It’s that time of year again! Join us for our famous annual photo contest from October 1st through November 7th. We hope you’ll be part of the fun and excitement!
🐶🐱 How to Participate 🐱🐶
- Submit your favorite picture of your pet for a chance to win fantastic prizes, including the honor of being named The Hotel for Homeless Dogs' Animal of 2026! Each entry is $25. Click the Enter Contest button to enter and find more details.
- Every vote counts! Each vote costs $1, and all proceeds go towards funding The Hotel for Homeless Dogs' vital work in supporting animals and people in our community.
🌟 Your Support Makes a Difference 🌟
By participating in our annual photo contest, you help us continue our mission to provide exceptional care not only for the animals at our shelter but also for pets and their families throughout the community. Your support enables us to offer food, guidance, medical assistance, and peace of mind to those in need.
Join us in making a positive impact on the lives of homeless dogs and their future families. Let's celebrate our beloved pets and the joy they bring to our lives!
🐾📷 Enter and Vote Today! 📷🐾
Reserve a Day to Honor Your PetJust want a guaranteed spot in the calendar? Reserve a day to honor your pet. This can be for your pet's adoption anniversary, birthday, loved one's birthday, memorial or really any special day! Your pet's photo will appear on the day of your choice. Just choose your favorite photo and then choose the day and pay! First come first served! Once a date has been reserved, it will no longer be available.
Reserve Your Day Here →
Prizes
First Place (1 Winner):
The contestant with the most votes will receive a professional photoshoot and will be featured on the cover of the 2026 "The Hotel for Homeless Dogs" Calendar. The winning pet must be physically present at the photoshoot to be scheduled within the two weeks after the contest ends. If the first-place winner is not able to meet the specified guidelines and scheduling requirements for the photoshoot, the contestant with the next highest amount of votes will be chosen for the cover. In addition, they will also receive the following:
- One 8 x 10 and two 5 x 7 complimentary prints (with an option to purchase more photos or products offered by the photographer).
- A “Hotel” merch basket filled with over $200 worth of Hotel merch
- $50 gift certificate to PetSmart
- Four copies of the 2026 "The Hotel for Homeless Dogs" Calendar.
Second Place (12 Winners):
There will be 12 second place winners. The twelve contestants with the greatest number of votes after the first-place winner will receive the second-place prizes. They will receive a professional photoshoot. Each second-place pet winner will be featured on one of the months in the calendar. The winning pets must be physically present at the photoshoot within the two weeks after the contest ends and available the date of the photoshoot. If a second-place winner is not able to meet the specified guidelines and scheduling requirements for the photoshoot, the contestant with the next highest vote will be chosen to take their place. In addition, they will also receive the following:
- One complimentary 5x7 print, with an option to purchase more photos or products offered by the photographer.
- A Hotel for Homeless Dogs T-shirt
- Two copies of the calendar
Runners-Up:
There will be 12 runners-up. The twelve contestants with the greatest number of votes after the second-place winners will be runners-up. The runners-up will have their own photo submission and description of their pet featured in the calendar in a 1 ½ inch space.
Participants that receive
500 or more votes will receive four copies of the 2026 calendar mailed to their homes in the fall of 2025.
All entrants will receive a free calendar.
All entries and votes must be submitted by the deadlines listed below in order to be included in the final vote count. Entries may include animals that have passed away; however, to be eligible for the top seven spots, animals must be still living and available to be photographed, within 20 miles of The Hotel.
- Your animal does NOT have to be adopted from the The Hotel or any other shelter to be eligible to enter the contest. People are NOT allowed in photos, but photos of cats and dogs are accepted.
- Photo entries must be no smaller than 1575 pixels x 2100 pixels, in RGB, .jpg or .png format. Photos must be high resolution for printing purposes. If you are taking photos with your phone, please be sure to capture your image at the highest possible setting in order to meet resolution criteria.
- Multiple animals are allowed in one photo.
- Employees and Board Members of The Hotel for Homeless Dogs are welcome to submit photographs and encouraged to fundraise but are not eligible for prizes.
- All photo submissions must be digital. We cannot accept photos with digital overlays, photo stickers, doodles or any digital effects. Copyrighted photos may only be included with the written permission of the copyright-holder.
- Once photos are entered, you grant the The Hotel the right to use them at its discretion for print and marketing purposes.
- The Hotel reserves the right to decline publication of any photograph for any reason. Should this happen, we will notify you and, if an appropriate replacement cannot be obtained, refund your entry fee if desired. The Hotel has final approval on all photos submitted and reserves the right to replace an animal's photograph to overcome production issues.
- The submission and voting periods begin at 8:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and end at 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Friday, November 7, 2025.
- Winners will be announced on the The Hotel's social media channels on November 10th. Winners will be contacted by email (first) or phone (alternatively) by the second week of November.
Voting
- Each vote costs $1, and there is no limit to the number of votes one may cast for the duration of the contest.
- Donations made in support of an animal are valued at one vote for every $1.00 donated. There may also be promotions where donors can get bonus votes.
- You must purchase a minimum of five votes at a time for a minimum charge of $5.
- You may vote for your own photo.
- Online voting begins as soon as the photo is registered and ends 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Friday, November 7, 2025.