Service and Guide/Hearing Dogs
Celebrate dogs that transform lives by providing crucial support, safety and independence through their specialized skills.
2024 finalist Sampson helped his handler recover from a life-changing accident and become a global advocate for service dog handlers in science.
Nomination Deadline: June 30, 2025
What Makes These Dogs Heroes?
Service dogs not only improve the lives of the people with whom they work, but also keep them safe every day. Service dogs are trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They can be trained to work with people with physical mobility needs or limitations or people who need alerts to medical conditions. They can also serve as the “eyes and ears” for the blind and/or deaf or perform tasks for those with psychiatric disabilities such as Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
These specially trained dogs can even help by retrieving or manipulating objects that are out of their person’s reach, alerting bystanders and retrieving help for their handler, leading while avoiding distractions and obstacles, and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability.
Is Your Dog a Hero? Share Your Story
Share what makes your dog extraordinary by nominating them for the Hero Dog Awards. Simply pick the category that fits your dog, share their story and upload up to five of your favorite photos. We’ll select category finalists, and the public will help vote for the winner.
