Imagine quitting your job, packing up your belongings and walking from Austin to Boston with your two Great Pyrenees.

That 2,400-mile trek is exactly what Luke Robinson is doing with his “boys” Murphy and Hudson to raise awareness of canine cancer.

The trio left Texas in March, 2008 and are now in Ohio.

The inspiration for this journey began in 2006, when Robinson’s Great Pyrenees Malcolm died of osteosarcoma. Robinson, who worked in technology, was so shaken by Malcolm’s death and what he found was a lack of treatment for and research of canine cancer, that he quit his job and hit the road.

Click here to check out the boys’ website and follow them on Twitter — Murphy and Hudson have their own account, as does Robinson — or click here to check out their blog.

Two art exhibits in Syracuse, New York feature the works of an artist who aims to change the perception of pit bulls as fighting dogs.

Cyrus Mejia, a Best Friends Animal Sanctuary founder and painter, created 22 striking portraits of former football star Michael Vick’s dogs who are now living at Best Friends and are called the Vicktory dogs.

Click here to check out the portraits.

Halo is a big supporter of Best Friends, and now many of the Vicktory dogs are enjoying Spot’s Stew.

The Humane Society of the United States just announced the winner of its 2009 Dogs of Valor Awards — Baby, a Great Dane from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here is Baby’s story:

After an exhausting stretch of cancer treatment, 82-year-old Elwood Cardon wanted to get away. He knew his family worried about him, so one night he decided to quietly slip out of his daughter’s house with his dog, Baby.

On the way to his mountain home, Elwood became disoriented and took the wrong turn. As he turned the car around, his tires slipped off the road, and the SUV plummeted 20 feet downhill where it wedged upside down between two trees.

Pinned inside, Elwood honked the horn and screamed for help. No one came. The passenger side window had shattered, and as it grew colder the 5-year old Great Dane snuggled with Elwood, keeping him warm and alert.

Several times she crawled out of the SUV to seek help, but each time she returned alone. Ten hours later, Baby finally got the attention of one of the remote area’s few residents.

The woman followed the dog, and when she saw the wreckage she quickly called for help. Fortunately, firefighters were able to pull Elwood to safety. He was treated for a cracked spine. Elwood Cardon passed away on January 28, 2009 at his home in Jemez Springs, N.M.

Click here to meet all of 2009’s Dog’s of Valor.

Dogfighting is all too common in the inner-city, and Sean Moore, now 38, was once a part of that scene, fighting dogs in his Chicago neighborhood beginning at the age of 12.

He participated in this horrid pastime until 1997. And for the last two years, Moore has been an angel for the dogs.

Working with the Humane Society of the United States in its End Dogfighting program, Moore goes into neighborhoods where dogfighting happens and teaches kids a whole other way of looking at dogs.

“It’s a sad situation what I’ve done to these animals that haven’t really asked to have anything done to them,” says Moore, who now owns three pet pit bulls. “[I thought] that’s what pit bulls are supposed to do; that’s what we were taught.

“I could bring you into the ‘hood right now and we could get a 7- or 8- or 9-year-old boy or girl and ask them what these dogs are bred for—and they’ll tell you these dogs are meant to fight,” he says. “That’s what I’m trying to change in my community.”

As many of you know, most of football player Michael Vick’s dog fighting pit bulls were sent to Best Friends Animal Society for rehabilitation. Halo is honored to support Best Friends.

A fan of Halo Spot’s Stew made on unexpected appearance on the Ellen Show this week, showing off some great doggy discipline. Ellen exclaimed, “I don’t know how he does it! I can’t even keep Mamma out of the liquor cabinet.” Enough said.

See the link to the Halo Spot’s Stew fan clip here.