The Hero Dog Awards celebrate the powerful, age-old bond between dogs and people – and give recognition to courageous acts of heroism performed by our four-legged best friends.

PicMonkey CollageThe American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards® is an annual, nationwide competition that searches out and recognizes America’s Hero Dogs – often ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, whether it’s saving lives on the battlefield, lending sight or hearing to a human companion, or simply providing the tail-wagging welcome a pet owner relishes at the end of a hard day.

Dogs compete in eight different categories for the Hero Dog Awards: Law Enforcement Dogs, Arson Dogs, Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Military Dogs, Search and Rescue Dogs, Guide/Hearing Dogs, and Emerging Hero Dogs (the category for “ordinary” dogs who do extraordinary things).

From now until April 27th at 12pm Pacific Time you can vote for a dog in each category, each day!

After voting by the American public, winners in each category are flown to Hollywood with their human friends to attend the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards® gala in Los Angeles. There they walk the red carpet, are recognized in video tributes, receive their Hero Dog category award statue and mingle with celebrities, both two-legged and four-legged! The 2016 American Hero Dog will then be announced to the world.


To read the amazing stories on these 4-legged heroes and to cast your vote, click here!