Winnie The Wonderdog
This Park Hill Pooch Is A Finalist On America’s Favorite Pet. Voting Begins Jan. 6 At Americasfavpet.com
By Cara DeGette
GPHN Editor
When you see Winnie the Goldendoodle in the neighborhood, just start talking to her. It really is the cutest thing. Her head tilts to the left, uh huh, and then to the right, oh yes, and then back to the left again.
Winnie likes to jump up and put her one front paw on your chest and give your face a bath. Her other front leg was amputated last April, after an accident damaged a nerve in her leg.
Julie Conrad, Winnie’s human, says that setback hasn’t changed the pup’s personality. Winnie’s the same friendly, quirky and happy dog. Her favorite toys are the squeaky ones that she can throw around. She likes to play tug with towels. She romps around with other pups of all ages and sizes.
“She falls every once in awhile but she doesn’t care — she is so happy to see every person in the world,” Conrad says.
Conrad has lived in Park Hill for 12 years, and she got Winnie 2 1/2 years ago, the classic story of love at first sight. Disaster struck in 2023 when Winnie, who was in the back seat of Conrad’s car, jumped out of the open window. Conrad and a team of vets spent 14 months trying to heal Winnie’s leg to make it usable, but last April it had to be amputated. “She’s just adapted really well to the surgery,” Conrad says.
Last month Winnie was named one of just 20 dog finalists in America’s Favorite Pet, an annual national competition that kicks off this month.
Here’s how it works: Beginning Jan. 6, anybody can cast votes for one of 20 dogs (cats have their own category) at the website americasfavpet.com, or by using the QR code at the site. People can cast a vote for their favorite dog and cat every 24 hours over a period of several weeks. The pets who get the most votes advance to the next round, and by the end of January, the number of competitors is whittled to five dogs and five cats. The voting continues until one dog and one cat emerge on top.
The winning dog gets a two-page spread in the magazine Modern Dog (the winning feline gets a similar treatment in Modern Cat).
The winners also receive $10,000. If Winnie wins, Conrad says the cash could help recoup some of the vet care costs she’s incurred. She says she would also use some of any winnings to train Winnie to be a therapy dog to work with veterans or cancer survivors or kids who have lost a limb.
“She would need the training to learn to calm down a bit to be a therapy dog, but she would be so great doing that, Conrad says. “She is such a sweet girl and loves everyone she meets.”
