The American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards is a moving celebration of our four-legged friends and the innumerable ways they enrich, protect, and save lives every day. The annual national competition searches out and recognizes America's Hero Dogs – often ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, whether it's saving lives on the battlefield, lending sight or hearing to a human companion, or just welcoming you home at the end of a hard day.

Dogs may be nominated in eight categories for the Hero Dog Awards: Law Enforcement & Arson Dogs; Service Dogs; Therapy Dogs; Military Dogs; Guide Dogs; Search and Rescue Dogs; Hearing Dogs; and Emerging Hero Dogs (the category for ordinary dogs). Finalists in each category will be judged by a blue-ribbon panel to determine the top American Hero Dog.