Hero Dog Awards

We enjoyed a remarkably moving evening last night at the gala Hero Dog Awards. We enjoyed seeing several of our human heroes, such as Betty White and Victoria Stilwell. But the dogs were the true stars. Search and rescue dogs who served during 911. Service dogs who have utterly transformed the lives of the people who depend upon them. A therapy dog who brings teddy bears to ailing children and seniors. The whole evening was a tearful but joyous reminder of why we so passionately love what we do.

Hero Dogs

Meet the eight winning hero dogs:

Law Enforcement/Arson Dogs

Sadie is a 5 year old Black Labrador Retriever, a nationally certified accelerant detection K-9 since May of 2007. Sadie works in the Major Crimes Unit of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. She has worked approximately 400 fires, and has assisted in cases resulting in numerous arrests. She has worked numerous high profile arson/homicide cases where her nose has detected critical evidence for collection and prosecution. Sadie has worked in extreme environments (high rise buildings, collapsing structures, snow covered mountains) and never missed a call to duty. She conducts approximately 50 K-9 demonstrations a year to promote fire safety and fire prevention.

Hearing Dogs

Harley serves a hearing-impaired woman who can best articulate how much of an impact he has had on her life: “When Harley arrived in my life, his soundwork showed me how much I had missed all my life. Harley has given me self-confidence and a feeling of equality with others that I’d not experienced before. All of these gifts are priceless to me, but to imagine they came from a dog is almost unfathomable!”

Search and Rescue Dogs

After passing the FEMA Canine Readiness Evaluation at only 18 months old, Sage was called to the Pentagon in the recovery efforts immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Her keen search abilities resulted in detecting the remains of one of the terrorists.
Along with numerous local missing person searches, Sage’s missions have included hurricanes Katrina and Rita and deployment to Iraq to search for missing soldiers. Sage’s newest mission is inspiring cancer patients and survivors with her resilience, enthusiasm and zest for life.

Military Dogs

MWD Bino C152 proudly served the 35th MP Detachment at Ft. Gordon as a Narcotics Detection/Patrol K9 for eleven years. Dutch Shepherd Bino deployed paws on the hot sands of Iraq for 14 months as well as serving special missions with the Border Patrol in the war on drugs. Upon retirement, Bino became a PTSD Demo Service Dog, going on weekly “training missions” to teach Ft Bliss Wounded Warriors and their shelter dog partners the do’s and don’ts of Public Access training.

Guide Dogs

On 9/11, Roselle, a guide dog, and her owner were working in the World Trade Center on the 78th floor of Tower One when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the other side of the building 18 floors above. Roselle’s calm demeanor was responsible for the safe evacuation of her owner as they navigated to the stairwell and traveled down 1463 stairs to the first floor. Her poise helped her owner remain calm as she led others down to safety.

Therapy Dogs

Stacey Mae is a 4 year old Greater Swiss Mountain dog. She collects teddy bears and stuffed animals for the kids in the hospital. So fars she has collected almost 2,000 teddy bears and stuffed animals from all around the world. She visits ailing children and the elderly several times each week, spreading love and comfort.

Service Dogs

Zurich a CCI certified service dog, partnered with a courageous owner who is wheelchair bound, mostly paralyzed, and unable to speak. Zurich performs countless tasks throughout the day to assist her owner, and provides unconditional love and a nonverbal form of communication that has been absolutely sustaining in the challenging life of her owner.

Emerging Hero Dogs

Ricochet was slated to be a service dog, but instead has become an inspirational surfing dog who rides surfboards along with physically impaired children and adults, providing inspiration and fundraising for great causes. Ricochet has raised over $81,000 for human/animal causes. She’s the only known dog in the world that surfs with special needs kids & people with disabilities for therapeutic purposes.

Hero Dog Auction

You can still bid on items in the online auction to raise money for this great cause!