Jack, Arizona's Favorite Dog!

This summer, Arizona Foothills set out to find the most adorable dog in the Valley in the first-ever Dog Days of Summer contest. Dogs came out in droves to our two casting calls at Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge Marketplace, tons entered online and the adorable poochies were put up on their own pages for Web voting.

Over the course of one month, the dogs duked it out on AZFoothills.com, all vying for the most votes. The dog with the most votes was little Jack, a two year-old dachshund from Phoenix who ended the contest with a whopping 127,127 votes. Little Jack will be seen in the December 2010 issue of Arizona Foothills Magazine, and won a doggie prize package that included a professional photo shoot and images courtesy of Heather Link and Chickypoo Photography, an Herb ‘n Organics gift basket full of organic shampoos, treats and toys, a grooming package at a local dog shop, $200 to use at Vestar properties and title of Dog of the Year! (Meet the Runners-Up here: Top Dogs: Dog Days of Summer Runners Up)

We asked owner Marina Gonay a few questions about her little rascal. Read on to learn more about Arizona's Favorite Dog!

Tell us about when you got your dog!

I got Jack about a month after I had graduated college here in Arizona (from the Art Institute of Phoenix) in 2008. I didn't actually plan on ever getting a dog because to be quite frank, I never owned a dog before, so it wasn't really something that was on my mind. However, I always knew that if I did ever own a dog, it would have to be a little 'wiener' dog for sure. One day, Shane and I wandered into the puppy store because we wanted to just look at the "cute" little animals that were staring at us from the front window as we were walking by. Once we walked in, we saw this adorable little wiener puppy jumping around and playing from behind the window and we just couldn't get enough of watching him. His coloring and breed was so perfect. Besides, he was so tiny with this long body and stumpy little legs, it was just impossible to turn around so soon and walk away. Well, after about 10 minutes of intently staring at this little pooch in action, he put his little paws up on the window as if he wanted to jump on us. Shane suddenly turned to me and said 'Lets hold him"! And from there we were sold.

What are some funny things your dog does?

Jack is a big clown. He always loves to be the center of attention. He loves to play with our other dog Bitzy (who is three times larger than him) and often doesn't realize that he is so little. Many times he will run under her and in between her legs to try and get her to play with him, but when she finally joins in, he often finds himself flattened like a pancake underneath her. He also tries to catch the Frisbee that we throw for Bitzy, so he runs after her and tries to catch it too, but the Frisbee is too big for his little mouth and so if he is ever able to get it, he winds up dragging it behind him. It's the cutest sight to see this little miniature 7 pound doxie trying to drag a big blue Frisbee with flopping ears, and running as fast as he possibly can.

Jack is also quite stubborn. Whenever we try to put a little sweater on him or better...a Halloween costume...we are often met with a lot of what I like to call doxie-tude. He lets me put the sweater or costume on him, but then as soon as it is on, he walks out in front of me, turns his body, sits his butt down, and then faces his back towards me and stares at the wall as if to tell me 'Mom, this is too embarrassing, and I am not going to go outside like this'. He will actually sit and stare at the wall with his back facing you for a long time, and then if he thinks you're not looking, he will slowly turn his head (with his back still facing you) to see if you are still there, look at you for two seconds, and then turn his back towards the wall until you finally take it off him. Jack, really has a lot of personality and is so smart.

Why do you believe your dog is the most adorable in Arizona?

I think anyone would fall in love with Jack just as I did if they saw him in real life. He is so lovable and just loves to be around dogs and other people. He is always so full of energy for such a tiny little dog. I often get people asking me if they could take pictures of Jack when we go to the dog park because they never seen a miniature dachshund like him before. Some have asked me if Jack has some beagle mix in him because of his coloring, but no...Jack is all 100% doxie. He truly is one of a kind, and is super soft and cuddly! I always joked around that he should be in a magazine because he is so unique and charming...well here is your big moment Jack!

How did you hear about the Dog Days of Summer contest?

I actually read about it through Facebook. I took Jack to the Desert Ridge Marketplace event to see what it was all about and here he is.

How did you get so many votes?

Well, we just did everything we could from Facebook postings, to sending out countless emails to friends and family, to word of mouth marketing, and of course, logged in every day as much as we could to make sure he had as many as he needed to win. During the duration of the month, there was some definite ups and downs due to the fact that it was such a long voting process and of course anything can happen in a month. But with the help of friends and family who also believe Jack is the cutest dog, and nonstop dedication to the process, we were able to finally win first place.

What is something we need to know about your pup?

-Jack is a 7lb pure miniature dachshund
-He has never worn a 'hot dog' costume (despite popular demand)
-He absolutely loves peanut butter and turkey slices
-He will give you the 'puppy eyes' when he wants something and is a pro at it
-He is not afraid of big dogs
-Jack makes the best teddy bear