Every September, we take to our local communities with the rallying cry of responsible dog ownership and host over 600 RDO Day events across the country. Together with our participating clubs, we educate the public about everything we can offer them to put them on the path to being the best dog owners they can […]

Blitz is on patrol. After his graduation on August 17, Blitz is an official K-9. This dog, however, is no ordinary K-9; he has heroism in his blood. Blitz is the son of K-9 Bodie, who saved the life of his partner, Sacramento Police Officer Randy Van Dusen, in 2012. While the pair were pursuing […]

Like people, some dogs don’t like strangers getting too close. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the dog is mean, aggressive, or dangerous. He is just not the kind of dog who will happily accept petting from groups of strange children or adults, or is at ease with other dogs. He may be sick, recovering from […]

That’s right! Big or small, shaggy or sleek, fast or slow, every dog has the makings of a hero. That’s the message from Jennifer Arnold, founder and executive director of Canine Assistants, an organization that trains service dogs. Arnold was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 16 and had trouble obtaining a four-footed helper because the […]

It was all over in a second, before you could even scream. Jennie* and her daughter, Goose, 4, had just gotten out of the car in a shopping center parking lot in Durango, Colorado, when the child turned and bolted. Jennie did not have time to react, but their Newfoundland, Porter, knew just the right […]

We all know the cliché of the starving stray, wandering around the streets raiding the trash and begging for scraps. A Brazilian homeless dog named Bolinha (one English translation means "ball") has turned that image on its ear by becoming so fat that he could barely waddle. It all started about 13 years ago when […]

If you love Lassie, you’d have been in heaven over the weekend of August 15, when 200 Collies converged on a little town in New Jersey for the annual celebration of the breed at Sunnybank, the home of Albert Payson Terhune. The author of Lad of Sunnybank and dozens of other books featuring unforgettable Collies, […]

One person described him as the “ most disheartening neglect case” she had ever seen. When Harry, a Chow Chow, was brought into a Kansas City, Missouri, animal rescue he was covered with matted hair and flies had left his ears raw. Even worse, he is nearly blind and missing a part of his nose. “The […]

Merrick, a 4-year-old black Labrador Retriever, works as guide dog for a blind man. But his career as a savior started when he was just a tiny pup. Lorraine Trapani, the volunteer puppy raiser who took 11-week-old Merrick under her wing in 2011, says that this tiny bundle of black hair, high spirits, and energy […]

Mascots need manners, too, even though it may not seem that way given how some of them (looking at you, Cincinnati Bearcat) cut up on the field. But when you are representing an organization dedicated to all things good about dogs, it’s important that you be a model of perfect behavior. That’s why in 2009, […]