Charlie is the Week 4 Winner of our Show Us Your Happy Dog Contest

Wow! We've had a very busy week meeting hundreds of amazing dogs! Thank you to everyone who shared their pooches during our Show Us Your Happy Dog Contest! It's been a pleasure and an honor getting to know your dogs. You can meet all our contest winners here.

We'd also like to thank Wellness Pet Food for including our contest and book in its monthly newsletter! The response was incredible! We are in the process of uploading the photos from Week 4, so please check back to see your darling dog in our Week 4 gallery.

And now, (drum roll please), meet Charlie an 8 year old Labrador Retriever, the lucky winner of Week 4 in our contest. He was chosen randomly from all the entries and as you'll see, he sure is a Happy Dog!

Charlie's mom Julie adopted him in June from Fetching Companions Retriever Rescue. "As soon as we saw him, we knew he was coming home to live with us." Julie says that, "Charlie's foster mom Mary O'Gorman and everyone at Fetching Companions do such a wonderful job finding forever homes for great dogs just like Charlie. I feel so fortunate to have found the organization."

Charlie loves toys, but he has a particular affinity for squeaky toys. When Charlie arrived at Fetching Companions, he was a stray and had suffered from severe ear infections that had gone untreated for quite some time. As a result, Charlie's "hearing is very poor, but what he can hear, he cherishes," Julie reports. This likely explains Charlie's passion for squeaky toys.

Indeed, Charlie squeaks his toys when Julie come home, squeaks when he gets to go for a car ride, squeaks before dinner, and squeaks before going on his walks. Charlie also, "squeaks to let you know he's happy. He can sit and squeak on his toys for hours," says Julie.

Charlie's favorite toy is his Teddy. According to Julie, Charlie "knows whenever he wears out the Teddy's squeaker he can bring it to you and you'll fix it for him by putting a new squeaker inside." There is no question what type of toy Charlie will find wrapped up for the holidays!

Charlie taking one of his occasional power naps.

"Charlie sure is one big ole happy guy. He loves to love and be loved," observes Julie. Charlie also likes to keep track of his mom and has been known to stick his nose through the shower curtain while she's inside, "just to let you know he hasn't forgotten about you."

Charlie has 2 furry siblings. Charlie's sister Minnie is an 11 year old black Lab mix. These two became fast friends and "act like they've known each other for years," Julie says.

Charlie's other sister Bella is a 3 year old Poodle-Maltese mix. Charlie is a smart guy and understands that he's much bigger than Bella. "He's such a gentle giant when it comes to Bella. He plays very carefully with her, especially when it comes to tug, he sits still and let's her do all the tugging," Julie explains. Charlie is such a good brother, we know that he won't mind sharing his prizes with Minnie and Bella.

Charlie is another example of the absolutely wonderful dogs you can adopt from a shelter or rescue! Bringing a homeless dog into your life not only makes the pooch smile, it makes you happy too!