Rescued baby chihuahua will represent Laois in final of Ireland's largest pet contest

A cute chihuahua from Co Laois has been chosen as one of 32 pets participating in the final of Ireland's largest pet competition, the Nose of Tralee. 

The six month old little dog from Errill was named Sockie due to her tiny size when she was rescued as she could only fit into a sock to stay warm.

She came from a "very unethical" backyard breeding situation where she was being sold as a teacup Pomeranian and, when found, she was covered in blood lice and scabs, and had bald spots from head to tail. 

Thankfully, she has since made a full recovery and is full of life! 

She may be tiny in size but certainly not in personality, with her hobbies including standing up on two legs, pretending to be a guard dog, and doing zoomies in the garden. 

Sockie was entered into the competition by her young owner, Alicia Cullen (16), who said she made the decision "for two reasons". 

She said, "Firstly because she’s been through so much already in her first six months of life, I think she deserves a big win! And secondly, most importantly, I want to raise awareness and stand up to unethical backyard breeders who make dogs' lives a living hell because, although Sockie got lucky, not all dogs do and that really needs to change." 

Sockie joins 32 other pets - out of a total of 1650 entries - in with a chance of becoming this year's Nose of Tralee winner. 

The competition, which is run by Pet Sitters Ireland, is open to all types of animals including dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and horses, and is currently in its 11 year of operation. 

Twenty nine dogs and just three cats make up the 32 finalists this year. 

All the pets will now don their Nose of Tralee sashes and submit a final entry, with voting opening from August 1 to August 19. 

The winner will be announced on August 20. 

The owner of Pet Sitters Ireland, Kate McQuillan, said, "This is always an exciting stage of the competition. This year's Noses get to meet previous winners and plan their campaign to gather votes.

"We can't wait to see who wins this year – maybe it could be a cat!"

Pet lovers can cast their votes for the next Nose of Tralee by visiting the official website.