The world's most beautiful dog photos.

The Kennel Club, a UK-based dog protection organization, has just announced the results of its Dog Photographer of the Year competition, honoring photographers with the most beautiful works featuring dogs in 2016.

A Girl's Best Friend - the photo that won the Overall Winner and Man's Best Friend awards by photographer Maria Davison.

This is the 12th year the competition has been held, and it has received many "truly wonderful" entries about man's four-legged friend, according to the organizers.

According to the award website, the Dog Photographer of the Year contest began accepting entries from October last year to March this year. The contest received nearly 10,000 photos from 74 countries.

The overall winner was photographer Maria Davison from Portugal with her photograph "A Girl's Best Friend," featuring a dog named Yzma.

This work also won in this category.Man's Best FriendFor photographers who can capture the special bond between humans and dogs.

"For me, photography is about capturing honest moments, and this is one of those moments," photographer Maria Davison said about her photograph.

“A friend of mine recently adopted Yzma, and I took a few pictures while we chatted in the kitchen. Despite the less-than-perfect location and lighting conditions, the result is one of the photos I'm most proud of.”

Photographer Kaylee Greer from the United States won in this category.Dogs at PlayCapture the joyful moments of dogs in their lives.

Kaylee recounts that her award-winning photograph, Splash!, of a dog named Petey, was taken at sunset, casting golden light on the sea. “Petey excitedly jumped into the water with delight in his eyes, gesturing for me to join him,” photographer Kaylee said.

Meanwhile, the dog named Rita in the photograph "On the Move" earned British photographer Sarah Caldecott first prize in the category.Dogs at WorkIt depicts dogs on duty.

Russian photographer Anastasia Vetkovskaya was awarded first prize in the Dog Portrait category for her photograph Black Beauty, which features Sisley, a dog she describes as "very impressive and full of emotion."

One particularly humane aspect of the award isAssistance DogsFor photographers who photograph service dogs (dogs trained to assist people with disabilities).

The winner in this category will receive a £500 donation from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust to their desired dog charity.

This year's first prize in this category went to British photographer Alasdair MacLeod for his photograph Megan & Duncan, which depicts Megan the dog at the South Beach Care nursing home in Saltcoats, Scotland.

According to the photographer, Megan gazed lovingly at Duncan Currie, a 95-year-old veteran at the institution who suffers from dementia.

Other award categories include Rescue Dogs, which focuses on the new lives of rescued dogs; I Love Dog Because… for young photographers aged 12 to 17 expressing their love for dogs; Young Pup Photographer for photographers under 11; Oldies, featuring older dogs; Pupies, focusing on puppies under 6 months; and Special Mentions, for photographers whose works are highly rated by the judges.

Here are some of the winning entries for Dog Photographer of the Year:

Kaylee Greer won first prize in the Dogs At Play category.

Dylan Jenkins won first prize in the Young Pup Photographer category.

Alexandra Robins won first prize in the Rescue Dogs category.

Alasdair MacLeod won first prize in the Assistance Dogs category.

Julian Gottfried won first prize in the "I Love Dogs Because..." category.

Sarah Caldecott won first prize in the Dogs At Work category.

Second prize in the Dogs At Play category for Rodrigo Capuski

John Ferrett won second prize in the Assistance Dogs category.

Second prize in the Oldies category for Igor Mysenhevych

Third prize for Dog Portrait by Noel Bennett

Third prize in the Puppies category for Ruud Lauritsen

Third place in Rescue Dogs by Kaylee Greer

Martin Tosh won second prize in the Rescue Dogs category.

According to TTO