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Talk about your heartwarming story: Loki the dog has gone from being a rescue himself to helping rescue others as a member of the Rochester Fire Department.

If you love a happy ending, you'll LOVE the story of handsome Loki, the latest K9 member of the Rochester Fire Department (RFD). The department was already home to one K9 firefighter, Ferguson, a yellow lab who joined the RFD team this spring.

And now Loki has joined the team as well, working as a firefighter helping to rescue others in need here in Minnesota's Med City-- when he was a rescue himself not too long ago.

The RFD Facebook page explained that Loki, a 2-year old Belgian Malinois, was found at a rescue where he had an affinity for "climbing out of dog kennels and trying to grab any toy within reach," both traits that made him the ideal candidate to join RFD on their urban search and rescue team.

Which is what happened. As the RRD Facebook post continues, Loki began working earlier this spring with Battalion Chief Holly Mulholland at Minnesota K9 Search Specialists (MNK9SS), a program that helps prepare canines like Loki to pass all the tests needed to be a certified rescue dog.

Which Loki did in August, passing his Foundational Skills Assessment test. Both he and Chief Mulholland are currently working toward passing even more tests, this time a Live Find test in Illinois in October.

According to RFD, Loki, and all canine search dogs, have a tall order:

Live find canines must demonstrate their skills in agility, obedience, directional control, and must also demonstrate an ability to locate multiple live victims in a rubble pile and hold a bark indication at a victim for 30 seconds, all without leaving.

Good luck, Loki and Chief Mulholland! We're glad you're on duty, helping keep us safe! And congrats, Loki, on going from rescue... to rescuer! And if you love dogs as much as I do (we have two rescues at home), keep scrolling to check out just how amazing our furry friends really are with these 50 Fascinating Dog Facts!

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Check out these 50 fascinating facts about dogs:

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