Welcome to the Finals of the 2nd Annual GooberStanian Beard Growing Competition! Since Stella & I are your hosts, and therefore ineligible to compete, we wanted to start things rolling with the beards of GooberStan.
We had a little trouble getting a photo of my official measurement ceremony, so you're just going to have to take my word that my beard is a whole 2 3/4 inches of lusciousness.
Stella, on the other hand, proudly displayed her beard...
until she found out she was going to have to get measured. Then it was a wrasslin' match between her & our girl. Our girl won. Stella's golden beard weighs in at 3 1/4 inches, and she's going to keep growing it (so she says).
Now, let's get started with announcing our competitors and the winners! We have quite an international contingent this year!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Our first award tonight is in the Muddiest Face Division. Here are our competitors.Faya from Switzerland
Finni from England
Petey from New York City(He asked if he could enter a snowy-face photo, and we said, "Sure.")
and Eric Square Dog from England.
An independent panel of GooberStanian aunties served as our judges.
(Drum Roll Please....)
And the winner of the first Muddiest Face Division of the 2nd Annual GooberStanian Beard Competition is...
(The crowd goes WILD!!!)
Congratulations, Eric! That is one very juicy face!!
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Our next award goes to the pup with the Most Improved Beard. This year, it wasn't a tough one to figure out. With an initial measurement of 2 1/4 inches, a final measurement of 3 1/2 inches, the winner of this year's Most Improved Beard Division, with a net gain of 1 1/4 inches in 4 months is...
The initial measurement - 2 1/4 inchesThe final measurement - 3 1/2 inches(The crowd rushes the stage...)
Congratulations, Mitch! Your apple treatment really did the trick, man!
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Our next prize is for the Overall Longest Beard for pups 25 pounds and under. We had two fierce competitors this year. First is Miss Nelly the Airedale pup (sister of Finni the Airedale).
Her sweet little puppy beard came in at a respectable 1 1/2 inches.
Our other competitor is Moe, the Welsh Terrier from right here in the Kansas City area. Moe and his mama read my blog, and decided to enter the contest this year.
Moe's beard came in at 2 1/4 inches, which makes him our winner!!!
Congratulations, Moe!!! Way to Go, bud!
(Moe starts crowd surfing as they body pass him around the auditorium!)
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Now for our last award for Overall Longest Beard! We had several competitors this year, and the ladies made quite a showing.All 3 Leuradale competitors suffered from SBS (Shrinking Beard Syndrome). Here's Lucy from Australia. Her beard came in at 3/16 of an inch.Willow, her sissy, had a beard measuring in at 1/4 of an inch.And Noah, their brother, came in with a beard that's 3/8 of an inch.
Our only non-Terrier competitor this year is Mama Pajamas from the Whippet Waggle. Her whisker beard, which is very full for a Whippet, measures in at a hearty 1 inch. (Major props to Mama Pajamas for going up against the Terriers!)
Miss Molly the Airedale (our only female Brit entry) also suffered from Shrinking Beard Syndrome. Her final measurement came in at 2 3/4 inches.
Speaking of Brits, next is Finni the Airedale. He was a double competitor this year, having also entered the muddiest face competition! Here he is proudly displaying his 3 inch beard.
Now we come to seasoned American competitor, Bogart Handsome Devil the Airedale.As you can see, he too had some difficulty with the measuring of his beard.
A very respectable showing for Bogart at 3 inches. 
You will all recognize this next competitor, weighing in with 3 1/2 inches, it's the winner of our Most Improved Beard, Mitch the Airedale!Now, our next competitor is where this competition began. She's a sweet Airegirl who did a little trash talking with me about our beard lengths over a year ago, which prompted a little friendly beard-growing competition between the two of us. Then, we decided to open it up to all the pups we knew. Here she is weighing in with a bootifully full 4 1/2 inch beard, this year's 3rd place winner, Maggie the Airedale!
These last two competitors brought it down to the wire. They come from the same bloodline, so it's no wonder they are beard-growing phenoms! It was a close call, but 2nd place goes to the magnificent Kerry Blue Terrier, Ms. Blue, with an amazingly gorgeous ebony beard of 5 3/8 inches.
Which brings us to the winner of the Overall Longest Beard, weighing in with 5 1/2 inches of lusciously dark curls, Kerry Blue Terrier extraordinAire and daughter of our 2nd place winner Ms. Blue and sister of last year's winner Buster... Persephone the Kerry Blue Terrier!!!WAY TO GO, Persephone!!! Looks like we're keeping this award in the family! You're an even more gorgeous winner than Buster was last year!
(Persephone prances her way up to the stage & takes a bow with her proud mama Ms. Blue.)
I guess it IS true ~ Chicks with beards ROCK!
Now for a recap of our winners:
Longest Beard (25 lb & under division) ~ Moe the Welshie
(The prize committee will be contacting each of you to ensure you receive your awards.)
We will leave you with a photo of my dearly departed buddy, and the inspiration for this competition, Dovah Doo! We miss you and that magnificent beard, man!
Congratulations to all of our competitors! GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!!!
