American Kennel Club - ACE Awards

Every year, the American Kennel Club honors outstanding dogs with Awards for Canine Excellence, better known as ACE Awards. Dogs are honored in five categories: Exemplary Companion, Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Service, and Therapy. Find out about the honorees for 2005 here.

I saw a short piece on the service dog honoree, Faith, last night on television. This dog's owner, Leana Beasley, collapsed and started having grand mal seizures. Faith went and got the phone for Leana, but when Leana didn't respond, Faith, entirely on her own, ran to the phone's base, hit speed-dial 911, and barked for help. And then, trained to recognize uniforms, Faith watched at a window until she saw officers, and then ran and opened the door for them, using a pull attached to the door.

In the write-up at the AKC website, it says that after placing the call, Faith went to Leana, and rolled her over into a recovery position. This was part of her training by the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, which included "seizure, respiratory, and cardiac alert and response, mobility assistance, emergency water rescue, and cart pulling."

Amazing.

If you'd like to nominate a dog for 2006 in any of the five ACE Award categories, the cut-off date is June 15. You may nominate your own dog, if you'd like. The dog must be AKC registered or registrable to be eligible.