A once frail Labrador retriever puppy at a Mississippi animal shelter has become a hero search-and-rescue dog in disaster zones after being adopted by his handler.
Christy Bormann, a search-and-rescue dog handler in Texas, saw pictures of the puppy online after he was taken in as a stray and immediately felt kinship with the canine, The Washington Post reported.
“I just knew that he was going to be the next partner for me,” said Bormann, who named the dog Canyon because he loves to dig holes.
Bormann noticed Canyon had a love affair with playing fetch and would grab anything he could and drop it in front of her and the shelter employees. Over two years, Bormann worked with the dog, helping him gain weight and honing his love of fetch into skills needed for becoming a working dog.
Bormann was sure Canyon’s energy and strong sense of smell would help her work natural disaster sites and locate missing people.
Within the past several years, Canyon has helped with dozens of search-and-rescue missions, including the Texas floods in 2025, which killed more than 100 people, including children at Camp Mystic, according to the report. The pup also assisted with rescue operations during Hurricane Helene in 2024 and the 2023 Maui wildfires.
“He could run through an entire room full of his favorite peanut butter cups, would not even look at them, and is only looking for that target scent,” 48-year-old Bormann told the publication.
Bormann carries a squeaky bunny toy for the 7-year-old working dog for him to play fetch with as a reward after a mission.
The work is devastating but critical to helping authorities give answers to grieving families: Canyon specifically helps locate people who have died in natural disasters.
On Thursday, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) honored Canyon as the dog of the year, in part for his work on the Texas floods.
Bormann said she has her dogs retired around the age of 9, when their energy begins to flag. She said she keeps her dogs disciplined while they are active working dogs, making sure they follow her commands and sleep away from her room — but they get more privileges after retirement.
“When he’s retired, he will get to sleep in bed full-time,” Bormann said.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
