Announcing the 2024 Service Dog Hero of the Year

Each year, Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs invites our Recipients to enter their dog in our Service Dog Hero of the Year Awards. This award recognizes a Guardian Angels Medical Service Dog who goes above and beyond the call of their training and displays extraordinary efforts to avoid a tragedy.

Although there are many incredible entries, winners are chosen by a panel of experts at Guardian Angels. They determined that the dog clearly used thinking skills above its extensive training.

We are proud to announce Clara as our Service Dog Hero of 2024. Clara was chosen for an extraordinary act that helped avoid a potentially tragic gas explosion or fire that would have endangered 33 people.

Clara’s recipient stated that they could smell natural gas at her place of work. They called the gas company, but when they came out and inspected, they could not find any leaks.

Then, one day, Clara and her recipient smelled the gas while on break. Clara walked over to a pipe on the building, sniffed, sat, and howled. Clara’s recipient realized she was alerting to the gas leak.

The gas company was called again; they checked the pipe that Clara was alerting to and determined that it was indeed the source of the leak. Clara’s amazing alert prevented a possible explosion and fire, which could have ended in tragedy for the 33 employees. Clara has been serving her recipient since July 2020. This year, she used her extraordinary skills and training to help all those around her.

Congratulations, Clara!

See past winners here.

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Carol Borden

The Founder and CEO of Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, Inc., Carol Borden, titled her first dog at the age of ten. Mrs. Borden has logged nearly 60 years training dogs in multiple disciplines, from competition to training a dog for a movie, to training the #1 Service Dog in the US, which was the first service dog to ever become the Top American Dog Hero winning over all categories of working dogs in the United States. She started the non-profit Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs organization in 2010.

Mrs. Borden’s expertise and accomplishments are acknowledged by numerous national awards from various industries and agencies including the 2018 Corporate Pet Industry Woman of the Year and multiple awards for her organization’s work in mental health and suicide prevention.

She is frequently requested as a Keynote Speaker, and as an Industry Consultant to teach service dog laws to judicial systems, attorneys, and businesses, and to assist in service dog bills in multiple states that were passed into law. In 2020, she started an Institute for Higher Learning and the Borden Veterinary Hospital. Additionally, she has written and teaches college-accredited/VA-approved apprenticeship courses on dog training and service dog training.