Calling All Canines!
Nominations Are Now Open For The 2024 AKC Humane Fund
Awards For Canine Excellence (ACE)!
To celebrate the dogs who do extraordinary things in the service of humankind, the AKC Humane Fund is seeking YOUR nominations for its AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE). Nominations are open now through July 1st and winners will be announced in late 2024. Winners will be highlighted in a made-for-tv special created by AKC productions.
The AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence are proudly sponsored by YuMOVE™, the official joint sponsor of the AKC, and Eukanuba™
One award is given in each of the following five categories:
Uniformed Service K-9
Eligibility: Full-time working K-9s in the realms of city, county, state, or federal law enforcement; the military; firefighting; customs and border patrol; emergency services.
Exemplary Companion
Eligibility: Dogs without formal training or certification that have nonetheless distinguished themselves in some way and have made a meaningful contribution to their owners or communities.
Search and Rescue
Eligibility: Dogs certified to assist in wilderness and urban tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events and locating missing people.
Therapy
Eligibility: Certified therapy dogs working in hospitals, schools, disaster sites, war zones, and wherever else the affection of a good dog can provide comfort.
Service
Eligibility: Service dogs who enrich the lives of physically or mentally disabled owners, including, but not limited to, guide dogs for the blind, seizure-alert dogs, hearing dogs, balance dogs.
**(Note: Nominees doing therapy work without certification are considered in the Exemplary Companion category.)
The 2024 AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence are proudly sponsored by YuMOVE® and Eukanuba™. Honorees of the AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE) will receive $1,000 to be awarded to a pet-related charity of their choice and an engraved sterling silver medallion.
Anyone, including the dog’s owner or handler, may submit a nomination. Past nominations are eligible for resubmission for these awards. Submissions for the AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence for 2024 must include:
- A digital photograph of the dog. Files must be larger than 1MB in size and a minimum of 300 dpi. The photo should feature solely the nominated dog. (PLEASE NOTE: The submitted photo may be used for media purposes.)
- A 500-word-or-less description of how the dog has demonstrated excellence.
- Dog’s call name, breed, age and sex.
- Owner’s/Nominator’s name(s), address, phone number and e-mail address.
PLEASE NOTE: We do not accept posthumous nominations.
Nominations will be accepted through July 1st, 2024 and should be submitted here, with a photo sent to communications@akc.org.
Winners of the 2023 ACE Awards:
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Service Dog: “Hank”, a German Shepherd Dog owned by Megan Brimner of Aliquippa, PA
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Hank is a service dog for eight-year-old Harrison, who is autistic. Hank has been with Harrison and his family for over three years through the organization, K9’s for Kids. Before Hank, Harrison struggled with many activities like car rides and going to the grocery store. He often would escape the family yard. He simply could not tolerate any change in his routine. Due to him being nonverbal, he would often take out his frustrations physically. With the addition of Hank, he has tamed Harrison’s aggressiveness and now has given him more independence. He has helped Harrison tolerate change and has even helped grow Harrison’s desire to communicate. Additionally, with Hank, Harrison has a newfound love of the outdoors and enjoys hiking.
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Search & Rescue Dog: “Pocket”, a Parson Russell Terrier owned by Jennifer Jordan Hall of Louisville, KY
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Ten-year-old Pocket has been doing Search and Rescue work since she was a year old. Pocket’s skills not only include tracing missing people but she is also able to identify Native American burial sites. She is trained in Human Remains Detection and has certifications from the International Police Working Dog Association in Search and Rescue Trailing, Water Search, Crime Scene and Land. She has been able to help police officers obtain search warrants and has helped track down missing people from miles away. Pocket and her handler, Jennifer Jordan Hall, have worked with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to find 11 bodies buried that were never detected. Pocket also has her AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification.
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Therapy Dog: “Tuffie”, a St. Bernard owned by Amy McCarthy of Tulsa, OK
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Tuffie the St. Bernard has been a therapy dog for seven years through Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She’s provided support to several organizations across the greater Tulsa area, including assisted living centers and memory units, colleges during exam times, a facility for developmentally disabled children and young adults, the Tulsa City/County Library’s Paws for Reading program, Tulsa International Airport’s Welcome Waggin’ program, the Laura Dester Children’s Center in Tulsa and the Champs Foundation in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She is also a Pink Paws member of the St. Francis Medical Center’s therapy dog group, where in June 2022, the hospital was affected by a mass shooting, killing four people. Tuffie was deployed for two days, spending time at the hospital providing hands-on grief counseling.
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Exemplary Companion: “Wave”, a Border Collie owned by Steve Stochaj of Las Cruces, N.M.
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Wave, known as “Wave the Wonder Dog” at New Mexico State University, is a campus celebrity. Owned by NMSU School of Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Chair, Steve Stochaj, Wave is tasked with retrieving the kicking tee during NMSU football games. He has grown into a campus and community celebrity and even has thousands of followers on social media. Stochaj also brings Wave to spring and summer practices so he can meet the players and the players can get accustomed to them being around. Wave is not only keeping busy on campus, but he has AKC titles in Agility, Rally, Obedience, Tracking, Trick Dog, Dock Diving, and Canine Good Citizen (CGC). He also is a member of the Mesilla Valley Search & Rescue Organization.
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Uniformed Service K9: “Queue”, a Labrador Retriever handled by Sgt. Michael Rainey of Greenville, S.C.
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Queue, along with her handler, Sgt. Michael Rainey, are part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Queue was donated to the department by Defenders for Children. Queue is an Electronic Detection K9, which means that she sniffs out micro-SD cards, thumb drives, hidden cameras, phones, and computers that might have child abuse and/or child pornography on them in hopes of finding sex offenders, traffickers, and/or child pornographers. Since her placement in 2019, Queue has sniffed out hundreds of electronic devices.
Past Honorees