Chihuahua survives health crises to win Cutest Dog title

By Sharon L. Peters Special for, USA TODAY
A 9-pound Chihuahua that roams his owner’s medical offices in a white lab coat and poses fetchingly in sunglasses has survived several medical crises to win a contest that will help homeless animals for decades.
Dr. Papidies, 3, was declared the Cutest Dog Competition’s top dog after an online contest that drew more than 60,000 entrants. And Sunday, the first part of his $1 million prize — to be awarded by All American Pet Brands in $33,000 annual chunks for 30 years — will be delivered by the pint-sized pooch and his owner, Denver-area dermatologist Leslie Capin, to two Denver animal shelters.

PAW PRINT POST: Stephen Colbert was among competitors

“This little guy who almost died is responsible for getting $1 million to animals. It’s a great feeling,” Capin says.

She met the dog three years ago when a friend brought him to her open house after buying him at a mall pet store. In hours, the pup was deathly ill. Capin, who has rescued horses and a blind, deaf Akita dog she saved from the streets of Peru, lent a hand.

The emergency clinic found the puppy was severely dehydrated and had conjunctivitis, chest congestion and a bacterial infection. He improved with IV antibiotics and fluids, but not fully. Soon he was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, which requires monthly steroid injections and potassium-level checks, plus boosters of oral steroids when he’s stressed. He also has been hospitalized five times for intestinal ailments.

Early on in the medical nightmare, the dog became Capin’s, and she discovered he was from a puppy mill (the pet store has since shut down). Capin knows more health problems may be fermenting — just last week, a growth was removed from his face — but that’s a reality of life with the dog she calls “comical.”

She and her husband have spent thousands on his medical care — “I’d be embarrassed to say how much,” she says with a laugh — but “he’s such a joy.”

The dog goes everywhere with her, including to her very dog-friendly offices. Dr. Papidies “squeals with delight when we get there every morning and he can visit his favorite people,” she says. “He has a special affection for beautiful blondes.”

The little dog was entered into the contest, which is promoting a new dog-food line launching in March, at the urging of staff members. Soon there were tweets and posters to generate votes as Capin vowed to win and give the cash to the Denver Dumb Friends League, which finds new homes for 16,000 pets a year, and the Max Fund, which has about 100 dogs and 200 cats in its facility at any given time.

When Capin learned — at 2:15 a.m. Thanksgiving Day — that her dog had won, meaning each shelter would get a $16,500 windfall every year for three decades, she “cried for almost an hour.” By 3 a.m., she was calling friends to invite them to a pre-dawn Champagne celebration: “I’m still pinching myself.”

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did!

Fran

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