A French bulldog with a face “only a mother could love” has been shortlisted in the race to be crowned the UK’s ugliest dog.
Milo was entered by owner Emma Stephens, 46, as she says he is “a bit aesthetically challenged".
As a puppy the one-year-old suffered a severe eye infection which caused an eye to implode but was nursed to full health.
Now he could win one of the top prizes should he be victorious in the competition - including a makeover.
Emma, from Medway, Kent, said: "We always joke he's got the sort of face only a mother could love and things like that, so just for a bit of fun we entered him into the contest because there aren't that many contests out there for dogs with quirks.
"You get competitions for pretty looking dogs but it's nice to celebrate the ones that are a bit challenged with their looks.
When he wakes up from a particularly deep sleep his tongue is stuck out and he gets that sort of underbite look sometimes when he's relaxing. We always laugh about him being a bit aesthetically challenged."
“When he was around six-to-eight weeks old he started to lose the hair on the front of his head and looked a bit bulbous so we took him to the vets and it turned out he had hydrocephalus, which is fluid in the brain.
"The vet said it doesn't always have a very good prognosis, they can have seizures and all that sort of thing and they said I might want to consider putting him to sleep but for me that's never an option.
"I've nursed lots of animals in the past from the brink of death through all sorts of things that vets said to put them to sleep over and with lots of love, dedication and time it can be done.
"As long as they're doing okay and they've got the will to live, then I will go as far as they want to and luckily he fought through and made it.
"It's a wait and watch approach, he might be fine with it until the end of his days and live a good long life, nobody knows, but there are signs to look for if it does start to affect him."
The one-year-old pup is now one of the finalists for the competition.
The winner will receive a professional makeover and photo session.
Among the 12 shortlisted pets is also Marnie the French Bulldog, Bella the Pug and Jazz the Brusston.
The winning pooch will be announced in February.
Emma added: "We appreciate he's not everyone's cup of tea but he's beautiful to us.
"I don't think any dog is truly ugly, they all have their loveable ways but I think it's nice for the underdog to be celebrated and have a title and a bit of a fuss as well."
