And the winners are...

The votes are in, and you've chosen a winner of our Dogs Change Lives contest. Congratulations to Michele and Grizzly, the winners of the Audience Choice Award!

Grizzly is a companion dog for Michele's son Collin, who was diagnosed with autism at age four. Since Grizzly has joined their lives, they have seen so many positive changes in Collin's life. Read the full story about Grizzly.

Our judges have been reading all of the stories and they have selected a winner of the Life-Changer Award. This award goes to the most compelling story of the impact a dog has made in a person's life. Congratulations to Dana and Lex! Read the story about Lex, the Newfoundland that changed Dana's life.

We would also like to congratulate our ten runners up. Each of these incredible stories received a Susquehanna Service Dog stuffed toy. Read these stories.

Congratulations to all of our winners! And thank you to everyone who submitted stories and voted! All of your stories are wonderful tributes to the amazing way dogs change our lives.

Thank you for participating in Dogs Change Lives!

Thank you to everyone who posted stories and voted in our Dogs Change Lives contest! Each story is such an inspiration! We've read about dogs that have alerted their families to fire, dogs that have helped their owner recover from illness, dogs that have stuck by their owners during rough times, and dogs that have changed people's lives just by being their cheerful, loving selves.

We hope you enjoyed reading these stories as much as we did!

Voting is now closed, and we are currently tallying the votes. The story with the most votes will win $1000, but we're also giving away plush stuffed animals to the 10 runners-up. Our judges are also reading the stories and they will select the most compelling story of a dog that has changed a person's life. These story will win the $500 Life-Changer Award.

We will announce the winners later this week.

Even though the contest is over, we invite you to go back to DogsChangeLives.org and read the stories. Our lives have changed from reading them and we're sure you'll find inspiration in them, too.

Dogs Change Lives at PawsAbilities

When you come to PawsAbilities this year, make sure to stop by the Dogs Change Lives booth! You'll be able to read and vote on your favorite stories. And if you have a story about a great dog, you can submit your stories right there at the big event!

Plus, you could find your story up on the big screen! We'll be rotating through the stories so that everyone has the chance to read about all the great dogs out there.

We'll see you on Saturday and Sunday at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA!

Vote Today for Your Dogs Change Lives Story!

Today is the first day of voting for Dogs Change Lives! Visit www.dogschangelives.org/stories and vote for your favorite story!

You'll be able to vote from today through March 28. The story with the most votes by midnight on March 28 will win $1,000! You can vote once a day, so make sure you share the link to your story and tell your friends to vote.

If you haven't submitted your story yet, don't worry. We extended the deadline for story submissions to March 14. So submit your story today, so you have lots of time to for people to vote for your story!

You'll be able to vote and submit your stories at PawsAbilities on March 13-14 at the Farm Show Complex. Just look for the Dogs Change Lives booth.

Dogs Change Lives Contest Extended to March 14!

We love reading your stories about how your dog has changed your life! We've gone through a few boxes of tissues while reading some of them, but every single story has made us smile.

In fact, we're extending the submission deadline to March 14. Voting will still start on March 1, but you'll be able to continue submitting stories until the end of the day on March 14.

So far, we've read some extraordinary stories. We've read about Largo, a Rottweiler that saved her partner's life by alerting her to a seizure. Ripple, who stuck by her owner through some tough times. Mr. B, whose love helped to heal his owner. Bleu, the dog whose presence helped a young girl sleep calmly through the night. Duke, who guided his family through a blinding snowstorm. And Woozy, a dog that gave a young man new purpose in life.

These are just a few of the stories we've read. Every story on Dogs Change Lives is extraordinary, and it's amazing how dogs can touch our lives in large and small ways. Please visit Dogs Change Lives and read these heart-warming stories!

Keep submitting your stories about your dogs, and don't forget that voting starts on March 1!

Enter Our Dogs Change Lives Contest!

Our Dogs Change Lives contest is live! Share your story about how a dog has changed your life or the life of someone you know, and you could win $1,000!

These can be stories about service dogs, fire or police dogs, or even a family pet. All dogs have the ability to change someone's life.

You'll be able to submit your true story throughout February. Starting in March, you'll be able to vote for your favorite story. The story with the most votes will win $1,000!

Visit www.dogschangelives.org to submit your story.

(Note: Please protect your privacy in these stories. If you want to use people's names, please use first names only, especially if they're a minor. You may also change names within the story to protect privacy.)

Contest Rules

Who can submit a story?
Anyone can submit a story, but you must be at least 18 years of age and an American citizen to be eligible to win a prize.

How do you win?
Audience Choice Award
The story with the most votes by midnight on March 28 EDT will receive the $1,000 Audience Choice Award. You'll be able to vote once a day for your favorite story from March 1 through 28.

Life-Changer Award
The entry with the most compelling story about a dog's impact on a person's life will receive the $500 Life-Changer Award. A panel of expert judges will determine the winner.

We will announce the winners on March 29.

Visit www.dogschangelives.org for the complete rules and to submit your story.

Spread the word! We can't wait to read your stories!

New Contest - Dogs Change Lives!

As a service dog organization, we see dogs changing lives every day. But we know that dogs don’t need to be service dogs to change someone’s life.

We would love to read your stories about how your dog has changed your life! We’re holding a contest called Dogs Change Lives, where you can share your story of how a dog has changed your life, or the life of someone you know. You could win $1000!

From February 1 to 28, you’ll be able to submit your story. Then, throughout March, you’ll be able to vote for your favorite story. The story with the most votes by midnight on March 28 will win the $1000 Audience Choice Award! There will also be a $500 Life-Changer Award for the most compelling story about how a dog has changed lives, which will be determined by a panel of expert judges.

Look for a post on Monday, February 1 with the link so you can start sharing your stories about how dogs change lives!