Countless millions of pictures have been taken of the engineering marvel called Hoover Dam. On a recent visit, I took several dozen more. None of them do it any justice, so I’m not going to show them to you.

But in the midst of all Hoover Dam’s gigantic-ness and all-around impressiveness, I found an unexpected little gem. A bronze plaque that reads:

The Hoover Dam construction crew’s mascot was found as a puppy by workers at the construction camp. This dog traveled to and from the damsite with them and spent his days visiting the many work areas. On February 21st, 1941, the life of this devoted animal came to an end…

I’ll stop there. What I was expecting the plaque to read was something like ‘the life of this devoted animal came to an end when he selflessly and singlehandedly saved a trapped worker from a rockslide (or something equally dramatic).

Instead, the plaque went on to read:

…the life of this devoted animal came to an end when a truck under which he was sleeping rolled over him.

Wow. Squashed by a construction truck while napping! I guess there’s worse ways to go, but the Hoover Dam Dog’s story isn’t exactly Lassie material is it?

But still, as the plaque further reads:

The grave below was completed by workers later that same day.

The dam workers had a crushing schedule, but they cared enough to make this kind gesture. And by doing so, they ensured that millions of visitors would learn of their beloved (though hardly heroic) mascot.

Only a handful of dogs ascend to Lassie-level legendary status. And yet… people still love them. We take them into our homes by the millions. We let them stink up our sofas and barf on our carpets and colonize our houses with fleas, but we still love them.

There aren’t many ‘Lassies’ among humanity either. Very few of us come to be movie stars, sports legends, or J.K. Rowling-level authors. But let’s not forget the lesson the Hoover Dam Dog teaches us; we don’t have to be Lassies to be loved. We just have to ‘travel to and from’ like he did, spreading encouragement, being good companions, and showing kindness toward others.

And that simple kind of life makes a hero out of anyone.