Lung transplantation is a life saving treatment for end stage pulmonary diseases. The development and refinement of this therapy required the utilization of various animal models, without which this procedure would not have become a clinical reality. Canine models were critical in the initial breakthroughs in surgical technique and immunosuppressive regimens, which directly led to the first successful human lung transplantation. Orthotopic lung transplant models in the rat provided a platform for more detailed investigation of immune responses to pulmonary grafts. Investigation of chronic rejection of lungs has significantly been advanced through the use of mouse tracheal transplant experiments. And finally, the advent of orthotopic, vascularized lung transplantation in the mouse opened the door to the use of genetic and molecular tools that are necessary for the rigorous mechanistic study of alloimmune and non-alloimmune factors contributing to lung graft failure. Taken together, animal models will continue to be a cornerstone in the advancement of clinical success in lung transplantation.