A fourth grade student from the Chillicothe Intermediate School is the winner of this year’s #1 Dog Essay Contest, held each year by the Ross County Auditor’s Office in promotion of its annual dog tag issuance. It calls for school age kids in Ross County to explain why their dog is the #1 dog in Ross County. Walker Throne of Mrs. Zupi’s 4th Grade Class claimed the top prize out of more than 70 entries this year with a heartwarming and humorous tale of his dog, Digby.
As the winner, Walker has been presented with a commemorative t-shirt, a prize package filled with various treats for his dog Digby, and the coveted “#1 Dog” Ross County dog tag.
Walker's essay can be found below:
(Pictured Left to Right: Walker's father, Mike Throne; Walker Throne and his dog Digby; and Ross County Auditor, Tom Spetnagel)
Hi, I’m Walker Throne and I’m going to tell you the story of my dog, Digby, and why I think he is the best dog ever.
Would you call a dog who eats funny and whenever he gets excited he sneezes dog food out of his nose, a great dog? Because I would. One time he got so excited and sneezed so hard I swear that I saw a piece of dog food go to the moon. Sometimes I wish he didn’t sneeze food all over the house when he was excited but that is just one of the reasons why he is so special.
One time our neighbor thought Digby was part alien because when he whines to come inside after going outside he makes a noise that sounds like arawr-rawr-arawr-rawr-rawrrrrr. Is that the best dog ever also unique? Because my dog is.
My favorite thing to do with Digby is run around with him and play fetch. I think that makes him the best dog ever.
But the thing that really makes him the best dog ever is that Digby and my little sister both have a birth defect called cleft lip and they are best friends. My uncle is a vet at North Fork Animal Clinic and when Digby came from the Humane Society my uncle knew he would be perfect for us and my little sister. So one day my uncle showed up at our door holding Digby. My parents didn’t really want a dog but he’s so specials they couldn’t say no. My uncle told me that Digby was the only one out of his siblings that survived birth. Whenever we first got Digby he was so small he could fit right into my baseball glove, but not anymore. The first time we saw him, we knew we loved him. My sister used to cry all time but now she has Digby and we all love him.
I think my dog is the best dog in Ross County. He is probably the most unique dog too. But he was perfect for our family and we are lucky to have him.
As a reminder, 2021 dog tags are now available through the Ross County Auditor’s Office through January 31st at a cost of $10 per dog license, and $50 per kennel license.