The Silver Spring Penguin

Photo: A girl and her dog hit Ellsworth Drive. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Editor’s note: One of the coolest (and toughest) tasks I’ve ever had as Penguin editor was to judge a people-pet lookalike contest in September. It’s harder than you think.

It wasn’t the bright sun or delirious craving for Chick-Fil-A waffle fries that had people doing double takes Sunday on Ellsworth Drive. It was the Dog Days of Downtown Silver Spring, which brought out people and their lookalike pets.

The street fair drew a steady crowd of humans and canines, and featured dog-food vendors and rescue leagues. But the highlight of that warm afternoon was the pet-people lookalike contest, during which Penguin editor Jennifer Deseo (yeah, that’s me) and two others passed vicious judgement on dogs and their dopplegangers.

But how is it that people look like their pets? According to researchers with the University of California, San Diego, pet owners tend to choose dogs that already bear some physical resemblence to themselves. Whether that’s screaming egotism or subconscious vanity isn’t clear.

The researchers also say this concept applies only to purebreeds — their looks as they grow are easier to predict. On the flip side, it’s anyone’s guess what that Great Dane-chihuahua mixed-breed pup will look like once an owner takes it home from the pound and has it for a few years.

That doesn’t mean people and their mixed-breed pets can’t look alike after a while. (The winners of Sunday’s pet-people lookalike contest were a woman and her shepherd mix.) But how that happens is still a mystery.

More photos from event (and Penguin) sponsor Living Ruff available on Flickr.

Originally published Sep 15, 2009.