Readers voted these the 20 cutest dogs in Bellingham. Vote your favorite into the finals

And then there were 20. After receiving roughly 150 submissions for our poll to find the cutest dog in Whatcom County, we’ve narrowed down the field to under two dozen.

Picking between 150 of the city’s cutest dogs is a nearly impossible task, so in order to make voting a bit easier, we split the first round submissions into four groups. The five dogs from each group with the most votes advanced to the second round.

Voting opened last Tuesday, before closing Sunday, Sept. 22. In that time, we received 1,391 responses and 4,661 total votes.

Boychik, a three-year-old mixed-breed dog, received the most votes in the first round, followed by Jessie, a golden retriever, and Daisy, a Bernese mountain dog.

Daisy was one of three Bernese mountain dogs to reach the second round, while a pair of Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers made the cut as well. Maybe less surprisingly, a trio of Australian shepherds (including an Aussie-mix) made the top 20.

You can see the entire top 20 in the poll below.

Voting for the semifinals is now open

Voting is open to subscribers only, but if you are a subscriber, you can vote as many times as you want. The poll is now open and will close at noon Sunday, Sept. 29. The five dogs that receive the most votes will advance to next week’s final round and the winner will be featured in the Herald.

This story was originally published September 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM.