion will then be entered into a national tournament. Like AAU basketball, there are Pooch Playoffs going on all over the country. Johnson estimates about 20 or 30 other photographers are involved nationwide.
“So, we have people all over the United States and other countries allowed to participate,” Johnson said. “We each hold our own local competition and then take the winners and throw them into a lightning round.”
The tournament is run by Peak Performance Coaching and has raised over $125,000 for pet focused charities since the launch of the Pooch Playoffs in 2021.
People can still sign up to have their dog entered at arrowstarphotography.com. Johnson estimates she has about 13 slots remaining for entries.
“It’s not just a cute photo,” Johnson said. “I create artwork of their dog so they have the opportunity to purchase gorgeous artwork for their fur baby.”
