This Yorkie named Teddy is Kansas City’s cutest dog, Star readers say
For 1-year-old Teddy, life since moving to the Kansas City area has been the dream.
He’s got an older sister that regularly gives him baths with her tongue, all the toys he could ever want (plus more he can steal) and so many humans to pet him.
Now he’s got a title to flaunt: the Kansas City area’s cutest dog.
Teddy, a Yorkie who lives in Shawnee, received more than 5,800 votes in the final round of The Star’s poll to find the best pup in the KC area. Next, he’ll go onto a national competition. The voting is now open through Thursday, Nov. 13, at bit.ly/KCDogVoting.
His owner, Paola Jarvis, thinks she has an idea how Teddy took the crown: He’s got a whole pack of fans to support him.
In addition to Teddy’s three German Shepherd siblings, Jarvis’ adult children and young grandchildren (plus their dogs) are often filling up Jarvis’ home with her husband, Steve. And all of them, plus their friends and colleagues, went all out to bring Teddy the win.
But Teddy’s not done making friends. Wherever they go, Paola Jarvis says, Teddy is bound to gain some admirers. He can’t get enough attention, and tends to vibrate from head to tail whenever there’s the possibility of pets around.
On a recent trip to TJ Maxx, for example, Jarvis said, Teddy got some repeat visitors.
“In fact, two people came back and found us again in the store because they wanted to greet him again,” she said. “They said, ‘I know I already greeted him, but could I pet him again?’”
Among Teddy’s other loves: toys, parks and remote controls. A bit of a troublemaker, the Yorkie is known to steal the remote control for the TV, knowing he’ll get a human to chase him.
“He tried stealing phones, but they’re kind of heavy and awkward,” Jarvis said.
The Jarvises brought Teddy home last year from a breeder, shortly after the death of their former Yorkie, Luna.
“He just had to open his eyes and look at us,” Paola said. “I don’t know, we just melted. I think we were so lost without Luna, we just melted.”
At first, Paola and Steve kept the little dog close to them, afraid of how the bigger dogs in their household might react to the new addition.
But they needn’t have worried. Paola says Teddy gets along well with his pack of pals. His sister, Cassie, is known to give him a few baths a day with her tongue, and he’s even learned to howl like his bigger siblings and cousins — albeit to a much different effect.
“It’s this high-pitched, squeaky, terrible sound,” Jarvis said. “He doesn’t quite fit in, and sometimes they’ll look at him like, oh, man.”
Teddy, however, is pretty sure he’s one of the pack, Jarvis said.
“I really do think he thinks he’s just like them,” she said. “Yeah, he’s certainly not afraid of any of them.”
The baths do come at a price, however. At one point, Teddy’s hair had gotten so matted from the frequent licking that the vet had to partially sedate him and shear away most of his fur.
When he got in the car — the fur around his head still intact — he looked so funny that Jarvis just had to take a picture.
It wound up being the winning submission for The Star’s contest, with his hair stretching out from his tired face, the sun shining in.
Clearly, it was a winning look for Teddy. We’ll just have to see if it can take him all the way to the top.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 2:37 PM.
