Washington ? Heroes comes in all shapes and sizes — and breeds, too.

Popeye the basset hound’s sad face brings laughter to children and adults at hospitals and schools in Puerto Rico. Arthos, a solid-looking Beauceron search-and-rescue dog from Germany, helped save the life of a suicidal 12-year-old girl by leading police to the distressed child.

They joined five other dogs from around the world at a tribute ceremony Thursday organized by “Paws to Recognize,” a program that celebrates service dogs. Solid bronze medals were placed around their necks.

The pooches also pressed their paw prints in cement for a Hollywood-style “Canine Heroes Walk of Fame.”

The four-legged heroes stood at the side of their handlers, who offered comforting words and pats when the canines bowed to the dog days of Washington’s August heat and plopped their fur-covered bodies to the ground.

The canines’ heroic efforts were applauded by Robert C. Bonner, commissioner of customs and border protection at the Homeland Security Department, which has 1,200 detector dogs.

“They are invaluable,” he said.

Yuma, a golden retriever search and rescue dog from the Queretaro City Protection Group in Mexico, places a paw print in cement before the Paws

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bonner said, bureau dogs used to detect drugs and explosives are also trained to search for chemical weapons, such as sarin gas.

The award for top dog in the United States went to a yellow Labrador retriever named Crazy Joe, an 80-pound narcotic detector for Customs and Border Protection who was adopted from an animal shelter. He’s assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Other dogs honored were:

l Buhn-gye, a German shepherd, a pioneer for helping ease initial doubts in South Korea about using canines in search and rescue missions.

l Yuma, from Mexico, a golden retriever who works to find victims of car crashes, drownings and other tragedies.

l Gemma, a Border collie from Britain, who has helped fire and rescue teams and traveled abroad to major earthquakes in Turkey and Algeria.

l Gem, a golden retriever from Brazil who was praised as Rio de Janeiro’s first guide dog.