He was undeniably the smallest in stature, but Tiny the 11-year-old former rescue dog won judges over with his big personality and was crowned 2015 RSPCA ACT's Next Top Dog.
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The Jack Russell cross Papillon was the last contestant of six to prance down the red carpet runway.
Beaming at his owner Alix Brill-Jamieson all the way, he sported a calm manner and shiny satin tails suit complete with bow tie.
While other candidates secured their spot in the competition by contributing to the event's $21,000 fundraising total, the pint-sized underdog was a wildcard entry chosen after receiving popular support of 256 Facebook likes.
RSPCA ACT president Louise Douglas said she was impressed by Tiny's "aplomb" and felt he had the necessary qualities to be the canine face of the organisation for the coming year.
"We could see there were ambassadorial qualities there," she said. "He was cool and collected under pressure. Being the wildcard entry clearly there are qualities about the dog people like and as judges we responded to that too."
Gabi Openshaw draped a silky 'top fundraiser' winners ribbon over Lucky, a seven month old greyhound in her foster care who raised $2867 for the RSPCA and is confidently walking on three legs after a recent amputation.
"For the first four days after her leg was taken I had to carry her but after two weeks she could walk upstairs which is pretty amazing," Ms Openshaw said. "I think she has coped so well because she is young."
Bred for the racing industry, Lucky is staying with Ms Openshaw until someone offers her a loving home.
The day was not all about the pooches, a male domestic short hair named Robinson was named 2015 Top Cat and Meeka the ferret took out the Top Small Animal category.
RSPCA's Tammy ven Dange said the Next Top Pet event, now in its second year, had fantastic energy.
Along with raising more than $21,000 she said timing the finale to coincide with an adoption drive had paid off.
"People have adopted puppies, older dogs, cats, goldfish and even an axolotl," she said. "It's hard with goldfish to count them all, but 30 adoptions were finalised here today."
