NOTE: Hero Dog being nominated must be living at the start of nominations and each round of voting thereafter in order to progress in the competition. Your nomination will not be accepted if the dog is deceased.

Law enforcement dogs’ ability to help protect their human handlers, thwart lawbreakers, and find evidence makes them true partners to first responders, and these four-footed heroes are often considered law enforcement officers in their communities. Dogs have ultra-sensitive hearing, keen noses, and can accurately detect a variety of targets. Detection dogs are used to detect illicit substances, drugs, fire accelerants, firearms, or explosives that may be carried on a person in their effects or may be located at a crime scene. Dogs have also been shown to identify flora and fauna and a multitude of diseases in humans, including new training programs for infectious diseases like COVID-19. This Category seeks to bring well-deserved recognition to the heroes who do so much to protect our nation and keep us safe.

Guide and Hearing Dogs are the “eyes and ears” for millions of differently abled Americans. In a Guide Dog team, the dog has been specially trained to assist a person who is blind, leading, obeying commands, avoiding distractions and obstacles, and, importantly, disobeying a command if it would put the team in danger. The person is responsible for directing the dog by keeping a mental map, being the leader of the team and providing care and praise.  Hearing Dogs assist the deaf and those who are hard of hearing by alerting them to a variety of helpful – or harmful – sounds.  These hero dogs help their human counterparts to be aware of such everyday sounds as a knock at the door or doorbell, the ringing of an alarm clock, oven buzzer, or telephone, or the cry of a baby. They also alert their companions to life-threatening (and lifesaving) sounds they might not otherwise notice, such as the blaring of a fire truck’s horn as they step into a street, or the shrieks of a smoke alarm in the middle of the night. These heroes not only improve the lives of the people with whom they work, but save them.

Credentialed Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) Dogs are part of a therapeutic plan to aid with physical, social, emotional and cognitive challenges for persons other than the dog’s owner/handler.   AAT has been shown to help enhance the lives of people in need such as children who have experienced abuse or neglect, patients undergoing chemotherapy or other difficult medical treatments, and military veterans and their families who are struggling to cope with the effects of wartime military service. Studies have found that AAT lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and enhances a patient’s ability to achieve physical and psychological wellness.

Emotional support animals (ESA) do not qualify under this category and Sponsor has the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify entries deemed to be an ESA by Sponsor.

Service Dogs are trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) other than vision or hearing impairment (see guide/hearing dog). They can be trained to work with people who use wheelchairs, have balance issues, have various types of autism, need seizure alert or response, need to be alerted to other medical issues like low blood sugar, or have psychiatric disabilities.  These specially trained dogs can help by retrieving objects that are out of their person's reach, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking to indicate that help is needed, finding another person and leading the person to the handler, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance, and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability.

Emotional support animals (ESA) do not qualify.

Dog teams have a very special role in the world of search and rescue, helping to find children lost in the wilderness, elderly people who have wandered away from home or the hospital, hikers lost in the woods, victims of drowning accidents, and victims of avalanche, earthquake, flood, explosion, fire, train wrecks, plane crashes, tornadoes and other disasters. The dogs' ultra-sensitive hearing, night vision, endurance and keen sense of smell have continually proven to be invaluable in the effort to locate missing persons and to return them home safely to their families and friends.

Military dogs have been aiding human warriors for thousands of years. Today, these dogs are still playing an active role in searching for explosives and seizing enemies.  Military working dogs have been used by the U.S. armed forces since World War I.  In World War II, 436 scout dogs walked combat patrols overseas, often detecting the enemy at a 1,000 yards, long before the enemy became aware of them.  Dogs continued to serve with distinction in other conflicts, such as Korea, where the Army used about 1,500 dogs, primarily for guard duty.  During the Vietnam War, nearly 4,000 dogs were employed and, officially, 281 were killed in action.  Today’s conflicts include dogs at every level, still serving our country, helping to protect our troops.

With millions of homeless dogs in shelters and on the streets in the U.S., many of the most incredible stories come from the heartfelt second chance stories of shelter and rescue dogs who are given a new “leash” on life. The Shelter Dog category shines a spotlight on ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things – the often-overlooked shelter or rescue dog who goes on to become a loved family pet. A shelter or rescue dog can be nominated for overcoming difficult odds, having a remarkable rescue story, or for simply brightening the lives of the those who gave them their second chance. Dogs eligible for the Shelter category can be adopted from a rescue organization or shelter, rescued from the streets or homelessness, or saved from unfavorable situations.

Additional paperwork may be requested as proof of adoption.