Named the cutest dog in America, Dr. Papidies, a long-haired Chihuahua, is  now the country’s most altruistic dog, donating his winnings to homeless cats and dogs.

Leslie Capin, a Colorado dermatologist thinks that her pooch is the cutest dog ever. So she entered the 9-pounder, named Dr. Papidies, into the All American Pet Brands’ Cutest Dog Competition. If he won the $1 million top prize, Capin claimed she would split the earnings between two Denver shelters.

Supplying a hefty dose of cuteness, wearing a red jacket and red-rimmed sunglasses, Dr. Papidies snagged the most internet votes and won the grand prize. Last month, Capin was named Petside.com‘s top pet person for 2010.

The $1 million, paid out over 30 years, is going to the Denver Dumb Friends League and the MaxFund, a no-kill shelter whose mission is saving injured animals without owners. “For me, it’s a home run,” Capin says. “A cute dog giving all his winnings away, nothing’s better.”

Capin received Dr. Papidies as a gift, a two-and-a-half-pound puppy mill survivor with Addison’s disease. “I didn’t know if he was going to make it,” she says.

Now at 4 years old Dr. Papidies is doing well. “He’s the love of our life,” Capin says of the tiny pooch. “He’s just the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”

When workers at the MaxFund found out Dr. Papides won, they were elated. “He represents every cute dog that has been adopted,” Heidi Hahn, clinic director of MaxFund, has said. “He’s going to save so many lives.”

Click here for a video about Dr. Papidies with lots of cute pics!

Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post.

Base on an article by diane herbst via tonic