History Main / PetContestEpisode

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'' episode, "Animalympics", Dennis and his friends enter their dogs in a dog show. One by one, all the dogs win the show's events, except for Ruff. At the end of the episode, Ruff wins the costume contest when he ends up wearing one of Mrs. Wilson's dresses as a result of chasing a cat through Mr. Wilson's backyard.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'' episode, the kids enter their pets in a pet show, except for one who has no pet and enters a toy monkey instead. The pets all win a prize for "Best [species]" and the monkey wins a prize for "Best Pretend Monkey".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'' episode "Evilest in Show", the league enter Doomageddon in a pet show, and since their villains they try sabotaging the other pets to make sure their Doomhound win.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'' episode "Evilest in Show", the league enter Doomageddon in a pet show, and since their villains they try sabotaging the other pets to make should their Doomhound win.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode, "Bestest of Show", the babies and their parents go to a pet show. While Stu and Chas [[FeudEpisode compete against each other]] over whether Spiffy or Puppy will win the trophy, Tommy, Chuckie, and Kimi try their best to train the puppies and make them look good for the pet show. Meanwhile, Angelica enters Fluffy, her pet cat, and Susie enters Herbie, her pet gerbil who can ride a tricycle. At the end of the episode, Herbie wins the Best Pet category, Spiffy wins the Most Friendly Pet category, and Puppy wins the Most Unique Pet category. Fluffy is the only pet who doesn't win any of the categories, much to the ire of Angelica.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' tie-in novel ''Arthur and the Dog Show'', Arthur tries to train his dog Pal to win a competition. While Pal is unable to learn tricks, he ends up winning the competition due to being the most loving dog.

** When Squidward gets a new snail, Snelly, and brags about her pedigree (in comparison to Gary being a mutt) and how he's having her race in a snail race, [=SpongeBob=] decides to enter Gary in the race too and becomes a StageMom. Due to being exhausted and stressed, Gary literally breaks down during the race and only then does [=SpongeBob=] realize how hard he's been on Gary. Snelly forfeits her first place lead to go back and comfort Gary, which causes Patrick's pet ''rock'' to win.
** In one episode, [=SpongeBob=] decides to enter Gary in a pet show after seeing a bunch of upper class fish bragging about how sophisticated their pure pedigree pets are. Gary is groomed and given a bunch of accessories (including a tight collar and a terrible wig), much to his discomfort. When the judge comes around, Gary snaps and bites him when they try to touch him in a sensitive spot, then starts a riot among the pets (who reveal that they've been very uncomfortable with their grooming as well) to turn against their owners. [=SpongeBob=] realizes he and the other owners were wrong and makes a speech explaining this to the owners, which pacifies the pets. The judge then announces that it's clear who the real winner is... [[BaitAndSwitch Patrick (who has been pretending to be a dog/worm earlier in the episode) for being adorable]].

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has Pal and Amigo wanting to enter in a pet contest. However, they can't because they are not purebreds. Luckily Killer is and enters to beat another arrogant opponent.

* In an early ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode, two characters enter "pets" into a pet show:
** Leela enters Nibbler, despite him not knowing any tricks or having any real training. He ends up winning the award for "Dumbest Animal in Show" and gets a dunce cap as a "prize".
** Bender enters Doctor Zoidberg (who is a fully sentient HumanoidAlien) into the show with the intent of splitting the prize with Zoidberg. Bender gets the cash prize, Zoidberg gets the year supply of [[ExtremeOmnivore dogfood]]. Zoidberg comes in second place, which wins them an [[UndesirablePrize afghan (blanket) made from an afghan (dog breed)]].
** First prize is naturally claimed by our glorious lord and master, TheHypnoToad.

** In another episode, [=SpongeBob=] decides to enter Gary in a pet show after seeing a bunch of upper class fish bragging about how sophisticated their pure pedigree pets are. Gary is groomed and given a bunch of accessories (including a tight collar and a terrible wig), much to his discomfort. When the judge comes around, Gary snaps and bites him when they try to touch him in a sensitive spot, then starts a riot among the pets (who reveal that they've been very uncomfortable with their grooming as well) to turn against their owners. [=SpongeBob=] realizes he and the other owners were wrong and makes a speech explaining this to the owners, which pacifies the pets. The judge then announces that it's clear who the real winner is... [[BaitAndSwitch Patrick (who has been pretending to be a dog/worm earlier in the episode) for being adorable]].

Bonus points if there's a SapientPet involved giving commentary from their perspective.

* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' has a puzzle involving one of these. However, it takes place in a BadFuture ruled by anthropomorphic tentacles and the entrees are humans.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Tween Wolf" [[ButtMonkey Irwin]] gets turned into a werewolf and Billy, [[TheDitz the idiot that he is]], enters him in the local dog show.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'' episode Evilest in Show the league enter Doomageddon in a pet show, and since their villains they try sabotaging the other pets to make should their Doomhound win.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' short "Dog Show", when Pluto gets injured and is unable to compete in a dog show, Mickey decides to have Goofy take his place since [[FurryReminder he is, in fact, a dog.]]

Of course, it's hardly guaranteed that the protagonist's pet will actually win first place. Just as common is the payoff to be SecondPlaceIsForWinners, become a VictoriousLoser, or earn a ConsolationPrize. Then again, UnderdogsNeverLose and TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin.

A character has a loving pet and they think they are the best pet anyone could ever have. What is the best way to prove it? By having them compete against other pets in a competition.
In most common cases, pet shows are usually ways for people to show off their pets (most commonly dogs) as purebreds and they would compete in different forms of competition such as style and talent before a group of judges. The show would end with one being awarded first prize and being given the title "Best In Show".

* The 1966 Disney film ''The Ugly Dachshund'' concludes with the title dog (actually a Great Dane) being entered in a dog show, where he meets a female Great Dane and learns to BeYourself.

In fiction, it doesn't always work that way. Fictional pet competitions will often be much broader in scope than real ones, covering many different kinds of animals. They also will often lack the sophistication of real ones, instead being a straightforward judgment of which animal is "better" (how this is decided when comparing, say, a cat and a hamster is quite unlikely to be discussed). They're quite likely to end in a DarkHorseVictory--sometimes literally, depending on the animal in question.

* Inevitably, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' did this several times. There were literally dozens of episodes in the Hoenn, Battle Frontier, and Sinnoh arcs dealing with Pokémon Contests (see the Video Games section for more), which [[GoKartingWithBowser May, Dawn, and Jessie]] would usually partake in. The idea of a Pokémon beauty contest, however, is much older-- the early Kanto episode "Pokémon Fashion Flash" revolved around one such contest.

* In the ''Series/MrBean'' episode "Hair by Mr. Bean of London", Bean enters his beloved teddy bear into a dog show. Teddy ends up winning since, being an inanimate object, he is incapable of making mistakes unlike the dogs.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and their immediate successors ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' included the concept of "Pokémon Contests", a non-violent, beauty-oriented alternative to battles. In these, you would compete with a number of other Trainers for Contest Ribbons, with your Pokémon being judged on the quality of their moves and their overall appeal.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has an interesting variation in the episode "May The Best Pet Win". Rainbow Dash wants a pet, but can't decide between all the animals Fluttershy shows her, so they stage a competition to determine which pet is worthy of being Rainbow Dash's pet.