Redemption Ranch K9 Rescue, Plainfield, IN (2025)

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 was 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.

12/06/2025

Next up- meet Roscoe. From thrown away to thriving! He was abandoned, left to figure out the world by himself, a high-energy border collie mix with no outlet, no guidance, and no one claiming him. Dogs like him usually get written off as just "too wild" or "too intense" to fit neatly into a living room. But that’s only true if no one ever gives them a purpose.

I first met him at a Hendricks County Friends of the Shelter event. He walked out as one of the adoptable dogs, just hoping to be noticed. And he didn’t just get noticed — he lit the place up. Focus sharp. Tail nonstop. Heart on full display. He wasn’t a castoff. He wasn’t a stray. He was a working dog waiting for someone to finally recognize what he could be. There are very few dogs I've ever met who fundamentally change the energy of a room when they walk in like Roscoe does.

We hear him the second he hits the building — barking, spinning, vibrating with joy because he knows exactly what’s coming. Training. Purpose. Work. The thing that turns him from “too much dog” into something incredible. And when he runs to his dad, you can see how much he adores him… it’s the kind of bond that only forms when a dog finally finds his person. Indeed when Roscoe's now dad learned about him he was waiting at the shelter the next day for them to open and take his partner home.

Today, Roscoe is living a life with purpose. He’s thriving. He’s confident. And he absolutely adores his dad in a way that only a dog who’s been lost before can understand.

The Hendricks County Animal Shelter is fighting through a very hard stretch right now. Overloaded. Under-resourced. Doing everything they can for dogs just like Roscoe — dogs with fire in their chest who just need one person willing to see what that actually means. Roscoe is the proof. The others are waiting.

12/05/2025

Introducing our new class of students- First up, meet Spartan. There are some dogs whose stories punch you in the chest the moment you hear them. Spartan is one of those dogs.

When we first learned about him, he was an emaciated malinois sitting in a high-kill shelter… terrified, misunderstood, and already written off as “aggressive” because he liked to jump. He was one checkmark away from being another body in a black bag. Just a number. Just one more dog nobody bothered to truly see.

But then came a miracle disguised as a family. One of the volunteers at the shelter and good friends of our program the Melingers — and Erica Dewey-Melinger, especially — saw him. She looked into that kennel and didn’t see a problem. She saw a soul begging for one person, just one, to take a chance. She asked if he would be a good fit for our program- easiest decision ever. She even fostered him for us until he could get placed with an officer.

Their family fed him. They soothed him. They showed him what safety felt like for the first time in who knows how long. Her family didn’t foster Spartan — they rescued him in the deepest sense of the word. They loved him when the world didn’t think he was worth the space he took up. And that love is the reason he’s alive today. Because now…Now Spartan is here with us. And he is crushing canine school.

The same dog condemned as “too much,” “too wild,” “too risky” is now showing every single day why he should have never been discarded. He’s driven. He’s focused. He’s gentle. He’s smart. He’s sweet. He’s everything a working dog should be — and then some. And soon… he’ll be headed to an out-of-state agency where he will serve, protect, and change lives.

A dog that almost died for nothing will soon live for something great. This is why we fight. This is why we never, ever accept the word “unwanted.” Because somewhere out there right now is another Spartan — alone, scared, mislabeled — who needs someone to see him. To the Melinger family, and especially to Erica: You didn’t just save a dog. You created a future. You gave purpose to a life that almost ended before it began.

Spartan should have been gone, but he wasn’t.
Because the right people stepped in at the right time and refused to let the world erase him. Cry for where he came from. Cheer for where he’s going.

12/02/2025

We know it’s Giving Tuesday, and it always feels a little strange to ask for help… but every time someone chooses to support us, it genuinely changes lives. Your contributions have sent us to the national conference so we could grow, covered surgeries that gave dogs a second chance, brought out-of-state agencies to our training, and kept us going with vet bills and equipment when we had no idea how we’d manage.

If you’re considering where to give today, we’d be humbled to be on your list. We will post our donation link in the comments below. To everyone who's already donated to us and supported this cause, we are so grateful and hope to make you proud every day with what our pups on patrol do.

12/02/2025

We have begun! Plainfield Police Chief Prewitt started our class of by encouraging the new handlers as they begin their journey of becoming certified canines! The weather may be cold, but these dogs are already on a hot streak! Stay tuned as we introduce each one of our newest 4 legged cadre of canines!

11/30/2025

Tomorrow we start our newest class. As me and Jocko are on our morning walk I can't stop thinking about how excited I am. Six dogs, six handlers, six agencies take a step out of their comfort zone and begin something that's hard to articulate how life changing it is for both ends of the leash.

The dogs you’ll meet didn’t come from comfort. They clawed their way out of fear, out of neglect, out of cages where the world forgot their names. They survived the part of their story none of us saw.

But now they’re ready for the part you will see: the climb. The rise.

Tomorrow marks the start of countless small victories that become unshakable confidence. Of frustrated moments turning into breakthroughs. It's raw, it's messy, it's discouraging. It's perfect.

Tomorrow, our new handlers will start to build something that can’t be bought or faked or manufactured. They will need to bring their heart, bring their focus, bring everything they've got. Because these dogs will give you all of theirs.

These dogs were written off. Forgotten. Almost gone. And now—they’re heroes. Standing tall. Ready to protect. Ready to serve. Ready to fight alongside the people who earned their loyalty.

Tomorrow, they rise. Together.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from Redemption Ranch! K9 Jocko would like everyone to know that he did not steal this turkey… he simply ‘confiscated it as evidence.’ If your plate mysteriously goes missing today, don’t worry — Jocko will launch a full investigation. Starting with your kitchen then your leftovers. Stay thankful, stay hungry, and if you have dogs of your own- keep your turkeys secured!

11/26/2025

Guess who's back, back again. Kilo's back, tell a friend! Dated rap lyrics aside K9 Kilo is BACK in training and looking stronger than ever. This dog walked through surgery like it was nothing and came out the other side with that same unstoppable heart we all love.

Huge appreciation to everyone who donated, checked in, or prayed for him — you helped put him back on the field.He’s a reminder that nothing beats a dog with purpose and that he was born to do this!

11/25/2025

One week out. That’s all that stands between us and the start of our next class. Hard to believe that a year ago we were wrapping up our very first one—running on passion and stubbornness with nothing more than borrowed gear, and a belief that shelter dogs could do what so many said they never would. People watched from the sidelines waiting for us to fail. Some even said it out loud.

I heard it all. "Shelter dogs aren’t built for this." "They're too broken" "You can't do this with pound dogs". But you—our donors, advocates, supporters, and the people who saw something worth fighting for—you stood with us. You pushed us forward. You gave us the backbone to prove every doubt wrong. Time has a way of exposing the truth, and our dogs answered.

They’ve taken down drug dealers who thought no one was coming for them. They’ve tracked missing kids when seconds felt like hours. They’ve sat beside the victimized or grieving, offering a kind of comfort no badge or uniform can teach. All from dogs nobody wanted. Dogs people walked past. Dogs that were one decision away from disappearing forever. But they rose, protected and served.

It would not have happened without you—our donors, advocates, supporters, and every single person who shared our mission, lifted us up, or put their trust in a dog no one else wanted. We proved them wrong in a way that can’t be ignored. You’re the reason these dogs had a chance to fight—for a badge, a purpose, and a life that mattered.

Another class is coming in and they are carrying stories that will break your heart when you hear them. They don’t know it yet, but their lives are about to change. And so are the lives they’ll go on to protect.

One week out...and we're only getting started!

Redemption Ranch K9 Rescue

12/09/2025

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12/05/2025

12/02/2025

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11/30/2025

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