Rina, "Tails" from Mother Goose
Echo the scuba diver
View all the costumes here
I finally got ahold of the $100 co-winners of the Dog Blog Howwwwl-oween Costume Contest, and I thought you guys might like to learn more about the dogs and costumes.

Hidden beneath the feathers of Tails of Mother Goose was Rina, a 5-year-old yellow Lab/golden retriever mix. If you're like me, you wondered how in the heck owner Judy Fridono of California got Rina to cooperate under such an elaborate costume. Well, Rina is a highly-trained service dog who also does directed therapy for children and adults. Rina wore the costume in a therapy visit the week of Halloween, and Judy says the kids loved it. So much for the one judge's comment that she was "most likely to lose her costume."

Echo the scuba diver was the brainchild of David Kittle of Illinois and his wife. Echo is a 4-year-old Boston terrier. Though she doesn't have Rina's service-dog credentials, Echo's cooperation was aided by the costume. According to David, once the flippers were on, she couldn't walk away. He set her on a table with the family fish tank in the background for ambiance.

As you might guess, neither entrant is a regular to the Dog Blog. They came up with what they knew were great costumes and decided to shop around via search engine for contests. I say more power to them. If we can attract new dog lovers to the blog for contests, maybe a few will hang around for discussions of other kinds.

Their effort paid off. Both won multiple contests this year. One of the bigger wins for Echo was being voted the official Sea Dog for Sea Dog Cruises in a contest run on the Navy Pier in Chicago.

"She's dressed up the last few years," David said, "But this was so good. I had to Google around and see what other contests I could enter."

Rina won several local contests in San Diego, but Judy says the best "prize" they won was hearing the laughter of the kids on the therapy visit about a dog dressed as a goose.

Both winners made their costumes. David is a product designer by profession, and he made the strap that kept the scuba tanks in place. The tanks, by the way, were made of aluminum spray bottles. The hardest part of the costume, said David, was coming up with the flippers.

"Thankfully, E-bay helped out a lot. (The fins are from) a Cabbage Patch doll diver suit. I had to find two of them, and that was really hard."

Rina's costume, said Judy, was inspired by her long legs. She had dressed her as a scuba diver similar to Echo during a summertime "beach bum and bikini babe costume contest" in San Diego, and she liked the idea of footwear.

"I made flippers for her feet, and she tolerated them so well (that ) when it came time to think of a Halloween costume, I wanted something that would accent her legs/feet. So I thought of a goose, and then Mother Goose."

She used felt for the feet, with foam at the bottom to keep them more rigid. The beak was made from a bird mask and covered with felt and fabric to look like feathers.

"I'd say this was probably the most elaborate costume I've ever come up with, as it wasn't too easy to know what dog was under there!"

So congratulations again to the winners. I really liked getting more of a national field for the contest. Next year, maybe I'll try to find a way to have an Alaskans-only division, but I'm delighted to have the infusion of Outside talent as well.

SCORING AND THE JUDGES COMMENTS
Below are the top 10 and their combined scores from nine judges based on a 5-4-3-2-1 system -- 45 would have been the highest possible.

THE WINNERS
Echo the scuba diver
Rina, "Tails" from Mother Goose
PEOPLE'S CHOICE POLL
People's Choice Award: Uncooperative Mummy Kane

THE TOP 10
1. Echo the scuba diver 44

1. Rina dressed as Tails of Mother Goose 44

3. Huggy Bear the pimp 38

4. Mother and son Min Pins 36

5. Lucy the princess 35

5. Harley "Ruff" Rider 35

7. Kissing bumblebees 33

7. Bumblebees with kid bumblebee 33

9. Spider Dog Jack 32

9. Officer Skipper 32

9. Bruno and Apache 32

9. Pupto Bismol 32

JUDGES' COMMENTS

(In order entries appeared on ballot)

Jack Russells Whiskey and Charlie

"Most cooperative Jack Russells in the world".

Buck is a cattle dog

"Udderly impressive"; "Most embarrassed by costume"; "Sneakiest cattle dog".

Halloweenies ... Dachshunds

"Most expressive eyes".

Uncooperative mummy Kane

"Scariest eyes"; "Most useful in backcountry".

Mother and son Min Pins

"Most likely to be confused with stuffed animal"; "The Awwww award"; "Cute, cute."

Maurice Jack and Penny

"Mellowest models".

Ellie Mae

"Most likely to be adopted"; "Average costume, but she sells it";

Spider Dog Jack

"Nice lighting and web background"; "Oooh, scary!"; "scariest"; "chuckle"; "Good photography".

Huggy Bear the pimp

"Most imaginative and cruel - a pimp!"; "Now all he needs is a ride"; "Most likely to eat the kids' candy"; "Most likely to collect Milk Bones"; "Most colorful".

(White butterfly

"Winner of the 'Can I take it off yet?' Award".

Freestyle the superdog

"Sunglasses a nice touch".

Queen Coco

"Very regal"; "Most likely to pee on her costume/Most Alaskan"; "Cutest".

Luna the dog salmon

"Spawn, anyone?"; "Most Alaskan - wish the head was more salmonlike"; "Most Alaskan".

Echo the scuba diver

"Creative"; "Most Adventurous"; "Most Clever"; "Though I can still tell there's a dog underneath, I gave high marks for the chuckle factor, staging and overall silliness. Somehow, the breed works well with that particular costume"; "Footwear really adds a lot"; "Funniest".

Lil pumpkin dog Ollie

"Cute pumpkin".

Lil Devil Dog Ollie

"Best smile".

Ollie Bee

"Most cooperative Yorkie ever".

Officer Skipper

"Blue ribbon"; "I like the doughnut"; "Cutest cop".

Harley to the rescue

"Best expression, rolling his eyes"; "Cutest".

Chloe the clown

"Best impression of sad clown painting".

Wizard labrador

"Most comfortable in a hat".

Lucy the princess

"Silliest" (in a nice way, judge gave her a 4 out of 5); "Most Pampered".

Bruno and Apache

"Winner of Joe Cool award"; "Ritz-y-est".

Bruno, Apache and Penny

"Ready for the red carpet".

Library companion

"Cleverest".

Pug Gili in Elvis costume

"Too small -- wish I could have seen it better"; "Too small to see"; "Nicest abs".

Brutus the Buckeye beagle

"Good ambiance, football"; "Simple, but fits the breed and props help".

Kissing bumblebees

"How did they make them kiss?"; "There's been some buzz about this around"; "Staging helped put this in the top",

Bumblebees with kid bumblebee

"Best group costume"; "How could you not vote for the kid, too? Adorable"; "Cutest".

Zoey the cowdog

"Scariest"; "Evilest Eyes".

Rina dressed as Tails of Mother Goose

"Most transformed"; "Most likely to lose her costume"; "Best transformation"; "My favorite: Staging, funny, unique, memorable. Part of costuming is to look like something other than what you really are. This costume makes you look hard to see the dog underneath"; "Most embarrassing".

Pupto Bismol

"Pun-tastic award"; "Most creative".

Harley "Ruff" Rider

"Best set design."

Spiderman Max and Angel the spider dog

"Best friends award."