LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Earlier this year, Antonio Reece and his family decided to put his service dog, Alice, up for the Best Service Dog in the Nation Award.
Alice beat out hundreds of service dogs from around the nation, and this week the entire family was flown out to Hollywood to accept the award.
But Alice's recognition didn't stop there. Alice was also up for the American Hero Dog Award. Alice had to battle against the dogs who won the best in the nation in their own own categories.
The seven categories were:
- service dog
- therapy dog
- police dog
- military dog
- shelter dog
- guide dog
- search and rescue dog
On Sunday Alice won the highest honor of "American Hero Dog", and her family says she truly deserves it. She alerts for help whenever Antonio is about to having a life-threatening seizure. Antonio was shot in the head in Lexington back in 2015, and still has lasting head trauma from the incident.
"There's not even words to put into how much she's changed our lives, and how much she's given us a new normal, she's given my son a chance a life that he almost didn't have," says Tara Murillo, Antonio's mother.
Alice's family says she has taught them all so much, "during this we realized we have more love and light then we thought we did, so it really opens your eyes to show that there is still kindness in humanity and we can trust and grow to move forward from this," says Murillo.
