Redemption Ranch K9 Rescue

06/02/2026

Huge round of applause for K9 Newt of the Plainfield Police Department. She just finished the semester with 63 therapy deployments!

Kids at Plainfield schools will recognize her goofy smile, love of life and wagging tail as a friendly face around the school. But what they don't see are other students stories of loss, of abuse, neglect and trauma. Children trying their best to focus on homework and tests while carrying burdens that would break many adults. Some are trying to make sense of things that no child should ever have to experience. When those children need help, one of the first faces they often see is K9 Newt.

She doesn’t know if she’s walking into a counselor’s office, a classroom, or a room where a child is sitting with tears running down their face. She doesn’t know the details of the story. She doesn’t know what happened. She just knows someone is hurting. And she walks through that door like it’s the most important thing in the world. And that's because to her...it is.

She doesn’t know the details. She doesn’t understand reports, interviews, or the circumstances. She just knows a child is hurting. So she walks into the room, climbs up beside them, and gives them everything she has and a reminder that they are not alone.

Before she became a therapy dog, she was the victim of severe animal cruelty. By the time she was rescued during an investigation she was nearly dead from starvation and then spent time fighting for her life in intensive care. Someone who should have shown her compassion instead gave her suffering. Most would understand if that story had made her fearful of the world. Instead, it made her love it harder.

Today, Newt spends her life carrying pieces of other people’s pain. She walks into rooms filled with sadness or fear and somehow leaves them a little lighter than she found them. She takes frightened children and helps them feel safe. She takes children who have lost trust in the world and reminds them that kindness still exists. This little dog decided that if she survived her darkest days, she was going to spend the rest of her life helping others survive theirs.

What was meant to break her became the reason she helps heal others. And if you ask me, that’s what makes Newt so special. Not that she survived. It’s what she did with that survival. And to me, that will never not be incredible.

Good girl Newt, you're simply amazing.

06/01/2026

K9 Minna enjoying some well earned vacation time with her handler! Judging by this photo, she’s made herself completely at home and has graciously decided to let her handler stay in her room. Some dogs check in to hotels. Minna appears to have purchased the property.

Minna’s story is a reminder that every dog deserves a chance. She was once an overlooked dog sitting in a high-kill shelter, heartworm positive and passed over time and again. Thanks to the dedication of her foster family and the support of the Humane Society for Hamilton County (Indiana) she received the treatment and care she needed. Many people saw a dog with “too much” energy. What Minna really needed was the right person—someone who would see that she wasn’t too much at all. She was exactly enough. Today, she’s living the life she always deserved, one couch at a time. Good girl Minna, we love watching your glow up!

05/31/2026

Let's hear it for the students of Roachdale Elementary School who came together and raised almost $700 for K9 Teeko and his department for their K9 fund! The students were thrilled to get a classroom visit from Teeko himself!

From starting life as a scared stray at the Hendricks County Animal Shelter where he was afraid of everyone, to being in our first ever class, and then gaining a tremendous reputation as a drug detector and all around good boy- we are all so proud of you Teeko!

05/27/2026

Thank you Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. for helping keep our Sonny safer while he's out there on duty! From a dog who started with literally nothing and coming up against a euthanasia date to now, K9 Sonny has made all of his shelter family and us so proud.

His handler also wanted to also thank the donor. She says "... to be Bee Mays-Buchanan. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I don't think people realize how much law enforcement equipment costs, or that officers (especially k9 officers) will buy a lot of it themselves. This truly is an amazing gift. I did not know Brewster, in whose memory the vest was donated, but I can promise that his name won't be forgotten and this gift will be cherished. ♥️"

Good boy Sonny, we're glad you're staying safe out there!

Lawrence police K-9 Sonny has received a new bullet- and stab-protective vest, thanks to a nonprofit's donation.

MORE: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/lawrence-police-department-k-9-receives-body-armor-donation-indiana/531-c943618c-bee8-45f3-bd1c-24860dd24d71?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WTHR-TV

(📷: Lawrence PD)

05/26/2026

We just thought the world should see this- K9 Hurley's new official department portrait. From starting life at the Humane Society of Putnam County Indiana where she was abandoned and tied to a fence post with her mother to now spending her days making the students at her school feel loved and protected every day- we are so proud of her and how far she has come.

When I first met her she was peeping out from behind her dogloo, trying to be as small as possible. But a squeeky toy got her out from there and to take her first big and brave steps into something great. Now she has the most devoted and loving family, is told every day how amazing she is and holds her head high. Hurley Gurly, you are amazing

05/25/2026

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”

Today we remember those who gave everything for people they would never meet, for freedoms they would never get to enjoy, and for a country they believed was worth dying for. Memorial Day will always belong to the ones who never got the chance to come home, grow old, and tell their stories themselves.

We will remember them

05/23/2026

We have one more huge thank you to say, and that is to our great friend and hugely talented artist Becky Wanick. Becky used to work for the prosecutor's office in Marion County where she fell in love with the canines which is how our paths crossed. She always paints portraits of our graduate dogs for us to surprise their handler when they cross the finish line. We thought everyone would like to see these, and I'll tell you...receiving it hits the handlers in the chest like a truck.

Becky does a lot more too. She goes with me to the shelters to audition dogs - and that is a very very difficult thing to do- but she does it gladly. She calls agencies on our behalf, attends trainings, hides from our search and rescue dogs, and always gets me to step back from the ledge when I spiral about a dog or the program.

Most importantly, she believed in this before day 1 when almost nobody else did. "You can't do this with pound dogs" was all I ever heard...but not from Becky. She saw what I saw in the dogs at the shelter, and the words "thank you" do not even begin to cover it.

To show how thoughtful she is too she also surprised our biggest fan Evan with a portrait of his dog Abby, who had unfortunately recently passed away. Since Evan is one of us, he gets to have a portrait too.

And then she had the audacity to try to make me feel my own feelings by surprising me with one of the best dog to ever do it.

My best friend, my family, my partner, my protector.

My Jocko.

05/22/2026

We have so many people to thank for another successful class of shelter to shield dogs! We first want to thank Plainfield Police Department Officer Hawk and his family for their work in saving K9 Remi, and as such awarded him an award named after our biggest supporter and fan, Evan Brenneman. Evan comes in and hides from our dogs so they get experience tracking to a real life kiddo, and his enthusiasm lights up a room. In his honor Officer Hawk and his family were awarded the "Difference Maker" award. Huge thank you to them, and to Grain and Glory for their incredible work on this.

To the AMAZING crew at Healthy Paws Animal Hospital this class in particular owes you so much. This was the most challenging crop of dogs we have had medically to include a dangerously underweight dog, whipworm, Lyme disease, heartworm, Giardia and electrolyte deficiencies. You not only provide top notch care, you make them feel loved as well. As such, they were presented with some of this classes well loved tennis balls and paw prints from each dog.

Next up, the amazing J&J Express Services for their constant support of this program. They provided training locations, vehicles, lunch and so much more. As many of our dogs are going to smaller agencies they presented a check to each department to start a specific K9 fund for each agency to have for dog specific related expenses and to build on from there.

Next we would like to thank Saint Susanna Catholic School, Plainfield Christian Church and the Plainfield Church of Christ for providing us real world locations in which to train our dogs as some will be on patrol the day after graduation in schools.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we cannot thank the Avon Indiana Police Department and specifically Lt Owens enough for their support. Due to sudden and unexpected construction at the Plainfield Police Department we were potentially left without a place to conduct the initial classes and trainings of our dogs. They opened their doors to us and could not have been more supportive. Thank you for everything.

Lastly to everyone who has cared, shared or donated to us- we spend every cent on our dogs. I do this on my vacation time for love of the game. We were built by small businesses, individuals who believed in us and people who bought our merchandise.

While we just got a class out the door, we're not resting on our laurels. Plans for the next one are already underway. From stray to service, from shelter to shield- we are never stopping!

05/21/2026

Congratulations again to all of our graduates! Ships are safest in a harbor, but no ship was ever built to stay there. These dogs were never meant to stay in a kennel, looking out wondering when they would matter again or if they would ever have a future. Yesterday they took their place in the blue line standing proudly alongside their human. Thank you again to everyone who attended or who has supported us along the way. We are so proud of all of our shelter puppies and know that these guys are going to go on to do great things. K9 Blitz with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, K9 Maverick with the Silver Lake Police Department, K9 Otis with the Jasper County Sheriff's Office (Georgia), K9 Walker with Center Grove Police Department, K9 Remi with the Delphi Police Dept, and K9 Scout with the Crawfordsville Police Dept! Go do good boy things

05/19/2026

The literal underdogs- They did it. Tomorrow, our dogs officially graduate and take the final step from shelter dogs to working police K9s. Where their lives once looked hopeless it has now become purpose, discipline, and redemption. Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate these incredible dogs as they begin their new mission. From Shelter to Shield.