NORFOLK — It wasn’t the first time he’d been about to walk across a stage donning fine garb, mentally preparing to show his stuff before an adoring crowd.
Regardless, Franklin got antsy.
But it wasn’t until the final seconds leading up to the dog costume contest that the 3½-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier started to really feel the weight of the moment.
Franklin approached a short flight of stairs to the stage and, with all that emotional pressure mounting, peed on the floor.
Some spectators cheered. Others cried, “Aww.” The puddle was quickly mopped, and the Saturday costume contest at Elation Brewing’s 11th Annual Dogtoberfest in Norfolk officially began.
Nicole Pellegrino, the vice chair of the board for the Friends of Norfolk Animal Care Center, spoke.
Dogtoberfest was raising money for her organization, which assists the city’s animal shelter by helping to facilitate pet adoptions, subsidizing adoption and medical costs and promoting the importance of spaying and neutering.
The entry fee was an unopened bag or can of dog food, which was donated to the Pet Pantry at Norfolk Animal Care Center. Raffle proceeds and every dollar spent on the brewery’s special event “Mutt Lager” also went toward charity, Pellegrino said.
Dogs were entered into one of three costume categories: most original; fan favorite; or “twinning” — for owners and dogs wearing matching or coordinating costumes.
Franklin, whose full name is Franklin Roscoe Wrenn, M.D. — because he holds a degree from the “Good Dog University” — was dressed as a sack of potatoes, sporting a shirt with the outline of Idaho and the word “Puptato.” His owner Karen Wrenn, 39, from Suffolk, wore the overalls and flannel shirt of a potato farmer, she said.
The other competitors looked equally fabulous.
Norfolk’s Melissa Garrison, 45, and her 2-year-old German shepherd, Echo, were dressed as dragons.
Chesapeake’s Rebecca Pimentel, 45 — inspired by a recent theatrical release — dressed her 2-year-old French bulldog, Guapo, as Beetlejuice.
And Norfolk’s Zsharmaine Gonzales, 23, and Emmanuel Roldan, 22, had 2-year-old Shai — a Shiba Inu, chow chow and husky mix — looking like a bumble bee.
But all three categories were won by a single family.
Brittany Sorrentini’s 2-year-old Great Dane, Gora, won most original costume. Gora was dressed like a Tesla Cybertruck with a license reading, “Virginia Is For Dog Lovers.”
Sorrentini’s 6-year-old son, Atliss, and his dog, Dobby, won the twinning category. Atliss was dressed as Peter Griffin from the animated show “Family Guy,” and Dobby was dressed as an angry chicken that attacked him in an episode.
Sorrentini’s mother, Sheila Roy, and her dog, Sebastian, took home the fan favorite award for Sebastian’s costume of a Target shopping cart.
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com