Donna Nicholls' six-year-old Labrador-cross-Retriever, Zikeeta, is one of almost 9000 dogs in the country vying for the 'top dog' spot in the '2026 Happy Bubbles Pup Off' competition.

Voters select their favourite dog and by the end of September, the canine with the most votes wins the jackpot, while others will win prizemoney from the company which supplies dog washing stations all over Australia.

"This is the first time I've entered Zikeeta in this competition and at the moment there are about 1800 dogs in Victoria and Zikeeta is coming in at first place," said the proud Bright owner.

"There are more than 8800 entries throughout Australia and she's currently sitting in second."

Donna said the pair would donate any prizemoney Zikeeta won from her final place on the winner's list.

"Zikeeta's charity of choice is the Wodonga Dog Rescue, because they are the only local dog and cat rescue who have helped Wodonga and surrounding districts, such as Myrtleford and Bright with their stray dogs and cats," she said.

"They're a non-kill shelter and there's only two or three people who run it and other volunteers who lend a hand.

"So far they've rehomed thousands and thousands of animals."

The competition is set to end on Wednesday 30 September.

"People just have to scan the QR code with their phone," Donna said.

"They fill out their details, then wait to get an SMS back from Happy Bubbles with a link, which they must click on to confirm the vote.

"If they don't get an SMS, it'll be sent to their email, which normally goes into their Junk email folder.

"If you don't click that link to confirm your vote, your vote will not count: it's the only way to stop cheats, because it's a one-time Australian phone vote.

"It's very important people confirm their vote, because so far there's over 100 people who have voted and haven't confirmed."

In the meantime, Zikeeta will spend her days swimming in the Ovens River, a favourite past-time of hers.

For more information visit https://www.happybubbles.com.au/pup-off/entrants.