FOR THE DOGS -- I'm suffering a little medal envy after reading today's news of the latest hero in Washington.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has given one of his Washingtonian of the Day medals to a dog. What yanks my leash is that the dog performed the same heroic service as little ol' me, who got nothing in return but a ribbing from my wife about how much I stunk.

Tillie, an Irish setter-spaniel mix, led helpers to save her Basset hound friend after it wandered away from their Vashon Island home last month. and fell into a cistern.

Good dog!

But where's my medal, Mr. Governor, for going into a well to save my English setter after a long, gut-wrenching search? 

• Click through all the photos above and see which hero made the biggest sacrifice!

To save my favorite hunting companion, I had to jump into a stew of water, mud and the organic matter of other critters that had succumbed in the ranch-country pit.

The dog and I both scratched our way out mucked up from head to toe. 

My wife gave our setter, Scout, TWO baths.

I had to strip in the garage and promise to spend the big bucks I'd been saving for political candidate campaigns on a GPS collar before taking the dog hunting again.

Despite my ordeal -- not even a pat on the back from the Guv.

I'm getting a bumper sticker:  I save dogs, and I vote.