Recently voted one of the top five entries, pictures of Sophie Marie, 5, will appear inside the fall supplemental Windstream Yellow Pages.
Sophie's owners, Denise and Rick Edmunds, decided to enter their terrier mix in the contest to find a dog to place on the cover of the supplemental book that comes out each fall. Denise downloaded a picture of Sophie with snow on her face from the last blizzard and entered it online at the Windstream Web site. Then it was up to the public to vote for their favorite pooch.
"I voted every day for my dog for six weeks," Denise said. "We were so excited (that she is a runner-up.) It's fun to have a celebrity in the neighborhood. She has been the diva ever since she won."
It probably helped that Denise is a teacher at Licking Valley High School and, of course, she told her students about the contest. They also voted for the cute pooch.
The "top dog," so to speak, in the contest was Rascal, and the other runner-ups included Zak, Ava and Tucker. View the winners online at www.windstreamcoverdog newark.com.
While Sophie did not win the coveted cover spot, she was one of four runners-up and earned a professional photo shoot at Argyle Photography in downtown Newark.
"The way it was explained to me was that her picture will be inside the book, not on the cover," Denise said.
Sophie also garnered a $250 prize. Denise explained the money would be split between charity and her owners, and she already bought two Kuranda beds to donate to the Homeward Bound Humane Society. These are specially made, hammock-style beds for dogs to sleep above the ground.
"The kids at school thought they should get the money since they voted for her," Denise said. "But we felt it was important to give back to the community."
