Heroic Dogs: Companion, Therapy & Service K9 Training Dogs.
It’s 2023 and already time to look back at the “best of 2022” awards.
A fave of ours are the Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE) given out each year for the best Companion, Therapy & Service K9 dogs of the past year. We love our dogs and — thank goodness — our dogs love us. Picking just five hero dogs out of so many is a bummer. But each award winner has a story that just moves us.
And reminds us that our wagging family members give us more than we deserve…
As the AKC® Humane Fund announced in an end-of-year press release, the ACE Awards “celebrate five loyal, hard-working dogs that have significantly improved the lives of their owners and communities. The five winners were carefully chosen from a pool of over 600 impressive nominations.”
An award is presented in each of the following five categories:
- Exemplary Companion
- Search and Rescue
- Service Dog
- Therapy Dog
- Uniformed Service K-9.
“This year’s winners range from a Boykin Spaniel who helps children and families alleviate the stress that comes with court proceedings to a Flat-Coated Retriever who was able to locate a missing elderly woman in less than fifteen minutes.”
Doug Ljungren, President of the AKC Humane Fund, explained, “The stories of the ACE Award winners capture the meaning and fulfillment that our canine companions bring to our lives. We are grateful to everyone who shared their story by nominating a dog for an ACE award this year. We are pleased to share these five inspiring stories.”
The 2022 AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence are proudly sponsored by YuMOVE™, the official joint supplement of the AKC, and Eukanuba™. Each ACE recipient is awarded a donation in their name to a pet-related charity of their choice.
Andy Smith, Global Marketing Director, YuMOVE, added “We are proud to support the ACE Awards and help showcase these remarkable dogs who have made such a life-changing difference to those around them. Their daily heroics are truly humbling.”
And Brad Wadler, Vice President of Marketing, Eukanuba, said, “Being a part of the ACE Awards supports our vision that every dog is capable of exceptional performance, so it is an honor to celebrate these canine heroes. We’re proud to highlight extraordinary dogs that better the world around them.”
FIVE HEROIC DOGS AWARDS for 2022: Companion, Therapy & Service K9 — Training Dogs.
This year’s Heroic Dog award winners are:
1. Exemplary Companion Dog: “Scout,” a Boykin Spaniel belonging to Judge Joseph Wyant of Newnan, GA.
Scout has been serving on Coweta County Georgia’s Juvenile Court with Judge Joseph Wyant since 2013. She has supported hundreds of children, families and court staff, helping to alleviate the tremendous stress and often overwhelming emotions that children face when involved with court proceedings.
Scout acts as a calming presence for children having to testify in court as well as help children caught in the frightening experience of being in custody of the Department of Child and Family Services.
2. Search and Rescue Dog: “Lincoln,” a Flat-Coated Retriever belonging to Jon Izant of Seattle, WA.
Lincoln and his handler are part of King County Search Dogs in Washington State. He responds to over 40 search missions and trains hundreds of hours per year. As a Search & Rescue team, Lincoln and his handler must be on call 24/7 and while as volunteers they are not required to respond to every call, they respond to about 80% of them. He has earned certifications in wilderness, air scent, and human remains detection.
Lincoln has been deployed on urban, water, forest and alpine searches from the shores of Puget Sound to the crest of the Cascade Mountains. He has even assisted on a few helicopter air lifts.
He has found two missing at-risk persons, both in their late 80’s. One search was completed at 2:30am and he was able to locate the missing person in less than 15 minutes. The other had been missing overnight and despite the obstacles of a dense forest, was able to locate the person.
3. Service Dog: “Lotus,” a German Shepherd Dog belonging to Asia Duhamel of Fallbrook, CA.
Lotus is an Assistance Dogs International-accredited psychiatric/mobility Service Dog for her owner, Asia Duhamel. Duhamel is a former active-duty Marine who was struggling with PTSD when she thought a service dog might help her get through daily life.
Though retired from mobility except for retrievals, Lotus assists her owner in many ways, including disrupting repetitive and anxious behavior, responding to increased breathing, and crowd control. With Duhamel, that means putting her body on her lap, moving her hands out of the way, and licking her on her back until she recovers.
Since receiving Lotus, Duhamel has started her training apprenticeship with Next Step Service Dogs after being ADI-accredited through the organization. She is now the lead trainer at a non-profit organization called Canine Support Teams training service dogs.
Lotus also participates in a wide variety of AKC sports including Dock Diving, Barn Hunt, Hydro Dash, Canine Good Citizen, Trick Dog, Farm Dog, Scent Work, Rally, and more.
4. Therapy Dog: “Axel,” a Rottweiler belonging to John Hunt of Blackwood, NJ.
Axel is an extraordinary Crisis Response Certified Canine and has visited countless hospitals, schools, first responder and military organizations. In the past two years, they have volunteered over 2,500 hours and interacted with over 50,000 people.
Axel was instrumental during the pandemic when he would sit with dying patients when their family members weren’t able to visit. Axel would console nurses and doctors who’ve witness countless COVID-19 deaths to help process grief.
In addition, he accompanies his handler to conduct Critical Incident Stress Management sessions with Police, Fire and EMS, helping first responders process grief following a death, suicide, or traumatic event in the line of duty. Axel was also deployed to the scene of the Surfside condo collapse in Florida as well as the shootings in Virginia and Uvalde, TX.
5. Uniformed Service K-9: “Hummer,” a Belgian Malinois handled by William Sessa of Suwanee, GA.
Hummer is a retired tracking and narcotics detection dog, along with his handler William Sessa through the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department and was certified by Custom Canine Unlimited and the National Narcotics Detection Dog Association during his time on the force.
They worked together for seven years before retiring in 2021. Hummer’s tasks ranged from tracking lost individuals like elderly patients with Alzheimer’s and children and young adults with Autism to pursuing criminals.
Hummer most notably sniffed out a 22-year-old murder suspect hiding in a dumpster after a long pursuit. They worked together to get massive amounts of illicit drugs off the street and protect the SWAT team.
Conclusion: Heroic Dogs for sure! Man, we just love ’em!
Live Free, Mon Ami! – Brian Alan Burhoe
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Click here to learn more about the AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence.
The AKC Humane Fund, Inc. unites animal lovers in “promoting the joy and value of responsible pet ownership through education, outreach and grant-making. The Fund provides financial grants to domestic violence shelters and Breed Rescue organizations and awards scholarships to students pursuing professions that strengthen the human-animal bond. The AKC Humane Fund’s Awards for Canine Excellence are given each year to promote the important role dogs play in our lives. Contributions to the AKC Humane Fund are fully tax deductible as allowed by law under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code.” For more information, visit www.akchumanefund.org.
The American Kennel Club: Founded in 1884, the American Kennel Club is a “not-for-profit organization which maintains the largest registry of purebred dogs in the world and oversees the sport of purebred dogs in the US. More than 22,000 competitions for AKC-registered purebred and mixed breed dogs are held under AKC rules and regulations each year including conformation, agility, obedience, rally, tracking, herding, lure coursing, coonhound events, hunt tests, field and earthdog tests. Affiliate AKC organizations include the AKC Humane Fund, AKC Canine Health Foundation, AKC Reunite and the AKC Museum of the Dog.” For more information, visit www.akc.org.
SOURCE: AKC Humane Fund, PRNewswire & Civilized Bears.
5 HEROIC DOGS AWARDS for 2022: Companion, Therapy & Service K9 Training Dogs.
Heroic Dog “Scout,” a Boykin Spaniel.
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