The Dogs We Love: 2017 Adventure Dog Contest Winners

(1) WINNER: Carmelo

It’s no accident that Jason Chung’s partner captured this mid-action shot of Carmelo, an English Chocolate Lab, leaping o a slide near Carmelo’s home in South Burlington. Chung says, “Carmelo has loved going down slides since he was a puppy. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t scared of heights so we could backcountry ski together. We started an agility class and now he loves jumping over things too. He likes to pretend that he’s Super Dog.” He’s convinced us.

(2) RUNNER UP: Ivy

When Tim Gompf heads out on mountain bike rides near his home in Duxbury, there’s always someone on his tail. As he says “Her name is Ivy, she’s about a year and a half and a Red Heeler Shiba Inu mix.”

(3) RUNNER UP: Leapin’ Lucy

Anne Brigham’s “Leapin’ Lucy” may be a 6-year-old Labrador but when it comes to jumping into ponds near her home in East Montpelier, she has no trouble catching up with her cousin, Cedar, a 1-year-old Lab from Greensboro.

(4) RUNNER UP: Atlas

Bennington’s Silvia Cassano spends a lot of time outdoors and, as much as possible, with four-legged friends such as Atlas, a German Shepard from Weston, VT. Cassano writes: “Atlas loves swimming holes, running in the snow while you cross-country ski, and anything involving fetch.”

But, she adds, “He is definitely not a hound dog. I once dropped my cell phone while cross-country skiing and he didn’t find it even though I skied back slowly to look for it.” The good news? “He was happy to go back the next day and ran right over to where I dropped it, uncovering the snow so I could see it (my cell phone case was bright pink).”

(5) READER’S CHOICE: Oakley

Julie Charnock’s Oakley captured the Reader’s Choice award easily. As Charnock puts it, “Oakley is a 6-year-old Golden Retriever who LOVES all action sports. He loves to hike, bike and run with my husband and me and was the only dog who jumped off a diving board at Rutland Town’s “last day of summer” pool closing fundraiser for the Humane Society.” Though Oakley is from Rutland, he had a chance to visit the ocean this past year. “We took Oakley on a sunset walk to this beach near Kennebunk, ME. He loves the water, but has never been in an ocean. It was like Christmas day for him! He was chasing the waves for over an hour.”