Redemption Ranch K9 Rescue

12/21/2025

K9 Newt, who totally loves wearing her Santa hat as you can see from her face, wants to remind everybody only three more shopping days until Christmas! From being nearly starved to death and rushed to the ICU, to being an icon in her school we just love this little lady with a huge personality

12/20/2025

Check out our latest video- a deep dive of how and why we do what we do! One of the things we hear from interested agencies is they wonder what the catch is. There isnt one- free dog, free training, free vet care, free equipment etc. just save one of my pound puppies! Huge thanks to Absorb Studios for their Hollywood level of production value on this video. We will roll this out with our other materials to interested agencies to help show them how we work taking our dogs from shelter to shield. Give it a watch!

The video discusses a partnership between the Plainfield Police Department and Redemption Ranch. Rob, a Plainfield police officer and canine handler, pitched...

12/19/2025

We would like to again thank our good friend Becky Wanick. She is a huge supporter of ours, speaks to agencies on our behalf, comes with me to shelters to scout dogs, attends trainings, and does these amazing portraits of our graduates that she paints and presents at graduation. She must cover the frames with onions or something because I've seen a few people get something in their eyes when they are presented with them. We thought these deserved some extra attention- check em out! It's the eyes that always get me.

12/17/2025

Graduation pics! "I've had my share of broken dreams and more than a couple of falls, and in chasing what I thought were moonbeams I have run into a couple of walls, but in looking back at the places I've been I would sure be the first one to say, when I look at myself today, I wouldn't have done it any other" Jim Croce. We would like to start by thinking every agency that put their trust in us and invested their officers time in us and our shelter pups!

We also have some incredible supporters we would like to thank. First up the incredible Evan "Charizard" and Gabe "George" for helping our dogs learn to track to people. Next two amazing human beings were recognized with the "Evan Brenneman Difference Maker" award for their work bettering their communities. From the Humane Society for Hamilton County (Indiana) Gina Smola and Mariah Kaercher for their incredible work saving the lives of animals, recognizing work dog potential in shelter pets and their amazing "Pets Healing Vets" program that helps veterans with PTSD by partnering them with service dogs. We would also like to thank J&J Express Services for establishing a vet care fund for us to allow us to provide for our dogs at no cost to their handlers. Duke Energy and Cynthia for their donation of gift baskets for our all of our four-legged grads. The amazing team from Healthy Paws Animal Hospital for their work with our dogs, as well as the shelter pets of Hendricks County. Absorb Studios for their work with our PR materials were also recognized, as were the Cloe family for their incredible support and the Simms family for giving Ranger his freedom ride.

Also the Dowdy family was recognized for saving Ranger's life. When he saw them as he came down the aisle he bolted for them, turned himself inside out and couldn't stop crying. These dogs do not forget where they came from or who helped them along the way.

We also have to mention our great friend Becky Wanick who presented each graduate with a painted portrait of their partner. Must have been some dust in the air when she did as something got in a few peoples eyes. We also got to surprise Evan with a birthday party as tomorrow he turns 10 years old! When Evan was born a doctor told his parents he would never ride a bike, go to school, do any of the things he does daily. Just like Evan our dogs have been told what they can't do because of their past- and just like Evan look at them now! If you would like to help donate to research that made Evan living life full possible please go to www.teamevan.org to help with research for PWS.

K9 Spartan, K9 Ranger, K9 Hawk, K9 Roscoe and K9 Hurley- keep your handler safe, and go do amazing things!

12/16/2025

Introducing our final student (and in a few hours a soon to be grad) for this course- Ranger! He is a one year old Dutch shepherd that is all go, no slow! When he first came to our attention it was from a law-enforcement officer who saw what the world had missed- he saw an emaciated dog in a bad situation. He intervened immediately. He and his family fed him, protected him, and reminded him what safety felt like.

That mercy didn’t weaken him, It rebuilt him.

Today, Ranger stands restored—strong, driven, and ready to serve. Not because his past was easy, but because it wasn’t. He is proof of what happens when the right people refuse to let a good dog disappear.

In this course he showed that he is focused, loving, and full of fire. His new handler shares that passion, pushing him, challenging him, and celebrating every victory along the way. Together, they’re a team destined for greatness. Ranger will also be going to an out of state agency and we're so excited to see the success they have!

We would also like to thank Healthy Paws Animal Hospital for taking such amazing care of this good boy, during the first week of class he injured his leg jumping for a tennis ball and they cleared the decks to get him taken care of, treating him as one of the family. They even continually sent selfies with this superstar to keep his new momma's mind at ease while he was being evaluated, and then got him back to feeling like his old self! Thanks again for everything you guys do for us, and all the shelter pets of Hendricks County!

12/15/2025

They did it!!! These dogs once waited in silence, with the clock running out. No promises. No guarantees. Just hope—and someone, their new family, willing to fight for them. They were scared. They were overlooked. They kept going anyway. Now they’re graduating.

Tomorrow night, you can stand feet away from lives that were almost lost and cheer as they step into purpose. You can look into the eyes of the literal underdogs and know that giving up was never the ending. If you believe redemption is earned, if you believe broken doesn’t mean finished, if you believe the ones written off are often the ones who matter most—Be there. Plainfield Police Department, 1075 W Main St, Plainfield IN 6:30 PM! Come meet our newest class of graduates

12/13/2025

Heavy snow, high winds...No sympathy. We train every single day.

Saturday doesn’t buy you a pass, and bad weather doesn’t lower the standard. This course runs every day.

The dogs are tired, but tired is where truth lives. Because the real world won’t wait for rest, dry gear, or perfect conditions. Because real deployments don’t care how you feel, how sore you are, or what day it is.

So we show up. We work through it.
And we make sure they’re ready—even when it sucks. Comfort is optional. Readiness is not.

12/12/2025

Dine to donate event! Our mission only survives because of people who refuse to look away — supporters who believe that these dogs deserve their shot. We’re a small local charity, built by locals and backed by local businesses that believe in the work. No salaries. No paychecks. Just long nights, real sweat, and volunteers who pour everything into turning forgotten dogs into heroes.

Join us for a night that fuels the fight. Every plate served helps save another life! Come out and meet some of our alumni as well!

12/11/2025

We are plowing through our newest class! At Redemption Ranch, comfort isn’t part of the curriculum. Our dogs and handlers are out there 12 hours a day, seven days a week, no excuses and no shortcuts. No breaks. No complaining. No backing down. Whatever the world throws at them, they can take, learning how to be comfortable being uncomfortable

And the dogs everyone counted out?
They’re the ones blowing the doors off this program. Dogs that were hours from being forgotten are now running drills with fire in their eyes, tracking like machines, and proving exactly why you never underestimate a survivor. These guys are the LITERAL underdogs and they’re showing the world what happens when the dogs nobody believed in finally get the chance to unleash everything inside them.

12/09/2025

Next up for our current class say hello to Hawk, he's a 1ish year old lab who comes to us from the Humane Society for Hamilton County (Indiana) Hawk’s story starts with a silence no dog should ever hear. He came in as a stray — confused, tail low, waiting for the familiar footsteps he was sure would come back for him. He had a microchip. He had a name. He had people.

And when the shelter reached out…No one came. They knew. They were told. They chose not to return.

That moment leaves a mark. A dog doesn’t understand words like “surrender” or “unclaimed.” He only understands that the faces he loved never walked through that door again. That kind of heartbreak can break a dog’s spirit. Hawk didn’t let it.

This black lab walks into a room and it’s like someone flipped on a power grid. He’s pure joy, pure motion, pure life. He greets every human like they’re the first kindness he’s ever met. You feel him before you see him — that tail, that spark, that I’m-here-let’s-go energy that makes the world feel a little less heavy. And then the tennis ball comes out.

The smile drops. The eyes lock in. The gears turn. You can almost watch the switch flip in his head — joy becomes purpose, play becomes drive, and the goofball who wants to hug the whole planet suddenly transforms into a working dog who knows exactly what he was built for.

His handler has been nothing short of masterful with him. Hawk hits the ground like a bolt of lightning, and somehow this handler channels it all — the speed, the excitement, the chaos — and molds it into precision, discipline, and focus. The two of them move like they were wired together. Boundless energy meeting unshakeable skill.

The family who walked away from this dog has no idea what they lost. But the agency who gets him? They’re about to gain a once-in-a-generation partner. Hawk will be working inside a school and a whole lot of students are about to make a friend for life- cuz this guy thinks everyone is here to cheer him on...and he's right!

From forgotten to fearless, this dog is already greatness bound!

12/07/2025

Roll call continues- meet Sonny, from forgotten to fulfilled he is a 2ish year old Plott hound who's backstory is going to be hard to read for some folks, but it's reality.

He came out of the Anderson The Animal Protection League Inc., Indiana, a shelter stretched so thin it feels like a battlefield. Too many dogs. Not enough space. Not enough support. And yet the volunteers there keep showing up anyway — carrying an emotional weight that would break most people. They hold dogs that don’t make it. They speak softly to them. They make sure the last thing those animals ever feel is human kindness, even when their hearts are shattering.It’s brutal. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s real. Sonny was standing right on that edge through no fault of his own. Just numbers. Just space. Just the cold math that shelters are forced to live with. A volunteer there- Jenny- refused to let this dog become another statistic.

She begged us to look at him. We did.

He walked onto the field like he’d been waiting his whole life for someone to finally see him, and he blew the doors off his audition. That spark — that fire — that sense of “I’m made for more.” It wasn’t subtle. It hit us instantly. Sonny wasn’t meant to die in a back room because of space. He was meant to serve, to work, to become something powerful and proud. And now he has a mom who believes the same thing.

The moment she stepped into class wearing a shirt that said “Rescue Is My Favorite Breed,” we knew that Sonny had walked straight into her life, and she wrapped him up like he finally belonged to someone, because now he does. Every day, every rep he comes in ready to go as part of a team. He matters.

From nearly losing everything…to finding the one person who looked at him and saw potential, not pity Sonny’s story isn’t tragic anymore. It’s triumphant. And it’s only the beginning.

12/06/2025

Continuing introductions to our newest dogs meet Hurley- from hiding to hugging the world. Hurley is not even a year old black Lab–Great Dane mix, and her heart is enormous.

I first met Hurley at the Humane Society of Putnam County Indiana where she had been abandoned along with her mother. She wasn’t greeting anyone or wagging a tail—she was huddled behind her little igloo, watching the world through a crack, unsure if it was safe. Most would have stayed hidden, but one squeek from a toy in my pocket and she slowly stepped into the world with trust. That moment from her reminds us that courage isn’t about fearlessness—it’s about showing up anyway.

At first in training Hurley was very scared and shy, but this gentle giant has a heart bigger than her paws. Every day you can watch her confidence grow, her fear subside and her trust with her amazing handler deepen. She’s famous in training for her “Hurley hugs”—climbing up, resting her giant head under your chin, and insisting that everyone gets a hug before she goes to work. And soon, she’ll be bringing that same warmth to an elementary school; helping kids be safe as well as feel loved. Not a day of her life will go by where she doesn't change someone's day for the better.

Hurley reminds us that love can come in the most unexpected packages—and that sometimes, all it takes is a little courage (and maybe a squeaky toy) to change your life.