This is very important

October may mean leaves changing colors, warm sweaters and pumpkin lattes to some, but to me it means something more important. That's right, Dog Costume Contest. Every October there's a contest on the Saturday before Halloween. Last year, as a novice to the event, I sewed my little Jetta an Ewok costume because he's a shih tzu and really does look like an Ewok. Upon arriving at the event, people barely looked at his costume. Little did I realize that the Orlando pet owners are crazy about their dogs' costumes. People spend months on their outfits. They have them professional designed, sewed. I had a piece of hemp sewed material and a walking stick! We were nothing in comparison, nothing! So this year, we came prepared. We got ready early. And we came ready to, well, at least look good.

The dogs are judged in five categories: cutest, most original, best group, most elegant, and most like parent(in other words, the dog matches the owner.) Keeping every category in mind, we went with a Boy Scout, considering I own my dad's old boy scout uniform from the late 1960's.

The bandannas and my shirt are both authentic. Jetta's pants and shirt are actually toddler clothes from Target. I made a belt from ribbon and sewed some patches on the shirt to create merit badges. Yes, I prepared that much for this. And no, he couldn't use the restroom while in costume. Because of this, the pants were quite wet by the end of the day.

People responded really well to his outfit and I honestly think it's because of the pants. They were so cute on him! He behaved like a good puppy should, licking admiring kids, wagging his tail and posing for pictures. He's quite the ham.

He was up against 119 other dogs. Showing him to the judges was amazing. He received calls and cheers as I let him walk across the mock stage and twirled him around. His pants fell a bit which lead to loads of laughs. That's right, my dog flashed the audience. I'm so proud.

There were many other great costumes. Loads of lobsters and pirates, a Sarah Palin, a few Michael Phelps and a slew of Star Wars characters. Everyone looked so good and I really didn't know if we had a chance.

When we didn't get third place for the Most Like Parent category, I figured we didn't win. I didn't care, though, because he did look great.

Shockingly, one call later, we got first place.

FIRST PLACE!

My puppy is a winner!

The announcer loved him and was glad we were still around to show him off to the audience once again. Jetta paraded and had no clue what was going on. I accepted his prize (a gift certificate to a puppy store and a toy) and walked back to my parents shaking. I'm almost certain that I was more excited about winning this than getting my college diploma. That says something, doesn't it?

Yay Jetta!