If old-timers are right, then the dog days of Summer are just around the corner. Whether the 40 days of misery come in on July 25 or July 28 is debatable. Joe Ellis and Ovie Hughes would have argued the difference until the cows came home.

But ask dog lovers in and around Pike County and they will say that dogs will have their day when a canine is, once again, featured on the cover of the Humane Society of Pike County’s 2019 Pet Photo Calendar.

Donna Brockmann, humane society chair, said the society’s 2019 Pet Photo Contest is off and running.

“This is our 11th year for the Pet Photo Contest and dogs and cats are running neck-in-neck as the front-runners of the contest,” Brockmann said. “Cats are in the lead, having won five times to four for the dogs. A pair of matching mules won one year. So the door is wide open this year for any pet to win.”

However, dog lovers say, with the advent of the contest coming around “dog days,” that’s a positive omen for canines.

But this could be the year for a dark horse to win because pets – furry, feathered, leather or otherwise – are eligible to enter the 2019 Pet Photo Contest. The winner will be the featured pet on the cover of the Humane Society of Pike County’s 2019 Pet Photo Calendar.

“Animal lovers and friends are encouraged to round up their favorite photos of their pets or take new ones and submit them to the Humane Society of Pike County’s 11th Annual Pet Photo Contest,” Brockmann said. “Each entry is only $10 and votes are only $1 each. The vote totals determine our cover calendar pet.”

However, the pets with the 13 next highest votes will be honored as the monthly winners. There will be 52 weekly winners and the honorable mentions. All pets entered into the Pet Photo Contest will be pictured on the 2019 Pet Photo Calendar.

There are two ways to enter a pet, by submitting online at www.pikehumane.org or picking up entry forms and leaving photos at Guynn’s Income Tax and Bookkeeping Service, Jinright’s Hillside Antiques, The Little Framery or Three Notch Antiques (formerly Troy Antiques), all in Troy.

Photo entry deadline is Saturday, August 11. Voting deadline is 5 p.m. September 1.

“The Pet Photo Contest and Calendar are the Humane Society of Pike County’s major fundraisers,” Brockmann said. “Currently, we have again allocated $20,000 for our annual spay/neuter program, with $4,000 assigned to each of our five Pike County veterinary practices. This is a long-standing critical initiative of our society.”

Brockmann said spaying and neutering is the most effective way to reduce the unwanted, unloved animal population on the planet.