The Ugliest Dog in the World Contest: History, Winners, and How to Enter

Fifty years ago, a Petaluma fair board member floated an idea that sounded like a joke: instead of another dog parade, why not crown the ugliest dog in the county? Nobody involved expected it to still be running half a century later, drawing international news crews to a fairground in Northern California every summer. But the competition originated in 1976 as an idea by Petaluma resident Ross Smith as a fun addition to the local Old Adobe Association fair, intended to replace traditional dog shows, and it never stopped.

What Is the World's Ugliest Dog Contest?

It's an annual contest, now in its fiftieth year, where dogs are judged not on breed standard but on charm, character, and the kind of appearance that would get them disqualified from a Westminster-style show in about four seconds. The World's Ugliest Dog Contest is a 50-year tradition that celebrates the unique imperfections that make every dog special, shining a spotlight on rescue and adoption and reminding audiences that every dog deserves to be loved no matter what they look like.

The (Surprisingly Heartfelt) Rules

The rules read less like a pageant rulebook and more like a health and welfare checklist. Dog owners must provide documentation of veterinarian checks to determine the competing animal is healthy, and organizers back that up with an in-person exam: all dogs must provide veterinary paperwork confirming they're healthy before arriving, and organizers also conduct an on-site vet check just prior to the contest. Entry itself costs nothing — there is no entry fee to participate — though owners do need to hit a paperwork deadline well ahead of showtime.

The contest also runs on a structure borrowed from real dog shows, then flipped. Dogs generally come from across the United States but are welcome to enter from around the world, and in contrast to conformation shows, which are restricted to purebreds, the contest has separate divisions for pedigreed dogs and mutts, with the two winners then competing for the overall prize. It's the one dog show on earth where a mixed-breed rescue and a purebred face off on equal footing for the top title.

Location & When It Runs

For most of its history the contest lived at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, typically held during the fourth week of June. In recent years it's moved to the Sonoma County Fair at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, still under the same organizing body, the Sonoma-Marin Agricultural Association, with the 2026 edition returning on Friday, August 14, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California. Crowds are substantial for what's ostensibly a niche event — as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people attend the contest during the fair each year.

A Brief, Wonderful History

How It Started (& Why)

The contest wasn't born out of cruelty toward dogs; it was born out of fundraising necessity. The World's Ugliest Dog Contest began in the 1970s as a way to generate revenue for the Old Adobe Association in Petaluma, and after the association considered replacing their pet parade with a dog contest, Ross Smith suggested an ugly dog contest, and the idea stuck, with Smith emceeing it himself until 1981. It stayed a scrappy local curiosity for over a decade before it became a part of the Sonoma-Marin Fair in 1988. The turning point for national visibility came later, when Animal Planet began sponsoring and filming the competition in 2006, bringing additional attention to the event. By 2009 the name itself had become valuable enough that the Sonoma-Marin Fair trademarked the phrase World's Ugliest Dog.

Memorable Winners Through the Decades

Some winners became genuine recurring characters in the contest's folklore. Sam, a blind Chinese Crested dog, won the title three years in a row from 2003 to 2005 before passing away that November. His successor had a rougher path to the crown: in 2006 there was a problem with the online voting when someone changed the votes for the leading dogs, so the fair restarted the internet voting and the official winner, Archie, was chosen by a panel of judges instead.

Chinese Cresteds have dominated the contest's history for a physical reason as much as a charm one — many dogs in the contest are Chinese Crested because they often have traits like a mohawk, big eyes, and a long tongue. Mugly, a Chinese Crested from the UK, took the 2012 title, and Quasi Modo won in 2015. SweePee Rambo, another Chinese Crested, won in 2016. More recently the crown has gone to underdogs in the truest sense: Wild Thang, a fluffy Pekingese, finally won in 2024 after placing second three times before coming out on top, a five-time competitor in the annual event.

What Actually Makes a Dog "Ugly" in Contest Terms?

It's Not What You'd Think

If you're picturing judges recoiling at a stage full of miserable animals, that's the opposite of what actually happens. The contest grew from a quirky local fair attraction, and rather than mocking "ugly" dogs, it uses humor, pageantry, and a packed stage to promote adoption, animal welfare, and the idea that every dog deserves love. Many contestants are traits of survival, not defects — patchy fur, missing teeth, or crooked legs that came from hard starts in life, now worn on a red carpet instead of hidden away.

The organizers have said as much directly, describing the event as demonstrating that "pedigree does not define the pet". One recent winner's handler put it even more plainly, preferring an entirely different word than "ugly": "Even a wonky dog deserves to be loved," Nyman said, "and that's what we prefer to call them: not ugly, wonky."

Recent & Current Winners

Jinny Lu (2026). A six-year-old pug adopted through rescue took the 50th-anniversary title. Jinny Lu is a 6-year-old pug from Ukiah, and according to her owner, she was adopted through Pug Rescue four years ago. Her owner described exactly why she was a natural for the stage: "She absolutely loves competition, meeting everyone, and everything the event stands for," said Jinny Lu's owner, Michelle Grady. If you've got a Frenchie or a small breed with strong personality at home, our French bulldog guide covers a lot of the same charm-over-conformation traits judges reward here.

Petunia (2025). A hairless French bulldog–English bulldog mix from Eugene, Oregon, Petunia's win came with a genuinely tough backstory: she was rescued from a backyard breeder situation in Las Vegas where the owner was hoarding more than 50 dogs living in crates, and she's hairless because of the unethical breeding practices she endured before she was rescued.

Wild Thang (2024). The Pekingese's win closed out a five-year streak of near-misses, and one of the judges, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, spoke to exactly why the crowd was rooting for him: "Wild Thang was a fan favorite," she said. "The fact that he had been competing for five times and only came in second, kind of like the bridesmaid and never the bride, really tugged at our heartstrings. He deserved to win."

How to Enter Your Own Dog

Entry is genuinely open to the public and, notably, free. Contestants must submit entry forms, a dog biography, a photo, proof of current rabies vaccination, and other veterinary records, and the contest charges no entry fee. There's a hard cutoff each year — for the 2026 contest, all completed Contestant Entry Packets and Handler Packets had to be submitted by Friday, July 17th, 2026, 5:00 p.m. PDT, with only email entries accepted and late or incomplete submissions not accepted. If your household includes a chihuahua mix or another small dog with an unconventional look, our chihuahua breed page and broader animal competitions roundup are worth a look before you start filling out paperwork for the official event.

Entering the official Sonoma-Marin contest is a separate process from anything we run here — we're not affiliated with it, just fans of what it stands for. Full entry packets, deadlines, and eligibility details live on the Sonoma-Marin Agricultural Association's own site, which is the authoritative source for anyone actually planning to submit a dog.

Watch Dogs Live (Yours Included)

You don't have to wait for August to see dogs get their moment. On Dog Show, one dog appears on stage at a time in a shared live stream, all day, every day — no ticket, no travel, no vet paperwork required. Entering your own dog costs nothing, and if you'd rather just watch, that's free too. Watch the stream free at our resources page, or head straight to the show to see who's on stage right now.