Alex and Zac - lookalikes and best pals

It's official: Alex Middlemiss and her pet Zac are nearly spitting images of each other.

The honey-blonde Westbrook School pupil and her 3-year-old family pet dog, Zac, won 85 days of Eukanuba dog food, a container to keep it fresh in and a mountain of other Eukanuba products and toys after taking second place in the VetPlus Look-Alike competition held at the Dog's Day Out yesterday.

Alex isn't at all perturbed about looking like her favourite pooch either.

"He's real cool. He responds to my commands most of the time and he's a pretty cool best friend," she said.

Alex's dad, Tony Middlemiss, said Zac was a family pet and they took in the VetPlus day because it was a great day out for the family, which in turn supported a very worthy cause.

"It's an awesome family day out. You get to enjoy yourself so much and it's brilliant for the SPCA," he said.

Meanwhile, Steve Kemp and his rottweiler Biggie won first place in the competition.

Mr Kemp thinks they won because they are both "fat".

"It's all in fun," he said.

Dale Leathers and her dog Budget - a former SPCA "special" - were also enjoying the Dog's Day Out.

"It's definitely gone to the dogs here. This is so cool because you get to socialise your dog with so many other dogs. I don't think Budget has ever seen so many dogs and people in one place before. He is loving it. I think he's licked more dogs than I can count."

VetPlus business administrator Treena Braithwaite said it was a fantastic day in aid of the Rotorua SPCA.

About 300 dogs and their owners took part in the day - up slightly on last year's 280 dogs entered, Mrs Braithwaite said.

Last year they raised about $3500 for the Rotorua SPCA from the event and hoped they were up a bit on that this year, she said.

"It's such a great day out for the dogs. Gets them socialising with other dogs ... it's all in support of the SPCA and the work they do."