Law Enforcement and First Responder Dogs
The Hero Dog Awards® celebrate the courageous law enforcement and first responder dogs who put themselves in danger every day to protect and serve their communities.
This category broadly includes dogs that are critical to first responders, safeguard the public and find missing persons and victims of disasters.
Stay Tuned for the Semi-Finalists
Nominations for the 2026 Hero Dog Awards are now closed — thank you to everyone who shared their hero’s story.
Voting starts August 10. Follow along to meet the semi-finalists and vote for your favorite heroes!
Meet 2025 Finalist Harrison
Last year’s finalist Harrison and his handler joined an episode of the Robin’s Nest podcast.
Harrison, a two-year-old Labrador Retriever and Caldwell County’s first Electronics Scent Detection (ESD) K-9, is trained to locate hidden devices like phones and flash drives. Harrison helps uncover critical evidence in cases involving the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Alongside his handler, Lt. Doug Dupell, his work plays a key role in protecting vulnerable victims and supporting justice.