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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/RexTheWonderDog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1549_1468_1665_1_adventures_of_rex_th.png]]]]

A Heroic Pet Story is a show or story that stars a non-anthropomorphic animal that regularly engages in heroic acts. Such animals are almost always pets or companion animals, however a few examples are about animals have no permanent owner but still choose to help people. Such animals are always physically normal, and in live-action shows are potrayed by real animals. They also do not talk or otherwise display sapience, nor do they have supernatural powers.

They do, however, tend to be shown as being somewhat smarter and more aware that most real life animals, and generally demonstrate a remarkable ability to follow specific instructions, usually along the lines of "Go get help, Tropey" or "Take the rope to JustForFun/TropeTan, Tropey!" They will also often take the initiative to do whatever needs to be done to rescue a person. This phenomenon is known as TimmyInAWell.

Most Heroic Pet Stories center on a family that owns the pet. In these shows, the daily lives of the human characters will play an important role. However, it is the animal that will always get the title billing, and the animal will perform some act of heroism at least once an episode. Such stories will often feature ABoyAndHisX, in that there will be a child who has the most interaction with the animal. The child is often the character who ends up needing to be saved.

Other works depart from the family centered model. They may, for example, mix CopShow with HeroicPetStory by having the lead animal be a police dog.

Often the pet is an outright ActionPet.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[index]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/RexTheWonderDog is a pet dog who is a superhero in his own right.
* The ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "The Cat Who Walked Through Walls" is focused on Kittyhawk, the ActionPet of Sunshrike and Nightingale.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/AirBud'' is a cross between a HeroicPetStory and a SportsStory. Instead of saving lives, the titular dog helps a basketball team win a game.
* ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'': The eponymous dog saves Emily from drowning, Ryce from being raped, the family from being swindled, as well as other feats of heroism.
* The ''Film/{{Benji}}'' series of movies is about the titular fictional dog. The eponymous canine character is a small, lovable mixed-breed dog with an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, usually to help someone overcome a problem. In the first movie, the dog helps free kidnapped children. Latter movies have similar acts of heroism.
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won_Ton_Ton,_the_Dog_Who_Saved_Hollywood Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood]]'' in an parody of the genre.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/OldYeller'' has the titular HeroicDog save family members on several occasions.
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lad,_A_Dog Lad: A Dog]]'', by Albert Payson Terhune, was published in 1919. Lad, a heroic collie with "absurdly small white forepaws," battles burglars, rescues children, and wins dog shows. This was also adopted as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lad,_A_Dog_(film) a film.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
[[/index]]
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Rin_Tin_Tin The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin]]'' is a WesternSeries about a orphaned boy and his [[HeroicDog heroic German shepherd]] living in the wild west.
[[index]]
* ''Series/{{Flipper}}'' is about a HeroicDolphin who is adopted by the family of a Florida park ranger.
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentle_Ben Gentle Ben]]'' a is about young boy and his adventures with a lovable 650-pound American black bear named Ben
* ''Series/HeresBoomer'' was an American series that followed the adventures of Boomer, a stray dog that traveled around helping people in trouble.
* ''Series/InspectorRex'' is an Austrian (and later Italian) series about a cop-canine partnership that combines the the HeroicPetStory and BuddyCopShow genres.
* ''Series/{{Lassie}}'' is a long-running television series the featured the exploits of [[HeroicDog heroic collie dog]] Lassie.
* ''Series/TheLittlestHobo'' is a Canadian television series that chronicled the journeys of an unnamed heroic German Shepherd who travelled from town to town, helping people in need.
[[/index]]
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katts_and_Dog Katts and Dog]]'' is a Canadian series about Canine Officer Hank Katts and his canine partner. It combines the HeroicPetStory and BuddyCopShow genres.
[[index]]
* ''Series/PrzygodyPsaCywila'' (''The adventures of Cywil the dog'') is another BuddyCopShow mix.
* ''Series/SkippyTheBushKangaroo'' could be described as ''Series/{{Flipper}}'' [[LandDownUnder Down Under]]. It features the exploits of a heroic kangaroo living with the family of a park ranger.
[[/index]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* Parodied in ''Podcast/TheHiddenAlmanac'', with an account of a heroic border collie who woke a family in a burning house and herded them directly into the blaze, which later investigation determined the collie had started himself. (But it turned out the family were all members of a forbidden cult, so that was all right.)
* In ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'', the arc "Of Pets and Prophecies" has the players taking on the roles of their characters' pets as they are magically whisked away to save a world of talking animals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' has the "Buttons and Mindy" shorts, which are a parody of ''Series/{{Lassie}}''. In these stories, Buttons goes through great pains to keep the infant child Mindy safe, only to have his exploits go completely unnoticed by Mindy's mother, who always finds a reason to scold Buttons for being a bad dog at the end of the story.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' has [[PunnyName Diogee]], who follows the title character around nearly every episode. ("Diogee, go home! [[MadLibsCatchPhrase He's not supposed to be at/in/on ________.]]") However, in several episodes he saves [[TheJinx Milo]] when he [[BornUnlucky inevitably gets into life-threatening danger]], with the implication that he's consciously tailing Milo in order to protect him.
[[/folder]]
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