Join our DEV Weekend Challenge: Dog Days Edition! $1,000 in Prizes Across FIVE Winners. Submissions Due August 17 at 6:59 AM UTC.

We're back with another DEV Weekend Challenge, a short bite-sized challenge planned to fit into your...

We're back with another DEV Weekend Challenge, a short bite-sized challenge planned to fit into your weekend. We know the submission window is tight, so we've set the timing to ensure that no matter where you are in the world, you'll have the majority of your Saturday and Sunday to participate.

International Dog Day is coming up on August 26, so this weekend we're handing the keyboard over to our best friends. 🐕

We'll select one overall winner and four prize category winners who utilize a specific technology as part of their challenge submission.

Let's get to it!

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Our Prompt

Build something for, about, or inspired by dogs.

Please interpret this prompt however you'd like. A training log for a new puppy? A breed identifier? A generative art piece built from the silhouette of your own dog? A game where you are the dog? Any angle is fair game, and we have no objection to submissions honoring cats, lizards, or ferrets who happen to live with a dog.

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Prize Categories

Alongside our overall winner spot, we have four prize categories for participants who incorporate a specific technology into their project. You don't need to use any of these tools to be eligible for the overall winner spot, but if you're curious about any of the tech, this is a great excuse to give one a try.

• Best use of Snowflake
• Best use of Solana
• Best use of ElevenLabs
• Best use of Google AI

Pro Tip: since prize category winners are drawn from a smaller pool of submissions, your odds of taking home a prize are meaningfully higher.

Note: You may use multiple technologies in a single submission to qualify for multiple categories, but participants are limited to one win per challenge.

Judging Criteria

All submissions will be judged on the following:

• Relevance to Theme: Does the project clearly connect to the challenge theme?
• Creativity: Is the concept original or is it an interesting take on a familiar problem?
• Technical Execution: Is the project functional, well-built, and easy to use?
• Writing Quality: Is the submission post clearly written and engaging?
• Use of Prize Category Technology (optional): If pursuing a prize category, does the submission meaningfully incorporate the chosen technology?

Prizes

Five winners will each take home:

• $200 USD
• DEV++ Membership
• Exclusive DEV badge

All participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge.

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How To Participate

Publish a post on DEV using the submission template below. Your post should give us an overview of what you built, why you built it, and a demo of your project.

{% cta https://dev.to/new?prefill=---%0Atitle%3A%20%0Apublished%3A%20%0Atags%3A%20devchallenge%2C%20weekendchallenge%0A---%0A%0A%2AThis%20is%20a%20submission%20for%20%5BWeekend%20Challenge%3A%20Dog%20Days%20Edition%5D%28https%3A%2F%2Fdev.to%2Fchallenges%2Fweekend-2026-08-13%29%2A%0A%0A%23%23%20What%20I%20Built%0A%3C%21--%20Tell%20us%20about%20your%20project%21%20What%20does%20it%20do%20and%20what%20was%20your%20intended%20goal%3F%20--%3E%0A%0A%23%23%20Demo%0A%3C%21--%20Embed%20your%20project%20or%20share%20a%20deployed%20link%2Fvideo%20demo%20of%20your%20project%20--%3E%0A%0A%23%23%20Code%0A%3C%21--%20Show%20us%20the%20code%21%20You%20can%20embed%20a%20GitHub%20repo%20directly%20into%20your%20post.%20--%3E%0A%0A%23%23%20How%20I%20Built%20It%0A%3C%21--%20Walk%20us%20through%20your%20technical%20approach%20and%20any%20interesting%20decisions%20you%20made%20along%20the%20way.%20If%20you%20used%20any%20of%20the%20prize%20category%20technologies%2C%20be%20sure%20to%20highlight%20how%20you%20incorporated%20them%20here%21%20--%3E%0A%0A%23%23%20Prize%20Categories%0A%3C%21--%20Are%20you%20submitting%20to%20any%20prize%20categories%3F%20Note%20which%20ones%20apply%20%28Best%20Use%20of%20Snowflake%2C%20Best%20Use%20of%20Solana%2C%20Best%20Use%20of%20ElevenLabs%2C%20Best%20Use%20of%20Google%20AI%29.%20If%20not%2C%20you%20can%20remove%20this%20section.%20--%3E%0A%0A%3C%21--%20Team%20Submissions%3A%20Please%20pick%20one%20member%20to%20publish%20the%20submission%20and%20credit%20teammates%20by%20listing%20their%20DEV%20usernames%20directly%20in%20the%20body%20of%20the%20post.%20--%3E%0A%0A%3C%21--%20Thanks%20for%20participating%21%20--%3E %} Weekend Challenge Submission Template {% endcta %}

Challenge Guidelines

A few rules to keep in mind, in line with our recent challenge program updates:

• One submission per person. This challenge has a single prompt, so you get one submission. A single project can still qualify for as many prize categories as you'd like.
• New projects only. Your project needs to be built within the challenge window. Please don't dust off something you built last spring.
• Nothing after the deadline counts. We review commit history as part of judging. If you keep building after submissions close, note in your readme what happened before the deadline and what came after, or the submission may be disqualified.

Please review our judging criteria, rules, guidelines, and FAQ page before submitting so you understand our participation guidelines and official contest rules such as eligibility requirements.

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Need Help?

Check out our official challenge page for resources to help you get started with tech from our prize category partners.

Important Dates

• Launch Time: August 14, 2026 2:00 AM UTC
• Submissions Due: August 17, 2026 6:59 AM UTC

Here's what that looks like across a few timezones:

<mark>Winners will be Announced on Thursday, September 10.</mark>

Questions about the challenge? Drop them in the comments below.

Good luck!!