Straw For Dogs

10/29/2025

Update: Gabe is officially an Eagle Scout!

HUGE THANK YOU to determined Eagle Scout candidate and animal lover Gabe Tate! Gabe has accomplished his goal of building Straw For Dogs 20 insulated dog houses as his community service project!

We are so honored that Gabe selected us for his Eagle Scout project. He, his family, and his troop worked so hard on this and got it done in a really short time period....Now they can have their garage back in time for winter.

Gabe raised the funds, managed the project and volunteers, he kept records of funds and hours spent on his project. All at the age of 14 years old!

Building our dog houses is not easy, there is a lot of trim, they are double walled, insulated, the side walls are slightly sloped to make things even more complicated, and they are weather coated....These are not your one sheet of plywood dog houses, they are heavy, costly and they definitely take some time to build. These 20 houses are the equivalent of an $7,500 donation!

Gabe’s houses will be set up in, or sent out from Fairbanks. There will be some lucky dogs in the interior who will receive these very special houses built with extra LOVE!

Please congratulate Gabe on this amazing accomplishment. He submitted his project to the board yesterday and is now officially an Eagle Scout!

10/28/2025

13 more insulated houses and straw bundles dropped at Everts Air yesterday afternoon! This is what they look like when they are delivered by air! What you see here is over $6800 worth of resources, including some shipping. Just to give you an idea of what our costs look like.

5 houses are going to Bethel Friends of Canines, 2 to Napakiak, 1 to Kotzebue, 1 to Atmautluak, 1 to Buckland, 1 to Deering, 1 to Shaktoolik, and another one to Bethel, to a family who relocated from Kipnuk after the storm.

I believe 11 of these are flood/storm related... but we are also receiving applications and sending houses out to dogs who live outside and need shelter not related to the storms too.

We are trying to get to everyone who needs help, these houses are labor intensive and take some time to build. Thank you to our awesome builders at Arctic Chicken Coops for getting this next load out and donating the delivery fee!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to support us. Thank you to Everts Air for donating the shipping charges for the 6 Bethel houses, and deeply discounting the rate on all of the others! Thank you to Ryan Air, INC. and BERING AIR for donating the shipping on all of the houses that require a second leg to get to the dogs who need them!

Without the discounts and donations we would not be able to help as many dogs out there. These 13, this bring us to 248 houses and 325 bales of straw this year... last year we sent a total of 213 houses and 283 bales of straw. We are well ahead of last year and it isn't even November yet!

If you need help or you want to help support our mission please go to www.strawfordogs.org to apply for assistance or make a donation!

Thank you! 🙏

10/27/2025

We got VIDEO AND PICTURES from a wonderful family in Bethel! (They gave us permission to use them here).

This is the first time we have ever seen a video of a dog having zoomies INSIDE their dog house! This is Alicia (Sunshine), Harley, and their puppy Reign.

Reign's family adopted her from Bethel Friends of Canines. Alicia told us Reign was found wandering alone in the dead of winter at 50 below in January 2024, she and her adorable daughter Harley decided to foster Reign....and a week later they adopted her!
If you have to fail at something, you might as well be a foster fail!

Reign is one of the lucky dogs who gets to spend time inside with her family and she loves her "human sister" Harley very much!

These pictures of Harley and Reign together truly represent how much love their can be between kids and dogs, if the dogs just have the chance to be a part of the family. Look at the love on Harley's face, she looks like a guardian angel....and you can tell that Reign loves her right back, and would do anything for that little girl.

People who don't spend time with their dogs are missing out on experiencing the most sincere unconditional love....and who doesn't need more of that!

Teach your kids kindness and compassion for all animals, it will make them better humans....It will make them happier humans and make the world a better place. Unconditional love is that powerful.... and dogs happily give it to everyone!

Thank you to Alaska Airlines for helping us with the shipping on this one! We are so grateful for your support!

If you would like to donate to help us provide more insulated houses and straw to dogs who need them please go to www.strawfordogs.org

Thank you! 🙏🏻

10/23/2025

MORE HOUSES ARE COMING!

We will have another load of houses dropped off at the Anchorage Airport on Monday, including the 5 bound for Bethel Friends of Canines!

Sorry for the delay everyone, are amazing builders, Arctic Chicken Coops are working as fast as they can! Not only did they drop everything to build more dog houses for us, but they are also waiving the delivery charges on the next load of houses, to help support the mission!

Straw For Dogs intends to help everyone who needs help! HANG ON....THEY ARE COMING!

Builder Jim's.... JORDY DOG is supervising!

10/22/2025

UPDATE: FUNDS RAISED! Thank you everyone! These houses will be shipped free of charge via Everts Air to Bethel Friends of Canines on Monday 10/27! Thank you so much to everyone who donated!

Our friends Bethel Friends of Canines need 5 insulated houses to use at their rescue! Please help if you can. Everts Air is shipping them out free of charge as part of the rescue effort in Western Alaska. We know EVERYONE is asking for donations right now. Sorry to do it again, but our list already exceeds our prior fundraiser and this request is different!

Thank you everyone, hopefully we are going to see the downhill side of the dog, cat, and turtle rescue soon.

By STRAW FOR DOGS

10/21/2025

This sweet boy is Dutch! Dutch is from one of the rural communities on the western coast of Alaska. He is still pretty young, his family has only had him since February so he was not set up with a house at all YET.

Dutch is also one of the lucky "outside dogs" who actually does get to spend some time inside, (we love to hear that). He still spends a lot of his time outside though....so now Dutch now has an insulated dog house and straw when he needs it.

His family sent us this cute picture and we think he looks pretty comfy in his new house. That sweet little furry also looks very cuddly....his little head looks very soft and that floppy ear hanging out the door....🥰💓

If you need help or would like to donate to help dogs living outside in Alaska please go to www.strawfordogs.org

We are trying our best to help everyone right now. We are a bit behind but working as fast as we can. More houses are being taken to the Anchorage airport today.

10/20/2025

Update on animal lover and volunteer Anita Powell's work in Shishmaref!

Thanks to Anita, these insulated dog houses have been built and delivered to dogs living outside in Shishmaref. 3 more are on the way!

Thank you to Anita Powel for requesting houses for the dogs in Shishmaref, paying for part of the shipping costs, picking them up from the airport, building them, getting them delivered to the dogs who needed them, and sending us updates and pictures! More houses are on the way, so she can continue her/our mission there.

If you need an insulated dog house and straw for your dog or you know a neighbor who needs help please go to www.strawfordogs.org to request help. You can donate here too, if you want to help us in our mission of providing these resources to dogs living outside in Alaska.

Thank you to Northern Air Cargo, Ryan Air, INC., Everts Air, and BERING AIR for either donating or discounting the shipping for these houses! We would not be able to help as many dogs in need without the support of these air carriers!

Thank you to everyone who had donated/volunteered/shared information/or shared words of encouragement! We are so grateful to each and every one of you!

10/19/2025

Here are a few more puppies with their new insulated dog houses! AND 2 houses now in Shishmaref with a wonderful dog lover and volunteer, Anita Powell who not only built these 2 houses and is going to distribute them for Straw For Dogs, but she also paid part of the shipping costs to get them there.

Our next load of houses shipping out of Anchorage will be dropped at the airport on Tuesday 10/21.

We are getting houses sent out as fast as we can get them built. We are trying to help everyone just as quickly as possible! So sorry for those who are still waiting, as soon as we send 10 out, 10 more requests come in.....not only from those who lost houses in the storm but from all over Alaska for dogs living outside with no shelter.

Just a note that most of the displaced dogs from evacuated villages will not need new houses until their families are settled again somewhere, but we will be ready to help them when they do reach out to us.

Thank you to BERING AIR, Everts Air, Northern Air Cargo, Ryan Air, INC. for helping us get these house delivered to the dogs who were waiting for them.

Thank you to everyone who donates to Straw For Dogs to help us provide insulated dog houses and straw to dogs living outside in Alaska... both dogs who were victims of the storm and any any other dogs in need as well....and for everyone who has donated to help other animal rescue groups during this difficult time.

If you know a dog who needs a house or you would like to donate to help dogs who live outside in Alaska please go to www.strawfordogs.org

Thank you!

10/18/2025

While we continue to send insulated dog houses and straw to the rural communities by air, we are also serving the communities that are accessible by road. Neighbors Kelly and Craig reached out on behalf of these 2 outside dogs. The family had never heard of Straw For Dogs but they were open to receiving the help.

These sweetie pies live in Fairbanks, so we were able meet them in person, give them some love, AND build their houses for them. Most of our houses are shipped by air or barge to the dogs who need them so it is a special treat for us when we get to meet the doggy recipients in person!

These babies are Red and Cookie! Both dogs are very friendly. Neither of them are fixed and we offered to pay to have them fixed but mom was not sure at this time. Cookie is actually expecting right now. She is a very loving dog, she was calm and really just wanted love and pets. She ate few treats and buried others in the area for later. Cookie was the happiest when someone was petting her.

Red's family is open to rehoming him to an active family with no small children. He is friendly but might be too excited for littles. He would be a good skijor partner. He is about 5 years old, and as mentioned he is not neutered, but Straw For Dogs would cover the cost of that. He is very friendly and really just wanted attention. He would not even take the treats we gave him, he spit them out and pushed his head under your hand....he wanted love and pets instead. If you are interested in meeting Red please message us and we will get you in contact with his family.

If you need an insulated house and straw for your dog, or you would like to support out mission in providing these resources for dogs living outside in Alaska please go to www.strawfordogs.org

Thank you!

10/18/2025

To have a non-profit from another state thousands of miles away put together a post in honor of our mission is truly remarkable.

NMDOG you are the High standard of what an Animal Advocacy Group represents. Thank you immensely for this fundraising post.

We appreciate your mission of Breaking the Chains and setting up Fences for all the Furries down in New Mexico 😘