Category: 2024 American Humane Hero Dog Awards

The 2024 American Humane Hero Dog Awards nominees are out! And you’re in for a treat to find the goodest boys and girls competing for the coveted American Hero Dog title this year.

The American Humane Hero Dog Awards is by American Humane, an animal welfare organization founded in 1877 committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. 

The annual and nationwide competition, now on it’s 14th year, searches for and recognizes America’s Hero dogs, which are often “ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things”.

According to the Hero Dog Awards’ website, the nominees are competing in the following five different categories:

• Therapy: Dogs with the credentials to help people, other than their owner/handler, with their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive challenges.
• Emerging Hero and Shelter: Dogs that are proof of resilience, hope, and positivity. These dogs are considered “ordinary” four-legged friends doing extraordinary things after getting rescued.
• Military: Dogs that are proof not all heroes wear capes! They are pivotal to our troops’ health and safety, at home and overseas.
• Service and Guide/Hearing: Dogs that do not only keep their hoomans safe but ensures the improvement of the lives they touch.
• Law Enforcement and First Responder: Dogs that help keep our communities safe from crime, drugs, diseases, and arson – talk about heroes!

Five hero canines will be featured for each category. However, only one dog will come out on top to become 2024’s American Hero Dog.

Competition is tight when the nominees are all certified good boys and girls!

Last year, a Great Dane from the Therapy category, named Maverick, took home the coveted American Hero Dog title.

This year, in the same category, we have Dayo from Dublin, California who was previously a companion dog for a cheetah at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR. Today, Dayo works as a therapy dog who provides warmth and joy to patients, families, nurses, and staff at the George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, CA.

We also have Pepper from Alexandria, Virginia who does a remarkable job at being a Courthouse dog with her special power of comforting those in need. Oh, and did we mention that she knows over fifty commands?

Other paw-sitively amazing pooches that are making a change in the lives of hoomans include Oscar from Coral Springs, Florida, Archer from Stanhope, New Jersey, and Bogey from North Miami, Florida.

In the Emerging Hero and Shelter category, we have Lieutenant Dan from New Richmond, Ohio, who, despite having his hind limbs and tail amputated due to birth defects, now lives a full and happy life – a true icon of positivity and perseverance!

Cal from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina is another heartwarming tale of resilience and dedication. He came from a war-torn village in Ukraine and now lives at a loving home in South Carolina. His owner, Jeff, hopes to one day train Cal as an official search and rescue canine.

Other inspiring dogs in the category include Penny from Louisville, Kentucky, Tank from Naples, Florida, and Jerry Lee from Emory, Texas.

Meanwhile, in the Military category, we have K9 Niki from Seattle, Washington who continues to have an extensive career as a police dog. She has secured major events like the Rose Bowl, Seattle Sea Fair, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

In addition, she has boarded over 250 vessels, conducted 25,000 vehicle sweeps, and participated in 150 community demonstrations, safeguarding around 7 million people. 

Other brave and courageous canines who risked and continue to risk their lives everyday to ensure the safety of ours include John from San Antonio, Texas, Ffancy from Barnegat, New Jersey, Maci from Enid, Oklahoma, and Dasty from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In the Service and Guide/Hearing category, we have Sampson from Sierra Vista, Arizona who has been supporting his handler for nine incredible years. Aside from changing the life of his handler for the better, Sampson and his handler are pushing to amend CDC guidelines to remove barriers for service dog handlers.

In the same category, we have Coby from Wayland, Michigan, with an instinct like no other. Aside from being a remarkable hearing aid every day, in October 2023, he was able to pull back his partner while crossing a busy intersection, just in time to avoid a speeding fire engine.

Other service and guide/hearing dogs that are making an impact by changing hooman lives for the better include Willow from Henderson, Nevada, Percy from Meriden, Connecticut, and Justice from Seffner, Florida.

And last but definitely not the least, in the Law Enforcement and First Responder category, we have Layla from Grand Prairie, Texas who is as remarkable as one can be.

Her nose is a gift in the work she does as a Detection K9. She can detect devices buried underground, submerged in water, or frozen in ice. And thanks to her extraordinary skills, she was able to help uncover evidence of child exploitation.

Other dogs in the same category as Layla include Charlie from Kansas City, Kansas, Jacky from Portland, Oregon, Detective K9 Briggs from Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, and Bo from Gastonia, North Carolina.

You can vote for your favorite four-legged friend in each category on the Hero Dog Awards’ website!

After the voting, winners from each category will be honored at the star-studded American Humane Hero Dog Awards Gala in Palm Beach on January 08, 2025.