The votes are in. Agencies from across the country have spoke and woofed their approval for The Best Agency Dog award contestants. It was a close one, but we had a clear top dog who slobbered all over the competition and has been selected as the best agency dog with full barking rights.

Drum roll please, here are the results:

1st Place

Kiener Joaquin Celuch

Owner: Erin Celuch

Age: 3

Breed: Pit Bull

Place of Work: KolbeCo Marketing Resources

Title: Member – KolbeCo Board of Dogrectors

Volunteer Work: Stray Rescue of St. Louis Foster Parent & Rehabilitation Assistant

Other: Fashion model; Lola and Penelopes dog boutique – worked as runway model and mingled with crowd afterwards.

Kiener Joaquin Celuch found himself locked up at the tender age of 1 1/2 and was one day away from losing his life when Stray Rescue of St. Louis swooped in to offer him a second chance. He was suffering from a broken leg, shattered hip, and had suffered blunt force trauma to his face causing serious eye damage.

Stray Rescue saved his leg and eyes, and found him a foster home which became permanent in August 2010. It was love at first sight and Kiener was immediately adopted by his foster mother. Upon finding his new home, Kiener was also introduced to life as an office dog at KolbeCo Marketing Resources and decided to find a way to help others like himself. KolbeCo supports Kiener's efforts, and now Kiener has helped bring in, and rehabilitate 30 other Stray Rescue dogs. On a daily basis Kiener brings these dogs to work with him, and acts as a role model, showing them how to take treats, how to receive affection, and most importantly how to make "chewbacca" noises. Kiener also serves on KolbeCo's Board of Dogrectors that spearheads an annual donation drive called "Frills For Furbabies" - which last year collected over $10,000 in merchandise and $1200 in financial donations for the Stray Rescue Stracks Fund that helps severely injured dogs.

In the face of racial stereotyping, Kiener has gone above and beyond to teach the public his breed is not bad. He has graduated from beginner, intermediate, and advanced obedience training classes, and is working towards his Canine Good Citizen certification. He hopes that by achieving this level of education, continuing to work with others, and supporting organizations like Stray Rescue he can motivate others to become involved in their local rescue communities and eliminate breed stereotypes.

2nd Place

Gert

- Submitted by Mike Roberts of Atomicdust

Third Place

Ike

- Submitted by Kate Erker of Moosylvania

Fourth Place

Bruiser

- Submitted by Mary Ann Tackett of The Nerdery

Fifth Place

Winnie

- Submitted by Gregg Jaffe of Big Teeth Productions

* Honorable Mentions *

Best Use of Disguise

Kung Fu (catdog)

- Submitted by Jake Houvenagle of Boxing Clever

Best Camera Pose

Paco

- Submitted by Dachis Group

Best Agency Pet Job Title

Evey

The Official Tug-o-War Manager

- Submitted by Jenna Spurlin of Archrival

Most Tech Savvy

Oliver & Lucky Skyping

- Submitted by Crowley Webb

Meet the rest of the fluff friend nominees!

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