Stroke is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 780,000 Americans affected by a new or recurring stroke each year. Although a variety of therapeutic approaches have shown promise in small-animal models of stroke, the vast majority of clinical trials to test the efficacy of such modalities have failed. To bridge the translational gap between laboratory and clinical research, we developed a preclinical model of acute ischemic stroke in dogs. Using a minimally invasive endovascular approach, a platinum coil was intravascularly guided through the vertebrobasilar system under C-arm fluoroscopy to occlude the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) for 1 h. The approach included femoral artery catheterization to access the MCA and therefore eliminated the occurrence of head trauma associated with other preclinical stroke models relying on transorbital or craniectomy approaches. After 1 h of focal MCA ischemia, the coil was retrieved to cause reperfusion, which was verified by arteriograms. At 24 h, T2-weighted coronal magnetic resonance (MR) images were acquired and processed for three-dimensional reconstruction of the brain and its vasculature. Infarction, limited to the area at risk, was noted. Two independent observers calculated the mean percentage hemispherical lesion volumes as follows: observer 1, 30.9 +/- 2.1%; observer 2, 31.2 +/- 4.3%. Infarct-affected changes in histology were determined by hematoxylin and eosin as well as by Fluoro-Jade staining. This work reports the successful development of a powerful preclinical model of stroke that lends itself to the study of biologic mechanisms as well as to testing experimental therapeutics.