Howllll-oween Costume Contest, epilog

Morgan the Devil won the first-place prize.

Bozlee the pirate won the People's Choice Award.

Now that the dust, er, fur, has settled on the 3rd Annual Dog Blog Howllll-oween Costume Contest, I thought I'd offer up a little epilog to the monthlong contest and tell you a little more about the winner, Morgan the Devil.

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered, voted in the People's Choice poll and, of course, to our sponsor, Paw Prince, for the $50 gift certificate to the Anchorage pet supply store.

We had a record 36 entries this year, surprising, actually, because entries in the prize category were limited to Alaskans only this year. I decided it wasn't fair to locals and regulars of the blog to have to compete with top-notch national entrants who can find multiple contests just by Googling.

In the closest voting ever, Morgan, a 3 1/2 year-old saluki (husky/pointer mix) owned by Linda Henning, eked out the title by just one point over another amazing entry, Francis, Althea and Tesla, in a Wizard of Oz ensemble.

Alaska dog lovers know Linda well. The owner of Image Works Publishing in Knik, she publishes Alaska Dog News, an informative and fun monthly publication all about dogs.

Morgan was originally bred as a sled dog, but he wasn't quite cut out for the cold. Linda rescued him after the first owner he was placed with struggled with providing an outlet for his need for speed.

Morgan's costume was store-bought (don't tell him, but it was called "Temptress Devil Girl,") but the choice of costume was not an accident. Linda set out looking for a costume that matched her dog's personality.

"I had it in mind for a while because he just has the look," she said. "Either a devil or a tuxedo and a martini. He just strikes these poses all the time, and he looks at you sideways regularly."

The pose and Linda's photographic skills are what seemed to win over the judges, many of whom said they preferred home-made costumes. But there was something about Morgan's pose that won them over. His red horns and cape stood out in the almost black and white fall background. Linda used the camera's flash to do that.

As spooky as the image was, it might have been even more dramatic if Linda's original idea had worked. Morgan occasionally leaps off her deck in what appears to be attack mode. She thought that would be dramatic in devil costume.

"Coming off the deck, it's the way they'd attack an antelope: paws outstretched at head height, right at you. I tried to get him to run right at me."

The problem was, the behavior is something she's been training him not to do, so she didn't want to work too hard at it for the picture. Besides, Morgan can be a tempermental model.

"He starts to turn inward if you work him too long," Linda said. "He was kinda shutting down a little bit, so I said, 'OK, I'm not going to do anything else, I'm just going to sit here.' "

And that's when she snapped the winning picture. He was perched up high, a preferred spot for a sighthound, which allowed her to shoot at an upward angle, and his sideways glare had an eerie quality to it. Linda just missed a raven flying behind him, which would have been an even spookier touch.

Thanks again to all who participated. See you next year!
See all the costumes and read what the judges had to say about all the entrants..