Abstract. – Referring to Chonino stimulates a series of heroic images. Alluding to him entails notions of courage and fidelity: Chonino is a police dog that dies defending his companions from a criminal attack. He also dies performing an action that resulted in the detention of delinquents. The story of Chonino has thus become a sort of great achievement, a narrative designed to fit institutional discourses and values. Taking this case of analysis, this article tends to reflect about how an institutional story is built. Which operations are played to transform a particular situation into a significant example? What turns a fact into a narrative? [Argentina, Chonino, police, institutional story, emotion]