Petmania Puppy of the Year 2024 Competition Rules

Petmania Puppy of the Year 2025

Competition Rules

By entering the Petmania Puppy of the Year Competition, you are accepting the terms and conditions of the competition as outlined below.

Petmania Puppy of the Year 2025 Terms & Conditions

  1. The promoter of this competition is Petmania (part of O’Keeffe’s of Kilkenny LTD) based at Support Offices, Unit 12, Kilkenny Retail Park, Smithlands, Kilkenny City. The competition is being run in association with Nestlé Purina PetCare, 3030 Lakedrive, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, D24 KX6Y but Petmania are deemed as ‘the promoter’.
  2. The competition is open to dogs less than 12 months as of Monday 25th August 2025, and their owners, who are resident in the Republic of Ireland.
  3. There is no purchase necessary to enter the competition.
  4. The opening date for receipt of entries is Monday 25th August 2025
  5. The closing date for receipt of entries is 11.59pm on Sunday 14th September 2025
  6. Twenty-six county heats are open, with puppies and their owners invited to enter in the county of residence, within the Republic of Ireland. Each puppy can be entered in one county only, and only once. Duplicate entries will be removed without consultation.
  7. Puppies entered must be owned by the entrant
  8. To enter the competition, puppy owners must visit petmania.ie/poty, choose their local county of residence, complete the entry form and upload a photograph of their puppy
    1. Upon entry, owners will be asked to tell us about their puppy and why they believe they should win. This information will be published online and in-store for voting, and made available to our judges and may be used to promote the competition.
    2. Upon entry, owners are asked to submit a photograph of their puppy. Photographs will be published online and in-store for voting, and made available to our judges and may be used to promote the competition.
    3. Puppy’s names will be published online and in-store for voting, and made available to our judges and may be used to promote the competition.
    4. Edits to entries will be made only in exceptional circumstances, so please check all entry information before submitting
  9. Entrants must own the copyright on all photographs submitted
  10. It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the correct form of media is submitted. Videos that are submitted will be screenshotted and this image may replace the original file
  11. Any entries found to be invalid or in breach of competition rules, will be disqualified and entrants may be asked to forfeit any prizes given.
  12. By entering the competition, the puppy owner is giving the promoter permission to use the image of their puppy in the promotion and running of this competition.
  13. All owners who enter the competition will receive a Puppy Gift Pack from BETA Dog Food, which will be available for collection at their nominated local store until Saturday 18th October, subject to availability. Where the entrant resides in a county which does not have a Petmania store, the giftbag will be delivered via An Post. Unclaimed gift packs will be donated to charity.
  14. All Prizes are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for alternatives or cash.
  15. The overall winner will become an official brand ambassador for Petmania for a period of 12 months, the details of which will be outlined with the winner’s owner via a contract of agreement.
  16. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  17. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any entries not received, or for undelivered or delayed entries which were unable to be submitted or received due to technical failure or any other reason beyond its control. No responsibility will be accepted by Petmania for failed, partial or garbled computer transmission, for any computer, telephone, cable, network, electronic or internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, availability, for the acts or omissions of any service provider, internet, accessibility or availability or for traffic congestion or unauthorised human act.
  18. The Promoter reserves the right to vary, cancel or modify the competition and or the terms and conditions at any time and for whatever reason and/or amend or withdraw the competition (and/or any related prize) in whole or in part at any time due to unforeseen circumstances. The Promoter is also entitled to vary the prize(s) if, due to unforeseen circumstance it becomes impossible to provide the prizes as described or in its opinion, it would be inappropriate in any way. In that event, a prize of equal value will be offered. In all respects, The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into in respect of this decision.
  19. The Promoter takes your privacy and personal information seriously. Your personal data provided upon the time of entry be managed in line with the Promoter’s privacy policy which can be found at https://www.petmania.ie/privacy-policy
  20. Contact details of voters will not be used for any future marketing purposes, unless explicated requested, and has been solely requested to avoid multiple voting etc. Any recorded voter information will be removed from our records permanently following the end of the competition, unless that voter has opted in to be added to The Promoter’s email database for the purpose of receiving marketing notifications.
  21. Entry is not open to employees for Petmania or Nestle Purina PetCare, or their immediate families (Parent, Sibling, Child, Spouse/Partner).
  22. While attending events relating to the competition, or representing Petmania in an official capacity with their puppy, all owners must respect and follow the current laws and regulations relating to the ownership and control of dogs, with particular reference to the use of leads and muzzles, and the cleaning of dog waste, where required. Failure to do so may result in exclusion from some / all events and / or removal from the competition.
  23. Voting is limited to the Republic of Ireland only.
  24. The competition will consist of three rounds:

Round 1 / County Heats of the competition will consist of a public vote. The five puppies in each county heat who receive the most votes will qualify to enter into Round 2 (Total 130 Puppies). Judges will also select a Wildcard entry to go forward to Round 2 (Total 26 Puppies). Please see notes below regarding public votes.

Round 2/ County Heats of the competition will consist of a public vote to determine the competition finalists. One finalist from each county heat will be selected at Round 2. The puppy at each county which receives the most votes will win the County Puppy of the Year title and secure a place in the national final (Total 26 Puppies). Please see notes below regarding public votes.

Round 3 / National Final. The 26 finalists qualifying from Round 2 will be invited to take part in a competition final on Saturday 18th October 2025 at The Pet Expo, The National Show Centre, Stockhole Lane, Cloghran, Dublin, K67 VF43. In the event that qualifying finalist is unable to attend the final, their place, and any associated prizes, will be forfeited to the puppy from their heat which has the next highest number of votes.

In the event of unforeseen circumstances, the Promoter reserves that right to postpone the date of the event, or adjust the requirements of the final to a digital competition.

 

Public Voting:

  1. Public voting will be available as follows for rounds one and two of the competition.
  2. In-store Voting:In the counties where Petmania have a store, customers will be allowed to vote once per day for the duration of voting, for their favourite puppy representing that county. Voting cards will be available in-store. For example: voters in Petmania Tralee can vote for entrants in Kerry heat, but will not be able to vote in store for puppies in any other store.
  3. Online Voting: Online voting will be available via www.petmania.ie/poty.
    1. In order to register a vote online, voters must register their email address and complete a CAPTCHA.
    2. Voter details will not be stored after the competition, unless that voter has requested to be added to Petmania’s Marketing Database
    3. Online voters will be allowed to cast one voteper store heat, in any 24 hours during each round of the voting. Ie: if you cast your first vote at 6pm, you will not be able to vote again until 6pm the following day.
    4. The online voting system is operated by Woobox.com. Full details of the Woobox.com’s data security can be found at https://woobox.com/privacy
  1. Any attempts to manipulate the voting system, as perceived by the organisers to be malicious, unfair or in breach of the voting rules will lead to disqualification of the puppy in question from the competition, and may lead to the forfeit of any prizes or discounts obtained during the course of the competition.

 

Final Selection:

The winning puppy from each county heat will secure a place in the grand final on Saturday 18th October 2025.

  1. For the grand final, our 26 County Winners will be split into four provincial groups for judging. These groups will be:
    • Munster (Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford)
    • Connaught (Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo)
    • Ulster & North Leinster (Cavan, Donegal, Longford, Louth , Monaghan, Westmeath, Meath)
    • South Leinster (Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Wicklow)
  2. Judges will complete an initial “blind judging” prior to the final, based on the initial entry received.
  3. At the final, judges will meet all finalists within each regional group and review them on the following criteria: Personality, Special Talents & Training and Overall Appearance
  4. One regional winner will be chosen by our judges from each regional group, and from these four our overall winner will be selected.

 

Prizes to Be Won:

EVERY ENTRANT WILL RECEIVE:

  • Puppy Gift Pack from BETA Dog Food
  • Membership to the Petmania Puppy Club
  • Access to exclusive discounts

 

156 x ROUND 1 COUNTY QUALIFIERS WILL RECEIVE:

5 puppies who receive top votes in each county, plus 1 wildcard per county.

  • 1 x 2kg BETA Puppy Food
  • Qualifier Rosette

 

26 x ROUND 2 COUNTY WINNERS / FINALISTS WILL RECEIVE:

1 puppy who receive top votes in each county

  • Place in the final at Pet Expo 2025
  • 1 x Signature Beauty Package at Petmania Grooming Studios
  • 14kg Food from BETA
  • Dog Bed
  • County Winner Rosette
  • 2 x Adult Passes (Children go free) to Pet Expo Dublin, Saturday 18th October 2025

 

4 x PROVINCIAL WINNERS WILL RECEIVE

  • Provincial Winner’s Rosette
  • Selection of dog toys

 

1 x OVERALL WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

  • 12 x Monthly Visits to Petmania Grooming Studios for alternate standard groom and wash and dry treatments
  • 12 x Months Food from Beta
  • 2-Night Staycation for the winning puppy and their two favourite humans from Ireland’s Blue Book Hotels
  • Professional Photoshoot
  • Winner’s Rosette
  • Become an official Brand Ambassador for Petmania for 12 months from November 2025 – October 2026
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