Apache Dog Names

Kota means “Little Bear” in the Dakota language, which is a Native American tribe from the Northern Mississippi Valley. The dog, Kota, was a law enforcement dog in Winchester, Virginia who was a true hero. This pawesome pooch, who was a German Shepherd, got national attention after he fell through the floor of an attic when helping his partner, Brittney Kotynski-Neer. 

In January of 2014, they were responding to a call for a breaking and entering, and Kota went into the attic after the two suspects who were trying to hide there. This brave pup apprehended one of them, grabbing him by the arm right before the floor gave way, with Kota falling eight feet to the first floor of the house. Even though his leg was broken, he returned to Brittney’s side on the second floor of the house. 

Kota was taken to the nearest hospital where he had to go through an extensive four-hour surgery to fix the breaks in his leg. He essentially broke his elbow in half, and the break traveled up to the humerus with another break there. After the surgery, Kota had to go through almost nine months of physical therapy to be able to walk again. But, he returned to active duty in 2015 with his partner, Brittney, who was happy to get him back.

Another hero dog, Kai, which means “rejoice” in Native American language, is a black Labrador Retriever, who worked with the San Antonio, Texas police force as an Accelerant Detection Canine. She was saved from a Humane Society shelter in Illinois and trained to be an arson dog because of her amazing drive and dedication as well as her energy and loyalty. This was apparent when she focused on finding the only tennis ball in a large toy box full of toys. She spent a lot of time looking and did not stop until she found it. 

Kai worked with her partner, Justin Davis, an arson investigator on over 300 bomb and fire-related investigations across the City of San Antonio. She was trained to find even a tiny amount of flammable liquids and has saved countless lives over the years. Kai was six years old when she was saved from the shelter and worked with Davis for five years. They also make visits to schools and colleges to talk to children and young adults about fire safety. Both dogs have been recipients of awards for their bravery. In fact, both Kota and Kai were nominated and became finalists in the 2014 AKC Hero Dog Awards.