Our 2022 Good Dog Photo contest, presented in partnership with Eukanuba, showed once again how much G&G readers love their canines. With nearly six thousand photo entries spanning the heartwarming, hilarious, and handsome, the job of selecting the champs was a challenge (but someone had to do it). G&G editors couldn’t help but smile at the personality-filled snapshot of Margeaux and Chauncey, our overall winner. In the sporting dog category, the sun-kissed portrait of Cache, a four-year-old Boykin spaniel, captured the essence of man’s best hunting companion. Eukanuba will send prizes to Margeaux, Chauncey, and Cache (including a supply of food from its premium line), and we will include their photos in the December/January issue of Garden & Gun. In the readers’ choice competition, Silas and Atticus, two Yorkshire terrier brothers, received the most online votes.

Below, get to know Margeaux, Chauncey, Cache, Silas, Atticus, and more of our favorite entrants and top vote getters. And because we had so many great entries, we’ve put together collections of puppies, dogs being buddies, funny dogs, dogs in the great outdoors, muddy mutts, and, for the second year, “if dogs had driver’s licenses.”

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share photos and vote in this year’s contest. It’s always a pleasure to see so many good dogs.

The Overall Winner

Margeaux, terrier mix, and Chauncey, Brussels griffon mix

Fairhope, Alabama

While visiting family in Fairhope, Alabama, Rita Badalamenti would take her dogs on a daily stroll along the Orange Street Wharf. One blustery day she pulled out her camera and captured the shot that would earn the top prize.

Despite their differing breeds and pronounced age gap, Margeaux, a two-year-old terrier mix, and Chauncey, a seventeen-year-old Brussels griffon mix, share a close bond. “Margeaux looks up to him like a big brother,” Badalamenti says. “Chauncey definitely keeps an eye out. If we go to the dog park, he does not like any dogs being too rough with her. He’s her protector, but he also just ignores her most of the time.”

Don’t let Chauncey’s surly expression or prominent snaggletooth fool you: “He is very friendly and very distinguished,” Badalamenti says. He does his best to keep up with Margeaux, who has a literal pep in her step. “Sometimes she’ll just be walking somewhere and she just does a little jump,” Badalamenti says. “I am completely obsessed with them. They are my whole life.”

The Sporting Dog Winner

Cache, Boykin spaniel

Huntsville, Alabama

Boykin spaniels are regarded as versatile hunting dogs thanks to their stamina, retrieving skills, and general enthusiasm. They’re also known as loving and kind family dogs. And four-year-old Cache is a prime example of both.

“He’s my best bud, my running partner, my copilot,” says Cache’s owner, Logan Hardy, of Huntsville, Alabama. The pair travel the country together to find the perfect hunt, and though the sport is serious business (as Cache’s expression in the photo makes clear), Hardy and his human hunting buddies—including Jon Stahulak, who captured the winning shot—make sure to set their guns down from time to time to snap some pictures.

Hardy credits Cache’s bloodline for the dog’s laser-sharp focus. “When we go on a hunt, he is not there to be picked up and loved on—he’s there to pick up birds,” he says. But Cache knows how to turn it off: “I have a little girl, and Cache can lay with her on the couch and get up and go on a hunting trip the next morning.”

The Readers’ Choice Winner

Atticus and Silas, Yorkshire terriers

Erie, Pennsylvania

The Yorkshire terrier sibling duo Atticus (left) and Silas won the hearts of G&G readers, earning the most votes in this year’s competition. Owner Karrah Rajewski snapped the winning photo as the pups posed on the couch at home in Erie, Pennsylvania. “I know they’re cute, but I just couldn’t believe they got so many votes,” she says of the unexpected honor.

According to Rajewski and her husband, Shaun, the brothers possess very distinct personalities despite coming from the same litter. “Silas is very bossy, spunky, and always has an agenda. He is also athletic for being five pounds,” Rajewski explains. “Atticus is all about being a dog. He just wants to eat, sleep, play, and cuddle.”

Runners-Up: Overall

Kepler, Dachshund
Savannah, Georgia

Rowan, Yorkshire terrier
West Palm Beach, Florida

Moose, Labrador retriever
Lexington, Virginia

Hatteras and Valor, English golden retrievers
Loudoun County, Virginia

Macie, Chihuahua

San Pedro, California

Dasher, golden retriever

Charlotte, North Carolina

Gertie and Pancakes, golden retrievers

Atlanta, Georgia

Mollie, Millie, and Blue, standard poodles

Baton Rogue, Louisiana

Grace, golden retriever

Mint Hill, North Carolina

Pauline, English bulldog

Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Seymour, corgi

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Finn, English golden retriever

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Remi, Chesapeake Bay retriever

Troy, Michigan

Teak, flat-coated retriever

Baltimore, Maryland

Alice, pointer/pitbull mix

Columbus, Georgia

Sugar, English golden retriever

Johns Creek, Georgia

Fin, Labrador retriever

Islamorada, Florida

Dunkin and Orville, wolfadoodle and Labradoodle

Irmo, South Carolina

Goose, wire-haired vizsla

Charleston, South Carolina

Runners-Up: Sporting Dogs

Niko, German short-haired pointer

Milton, Georgia

Lady Pea, English setter

San Francisco, California

Karl Spackler Sheen, golden retriever

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Honey, Chesapeake Bay retriever

Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Nova, German wire-haired pointer

Greer, South Carolina

Taos, Labrador retriever

Greenville, South Carolina

Mojo, Labrador retriever

Charleston, South Carolina

Wilson, Llewellin English setter

Beaufort, South Carolina

Hank, British Labrador retriever

Little Rock, Arkansas

Runners-Up: Readers’ Choice

Cricket and Teddy, Cavalier King Charles spaniels
Nashville, Tennessee

Sophia Grace, Labrador retriever 
Colleyville, Texas

Gunther, golden retriever
Atlanta, Georgia

Bogey, golden retriever
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Millie, Chesapeake Bay retriever
Chatham, Virginia

Oliver, golden retriever
Charlotte, North Carolina

Isabella, border collie mix
Atlanta, Georgia

Enzo, Siberian husky
Los Angeles, California

Atlas, Great Pyrenees
Decatur, Georgia

Beatrice, boxer
Charlottesville, Virginia

See More Photos from the 2022 Good Dog Photo Contest

Doggone Funny

Puppy Love

Best Buddies

Dogs in the Dirt

Nature Lovers

Doggie Driver’s Licenses