These Are the Best Dog Photos of 2017

These pawsome photos from Dog Photographer of the Year 2017 will have you paws-itively going mutts. Oh my pugness, they’re just so cute!

Ok, that’s the puns out of the way.

The Kennel Club has announced the winners of its annual Dog Photographer of the Year competition. The prestigious contest has been running for 12 years now, and received almost 10,000 entries from 74 different countries.

The Kennel Club is the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training. Its objective is to ensure that dogs live healthy, happy lives with responsible owners.

Maria Davison, from Portugal, won the overall prize with an image of a gorgeous puppy.

Maria said: “This image was already close to my heart and it is one of the photographs I am most proud of. It was not only a beautiful, real and candid moment I got to capture, but also a demonstration of the strong bond between one of my closest friends and her dog, Yzma. Winning not only the Man’s Best Friend category, but also the overall winner prize with this picture feels really good.”

The competition boats 10 categories, including ‘Dogs at Work’, ‘Puppies’, and ‘Assistance Dogs and Rescue Dogs’.

The competition is sponsored by SmugMug, a photo-sharing website for photographers. Nikon School also sponsored the competition this year. The overall winner will receive an original oil painting of their image by artist Sara Abbott and a VIP mentorship day with international dog photographer Andy Biggar.

The winning images will go on display at the Kennel Club in Mayfair, London. The winners also receive a SmugMug business account so they can show off their work to the world online. There’s a one day course at the Nikon School in London thrown into the prize pool too, as well as a trophy and exhibition print which will be presented at the award ceremony in September.

Dog fans all over the world will love this competition. The photos all capture the bond between humans and dogs, but this is really reflected in the Man’s Best Friend category.

You can also view a gallery of the winning photos on the Dog Photographer of the Year website.