Jo's Coffee hosting annual Ugly Dog Contest

Joe's Coffee is hosting its ninth annual Ugly Dog Contest. On Sunday, there will be live music, food, and drinks, and, of course, some furry friends. Yeah, I'm sure they're going to be adorable, too. They have to be. Tiara Newbaum is live in Central Texas this morning with more on all of it. Central Austin. Hey, Tiara. Hey, guys. Good morning. Yeah, I saw something. It was like things are about to get ugly in a very adorable way. Chuck, this is an event that's kind of been your baby for the past nine years. So what's going on? It's the Ugly Dog Contest, and it's all for a good cause. It is, yeah. So this is our ninth annual. It's always taken place up here at Joe's Coffee in the Hancock Center. It's a fundraiser at its heart for Emancipet. It started very, very small, kind of on a whim, and it's just grown and gotten better each year. What was the inspiration behind this? Well, actually, some bar in Austin was advertising that they were doing an ugly dog contest, so me and a couple of coworkers went to check it out, and then they didn't do it. And so we were like, well, if they're not going to do it, we're going to do it. I love that. Okay, we've got Newt here, and he's going to be part of the Ugly Dog Contest. Tell us about Newt, Melanie. Newt is a three-year-old dachshund terrier. We adopted him from Dream Dachshunds in Pflugerville. He was attacked as a puppy and didn't get any medical attention, but it has not slowed him down. He can eat and drink really well, and he just loves life. So when people put on events like this, supporting Emancipet, supporting our local pet organizations, as someone, the owner of Newt, what does this mean to you? Just being a local supporter of Joe's Coffee, first of all, we had, and then knowing that we had Newt, we had to participate, and then it just being for a good cause is just a bonus. Absolutely. What are the different contests that people can enter into? So we have the famous Ugly Dog Contest, which is kind of the heart of the event. And then we have a best costume since it falls on Halloween weekend-ish. And then there's a best in show for all of the dogs that don't, maybe that aren't ugly and that don't want to dress up. And just want to perform and be the star of the show. We love that. What else kind of goes on that day? You guys have some live music, I believe, some other fun things. Yeah, so we have kind of a house band here that performs for some of our family events called Strawberry Japs. So they'll be here playing. And then we've got about nine vendors coming. And then we also have Austin Animal Center coming with some adoptable pups. This is kind of the heart and soul of Joe's. I mean, at every location you guys have dog toys. And I saw you giving Newt a pup cup when he walked in. Like, you know, why is this so important to you guys? This is something that's been special and continues to grow each year. I mean, dogs are just kind of a central part of our brand. I think they're kind of a central part of Austin in general. So, you know, we like to keep it light. We like to keep the pups and the families happy and coming back. And have good coffee, good food. merch is that going to be available we've got the skeleton here with the Ugly Dog Contest shirt on yes that's last year's shirt but we will have a new iteration for this year as well all right we'll stay tuned for that thank you guys so much good luck Newt we'll be rooting for you all right guys we'll send it back to you in the studio hop online you can find details and everything you need to know i know we've all fallen in love with him here oh he deserves all the puppies you can get what an angel hopefully he's getting some good treats today as well before he gets ready for the competition thanks Tiara Joe's Coffee is hosting its ninth annual Ugly Dog Contest on sunday there's gonna be live music food drink of course plenty of very cute in their own way furry friends i'd like to think so Tiara Newbound joins us live from central Austin this morning with details hey guys yeah things are going to get ugly in a very adorable way at Joe's on sunday chuck this is the ninth annual Ugly Dog Contest what's going on so we're gonna have all of Austin's ugliest dogs here at Joe's Red River in the Hancock Center um it's our ninth annual dog contest and fundraiser for a Man's Best Friend and it's going to be a lot of fun it is going to be a lot of fun what does the day look like what time do people need to show up and what are the different contests this is littles oh this is littles she's actually a incumbent in our ugly dog contest um we also have newt over there who is a new entry this year you'll see him in a minute but uh we so the contest is from 11 to 1 voting happens during the whole event um and then at probably about 12 30 we'll have our crowning ceremony so you'll get to meet all of the candidates everyone will say a little bit about their dogs and then we'll count votes and see who wins voting is online this year is that right it's you can vote in any of the joe's coffee stores or online if you go to joescoffee.com and click on the red river menu you will see it as your very first category. There you go. And it all gives back to Emancipet. So Chris, you know, how do these funds help you guys? And for somebody not familiar with what Emancipet does in our community, can you tell us about that? Yes, of course. Emancipet is a non-profit vet clinic that provides affordable and accessible vet care for family and pets in Central Texas area. And you know, what does it mean to you guys to partner up with Joe's for a fun event like this, but to give back? Yeah. So this is a great opportunity for us because all of these donations help us to offer local services and free services in our clinics for family and pets. Really, really good stuff. And Newt is new this year. Melanie, can you tell us a little bit about Newt for somebody who might have missed it earlier? Yeah, Newt is a three-year-old dachshund terrier. We adopted him from Dream a Dream Dachshunds in Pflugerville. He was adopted as a puppy and didn't get medical attention, but it has not slowed him down at all. He's adapted. He can eat really well drink really well no health issues and yeah this is Newt, sweet fun, what are you looking forward to this weekend interacting with other pet owners and joining in on the contest um yeah we're just excited to come to a local event this is our first year i can't believe i've missed it every year um but Newt super excited to meet everybody and um join in on the festivities food drink live music a lot of fun Joe's Red River Sunday this is the place to be Of course, tacos, their famous coffee drinks, and some good merch. Lots going on here. So come on out, support a good cause, get some coffee, and hang out with all the doggos. Guys, we'll send it back to you. It is so cool when you are an animal lover. So many great events that make it so easy to really support small organizations doing some good. Right. Sounds like a great time.