From Rescue Miracles To Emotional Reunions: 32 New Dog Stories Shared By 'We Rate Dogs'

This is Stanley. He’s been digging around the same spot in his backyard for about a year. His humans tried patching it up, even putting a paver over the top of it, but Stanley was insistent. Finally, he found his treasure: a blue glass bottle from the Victorian era that once contained poison. When his human began researching the bottle’s origins, he was able to immediately connect it with an infamous murder case that had taken place just two doors down in what is now Clyst Honiton, Devon, a village in England. In 1865, a woman in the village named Mary Ann Ashford poisoned her husband’s tea so she could be with her younger lover. She was executed in a public hanging that was a key to the end of capital punishment in Britain. While poison bottles were relatively common in the era, Stanley’s human points out: “If you had bought that bottle for the right reasons, like killing rats or something, why would you bother burying it?” Since his discovery, Stanley has stopped digging in the same spot, having completed his role in the historic murder case.

This is Cannoli. He stars as a model and scale reference in countless Facebook Marketplace ads placed by his human. He often takes up more of the photo than the item for sale, which is sometimes even cut off at the bottom in favor of getting his good side. He seems generally on board with his role, but he clearly holds a grudge against that pancake griddle.

This is Ranger. He’s never struck out like this before. Especially from people who don’t really seem to have anywhere else to be.

This is Chewy. He digs all of the holes his grandma needs to plant flowers. For his next trick, he will resist the urge to dig all of them back up.

This is Sprout. He just turned 21, so of course, his doggy retirement home threw him the party of the year. After getting his new ID, Sprout got his first legal pup cup, then he and his friends celebrated with cake, presents, and even a Sprout-themed calendar.

This is Poppy. She thinks if you didn’t want her to get the zoomies, you shouldn’t have taken her to a place literally called the zoom room.

Binky isn’t actually running a discount; Stinky just increased her price to make it seem like a discount.

This is Hank. He will be joining you on your ride-share trip today. Because if he’s not there, it’s just a ride.

This is Marty. He played the role of Bruiser in a college production of “Legally Blonde” and nailed every line. Was confused when people were impressed though. What, like it’s hard?

Ten years ago, a dog fell into the Sayran reservoir in Kazakhstan and was at risk of being carried away by the current. A young man saw the dog and immediately climbed down to help, but was unable to climb back up the steep embankment with the dog. More bystanders formed a human chain to pull the dog and original rescuer up to safety. Now, thanks to a private funder, the moment is cast in metal and on display at the site of the rescue. The statue commemorates the 10th anniversary of the rescue and symbolizes unity and solidarity, as well as “support and collective action in overcoming challenges,” according to the city. A good reminder for us all.

This is Rex. He located a missing 7-year-old in just 12 minutes during his first-ever tracking mission. The young girl had been separated from her mom for more than two hours, but after sniffing the child’s shoes, Rex was immediately on her scent. “He’s kind of a triple threat,” his handler Deputy John Gray said. “He’s a therapy dog. He’s also a full explosive detection canine, and then he’s also a trained tracking canine, so he can track missing people.” Rex only completed his tracking training last year, so this was his first official mission. He works with children regularly as a school therapy dog, so he easily shifted to comfort mode with the young girl as soon as she was safe and just needed a calm presence.

This is Zephyr. He is a professionally trained bed bug detector. When he recognizes the scent of live bed bugs, he gives an alert by sitting and smiling exuberantly at his handler. His process is quick and noninvasive, which helps locate infestations efficiently and allows for swift treatment. Zephyr performs routine inspections at apartment buildings, libraries, hotels, and senior care facilities, but he’s also been called out when someone has been bitten and needs his help, or when they’re moving to a new place and just want peace of mind. “The craziest place he’s had to go sniff about was at a zoo because they were in their computer hardware!” his human told us. We’re pretty sure no one has ever been more excited to find bed bugs in their life, and we love that he found his passion.

This is Radley. She needs extra mental stimulation sometimes, so her family started “structured destruction” after a recommendation from her trainer, and it quickly became one of her favorite pastimes. “She gets plenty of walks and physical activity,” her family told us, “but she uses her destroy button when she is craving a little extra chaos.”

Following months of activism, 1,500 beagles are being released from the Ridglan Farms research facility in Wisconsin. Dane County Humane Society (@dchsgiveshelter) and the Beagle Freedom Project (@beaglefreedom) will help place 500, and Big Dog Ranch Rescue (@bigdogranchrescue) is rehoming the other 1,000. “We wanted a structured, responsible plan that guarantees every one of these dogs is safely transitioned into the care of reputable fully vetted rescue organizations, including ourselves,” said Big Dog Ranch founder Lauree Simmons.

Ridglan Farms, a commercial breeding facility that supplies beagles to animal testing labs, has been in the news for months following multiple break-in attempts this spring by activists attempting to free the dogs. The news comes one day after a court ruled the case against one of the organizers of those efforts can proceed to trial; felony burglary charges are pending against three others. Simmons credited the activists with raising awareness about the facility. “What they did was put the message out,” Simmons said. “What we did, we wanted to do legally and in the best way and for the best outcome of these dogs for the future.”

Ridglan Farms agreed to sell “a substantial majority of its dogs to groups that offered to purchase the animals,” according to a statement from the facility. Terms of the negotiations and sale will remain confidential. After a special prosecutor was appointed in 2025 to investigate alleged violations of Wisconsin’s animal cruelty laws, Ridglan Farms reached a settlement to avoid criminal prosecution in which it will forfeit its license to sell dogs effective July 1, 2026. It’s estimated that Ridglan Farms has roughly 2,000 beagles, so we hope to hear good news about the remaining dogs before that July deadline. To all the dogs being released, we wish you many years in loving homes.

This is Ellbie. While her owner was overseas, his son was dog-sitting for Ellbie. When he came back to the apartment one afternoon, the Jack Russell was missing. He immediately began searching for her and put up flyers offering a reward for her return. Both he and his dad had ruled out the balcony almost immediately, saying, “Did she go through the gap? We said, well, she can’t because she’s too fat.” But that’s precisely what she did. A neighbor sent his drone up the building to check all the balconies, and that’s when he spotted her, wedged between a window and some decorative metal bars. Apparently, once out of the gap in the balcony, Ellbie made her way around the building to the opposite side, where she happened to set up just outside the apartment of a man whose blinds were down all weekend. “Opened up the blind, looked over the edge, and there was a poor little bugger,” the neighbor said. After a three-hour rescue operation that involved firefighters rappelling down the building and slipping her back inside through a window, Ellbie was safely reunited with her family. She’s officially withdrawn her application to be the building’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Dog.

When dogs arrive at the shelter, they get an intake picture, but they often look scared or nervous, and the photos are generally low quality. At @burkecountyanimalservices, once the pups have settled in, gotten a bath, and grown more comfortable, a pet photographer visits the shelter to do a photoshoot that better captures their personality. Those photos then go on the shelter’s website and social media pages, where they’re much more likely to get attention from potential adopters. We’ve seen countless examples of this throughout the shelter world, but Reddit user Smittensky has a portfolio of some of the most dramatic glow-ups out there. “I like to post my work here on Reddit to encourage other people to take up this hobby,” they wrote. “It is never too late to make a difference for the neglected animals in your community.” 13/10 for all.

(We’re pretty confident the new headshots helped every one of these dogs find a forever home because none of them are available through the shelter’s website.)

This is Missy. She’s not sure what the big deal is. She had an adventure, found trusted adults, and came home cleaner than she left.

This is Honey. She lives on a farm with her family in northern New Mexico, where they raise chickens and horses. One morning last month, Honey showed up in the family’s driveway with major wounds, swelling, and a gash along her neck. The family spotted scratches along the fences and trees that indicated a bear had been in the area, but not a single one of their 60 chickens was lost. Having defended her pack, Honey then let the family take care of her. She headed to @espanolahumane for low-cost emergency care, and she received treatment for her neck wound as well as bandages and medication for her other injuries. “She protected our chickens and our family, and I feel like they [Española Humane] in turn have been protecting her in helping her … I’m getting emotional … through her healing journey,” said Denise Martinez. “She’s our little savior. She’s been nicknamed the bear slayer, and we’ve just come to find out that the bear slayer is afraid of the vacuum cleaner.”

This is Molly. She and her human Jessica Johnston were hiking together in a remote area of New Zealand last week when Johnston fell down a 55-meter (180-foot) waterfall and suffered serious injuries. Johnston was rescued by helicopter, but Molly remained missing. Due to the traumatic fall, Johnston wasn't sure whether Molly fell with her or not. But one week later, after three unsuccessful missions to try to find the dog, helicopter pilot Matt Newton spotted her near the base of the waterfall using a thermal camera. He immediately passed the news along to Johnston, who had only recently been released from the hospital. During the rescue, a helicopter crewman named Wayne brought along his Jack Russell, Bingo, for emotional support in case Molly was frightened. Once she was safely secure, Molly and Johnston were reunited. The rescue missions were paid for by donations, for which Johnston is extremely grateful. "I'm absolutely blown away with the support everyone has given her so far from the kindest of strangers," she wrote in a Facebook comment. "Thank you for helping bring my Molly back home."

This is Fidèle. He napped on that windowsill, over the Groenerei canal in Bruges, Belgium, for over a decade. By doing so, he quickly became one of the most photographed dogs in the world. His fame was serendipitous. His human, Caroline, said that “one day he just went to lie in front of the window.” The canal below that window is considered to be the most charming spot in all of Bruges. Tour boats began pausing so visitors could take a picture of Fidèle. Fidèle passed away in 2016 at the age of 12, but not before making literally millions of people smile. Although visitors can no longer see him in person, he’s been fully immortalized on social media and in countless vacation photos in homes all over the world.