Faith

Courage comes in all shapes, sizes and species—3-year-old Faith is a one-of-a-kind miracle! Born with severely deformed front legs, the tiny pup was rescued by the Stringfellow family after the mother dog was found trying to smother her. Faith could only move by dragging herself along the floor, a habit the veterinarian said would rub a hole in her chest and chin. Although their vet recommended they put Faith down, Jude, Faith's adoptive mother, and the family chose to give her a home.

The family trained Faith by holding a spoonful of peanut butter above her. They motioned for her to come and rejoiced in every small victory. "When she took that first hop, we totally rewarded her with peanut butter and gummy bears and hugs and kisses," says Jude.

Watch Faith the Dog walk! Watch

Laura says Faith is a gift from God and living with her special needs has helped the entire Stringfellow family become more compassionate. "We had to take care of her," Laura says, "[and] make sure she's okay. That's what made us less selfish."

Faith spreads the love she's received from the Stringfellows. As a therapy dog, she interacts with students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) by providing companionship and emotional support to kids trying to improve their reading.
Oogy

Love comes in many different packages—even in the form of a lovable pet! For Larry and his family, love came in the form of a dog named Oogy.

When he was just a puppy, Larry says Oogy was living in a hell on earth. He was tied to a stake and used as bait for pit bulls in a dogfighting ring. "He basically had the side of his face ripped off, his jaw was crushed, his skull was damaged," says veterinarian Dr. Bianco. "He's lucky to be alive."

Larry and his twin boys were at the vet to drop off their cat when Oogy walked down the hall...and right into their hearts. "He looked like part of him had melted," Larry says. "But he just covered us with kisses. It's like he didn't know that anything bad had happened to him—he was just full of love. He jumped in our arms."

When Larry found out the dog didn't belong to anyone, he asked Dr. Bianco if he could adopt him. "I couldn't believe my good luck," Larry says. "That's how I felt about this dog right from the start."

Oogy was given a loving home, but he still had an agonizing road to recovery. A second major surgery was necessary to rebuild Oogy's face and put an end to his chronic pain. "I think that every day my family tries to atone for what happened to Oogy. He's been through the worst imaginable horrors, and we feel very lucky because of what he gives back to us—an immeasurable amount of devotion and love."

Larry's twin sons, Noah and Dan, have something special in common with Oogy—they were also adopted. "I'm sure when our parents adopted us, I hope it was one of the greatest days of their lives. And I know in my life, my experience when we adopted [Oogy], it was one of the greatest days of my life," Dan says.

Although Noah and Dan will be off to college soon, Larry plans to make sure Oogy still gets plenty of attention. "One of the things I want to do for Oogy is train him to work with kids and take him to kid's hospitals, because I think he'll be an inspiration to young kids who are facing a lot of adversity," Larry says.
Maggie the counting dog

Maggie is a 7-year-old Jack Russell terrier who has been called a canine prodigy. According to her owner, Jesse Treff, Maggie can add, subtract, multiply, divide and count. "When she was about 3 months old she was learning things so fast that a friend of mine jokingly said, 'Maggie's so smart I bet she can count.'" But it was no joke! Jessie says that when she held up four fingers, Maggie tapped her foot four times. Shortly after, Maggie started doing basic arithmetic.

Watch Maggie do math for Oprah! Watch

"I hear Jack Russell terriers are smart," Oprah says, "but this is ridiculous!"

Jessie says Maggie is also able to learn names and even fetch a tissue when someone sneezes. "You can actually teach dogs things very, very quickly with positive reinforcement," she says.
Isabella

When Sassy, a white Bengal tiger at the Safari Zoological Park in Caney, Kansas, stopped nursing her tiger cubs less than a day after they were born, zoo owners Tom and Allie Harvey had an idea to get the cubs fed. They called in Isabella, a 1-year-old golden retriever who had just finished weaning her own two puppies, to stand is as a substitute mom—licking, cleaning, feeding and loving the cubs as if they were her own.

Allie says she got the idea from a show she saw on Animal Planet. "Another zoo had some golden retrievers and some labs they used to help nurture and stimulate baby animals ... so that's when I got my golden retrievers," she says. "Isabella just happened to be lactating when the mama tiger abandoned her cubs, so we put them on [Isabella], and away they went."
Boo Boo

At 1 pound, 5 ounces and 4 inches tall, Boo Boo, a Chihuahua from Raceland, Kentucky, holds the Guinness World Record for being the world's tiniest dog. Lana, Boo Boo's owner, says she was the size of her thumb at birth and weighed less than an ounce. "I fed her with an eye dropper because she couldn't even take a bottle," Lana says.

Now, Boo Boo eats 2 tablespoons a day. "Her biggest meal is breakfast. She has a tablespoon of food," Lana says. "I fix her ground turkey with peas and carrots in it."
Gibson

Gibson isn't your average pet—he holds the Guinness record as the world's biggest dog! When measured in 2004, this Great Dane was 42 inches from his paws to his shoulders...but his owner, Sandy, says he's grown over an inch since then!

When Gibson is on his hind legs, he's 7'2"—that's an inch taller than NBA all-star Shaquille O'Neal.

Watch his wild ride across the country! Watch

Gibson's life isn't only about being in the spotlight. He knows the importance of giving back, so he volunteers as a licensed therapy dog. "His job is just to go around and make people happy and smile," Sandy says.
Dominic

You may think dogs are four-legged friends, but this 10-year-old greyhound has two left feet. When Dominic was 5 months old, he got into an accident when he ran under a neighbor's car. The vet said Dominic would need to either have both legs amputated or be put to sleep, and his owner, Kay, chose to have the legs removed. "When he woke up from the surgery, they set him down on the floor and he ran to the waiting room where he left me last," Kay says.

Now, Dominic can do all normal canine activities. "He can do whatever he wants," Kay says. "He can run downstairs, jump on furniture, go in the cupboard and get his own treats."
Csar

Emma and her dog Csar are a Swedish dancing duo. Csar won the freestyle championship at the World Dog Championship in Stockholm in June 2008, competing against more than 20,000 dogs.
Ferrari

Flashy Ferrari, a border collie Catalan sheepdog mix, was rescued from a Kansas City, Missouri, pound. Now, he's part of a stunt dog show that performs across the country. His trainer Jessica shows off some of Ferrari's crazy tricks, which include jumping rope!
Action Jackson

Chris is the owner of both Flashy Ferrari and Action Jackson and is the founder of the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show. Chris and Jackson's tricks include an unbelievable "pawstand," a doggie handstand!

Chris says you need to use positive reinforcement to train a dog to do new tricks. "I use all positive training techniques with my dogs," he says. "I have found it takes a lot of patience obviously, but you have to be consistent in training your dog." Of course, training a dog to do extreme stunts takes time. "The handstand trick took a good six months or more, but it takes a year to two to get our dogs trained professionally and doing live shows," Chris says.