After thousands of votes, meet the winner of The Charlotte Observer’s cutest dog contest

All of us could use a photo of a cute dog right now.

Last month, we had nearly 70 entries for our contest to find the cutest dog in Charlotte. This three-year-old “mutt” was just named the cutest.

Meet Hobie , and take a moment to bask in his adorableness.

His owners Kathy Rowlett and Mandy Norton describe him as a “mutt” who is half poodle.

The pair adopted Hobie, who is named after Hoboken, New Jersey, where they used to live, in September 2021.

“He’s cute as can be, but he is a little naughty,” Norton said, adding that he likes to greet other dogs by barking at them. “But there’s not a day that has gone by where he hasn’t made us smile. He’s just a real character.”

Meet our cutest dog contest winner

Hobie, who sleeps in bed with his owners, usually starts his day waking them up by licking their faces before he goes for a long walk. Then, it’s time for food.

Norton and Rowlett are strict when it comes to feeding Hobie, only giving him dog food most of the time, but on rare occasions he’ll enjoy apples, carrots – and edamame.

“He’ll jump about two or three feet into the air as you put his bowl down, he gets so excited for his food,” said Norton. “And then he’ll sit with us while we breakfast. He’s one of those dogs that just is right by you, and he wants to be close to you.”

The rest of Hobie’s day typically consists of “lots of walks and lots of cuddles, with some eating and pooping in between,” Norton said. And if the weather is nice, he’ll spend most of the day participating in his favorite pastime: chasing a ball.

“We throw it into the pool, and he’ll run into the pool, swim out, get the ball and come back,” Norton said. “We have to stop it, because he won’t stop.”

Hobie also loves to spend time with his brother, Guinness, an 11-year-old mutt with a penchant for snoring who was also a finalist for our cutest dog contest.

“Guinness is a lot older, and just likes to be on his own,” Norton said, adding that the two pups usually get along great. “Hobie just keeps trying to play with them. In the end, Guinness will show him who’s boss, and he’ll back off.”

Charlotte Observer’s cutest dog contest finalists

There were 20 lovable finalists for our contest. Here are the names and ages of the other 19, along with their favorite hobbies or fun facts:

• Honey (9) loves going for walks and having Puppuccinos.

• Cynisca Zian Casakirchen (9) was only girl in a litter of seven pups.

• Georgie (almost 2). Her human says Taylor Swift wrote the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” about her.

• Addie (10) loves swimming, playing with her friends and snuggles.

• Benji (9) loves his stuffed monkey.

• Guinness (11) snores VERY loud.

• Huxley (3.5) loves playing with tennis balls and looking out the window.

• Maggie Mae (1.5). She love agility activities.

• Otis (2). He loves snuggling with his family and playing with his toys.

• Reese (4), Redford (3), Lillee Daisy (13) and Slade (4) love eating, swimming and snuggling.

• Raleigh (9) loves to guard bird feeders from his arch nemesis: squirrels.

• Biscuit (6) loves interior design and catching a ball

• Lady (3) loves to sniff.

• Phyllis Ann Margaret (7) loves eating, sleeping and watching “The Office.”

• Chico (5) loves to play with squeaky tennis balls.

• Yogi (3) loves to watch his boys play soccer.

• Bentley (3) knows where all his doggy friends live.

• Milo (2.5) loves snuggling with “his puprents.”

• Zara (3) loves playing fetch and giving kisses to her favorite humans.

Stay tuned for our next cutest pet contest, which will feature the area’s adorable cats and kittens!

We’re looking for Charlotte’s cutest dog — and it might be yours. Here’s how to enter

Ready to pick some pumpkins? Visit these farms around Charlotte for some fall fun