Extraordinary Dogs Inc.

From “death row” to dogs of service

The Challenge

Nationwide, companion animals are surrendered to animal control facilities and/or abandoned on backroads by owners who consider these animals disposable. As many as 5500 dogs are destroyed daily. Despite the increase in the number of rescue organizations and low-cost spay/neuter clinics, the kill facilities remain full and there is no significant decline in the euthanasia rate. We have witnessed firsthand that the faster rescues pull dogs, the faster the facility fills up., Some shelters are still using archaic temperament testing that does not consider the emotional condition of the dog, and those who do not pass, are deemed unadoptable and destroyed. The underlying problematic thread that links all these human behaviors as related to dogs nationally and locally, is a lack of understanding of canine behavior, which leads to mismanagement and poor or aversive and ineffective training. Most owners as well as other dog-related personnel, are not skilled in dealing with emotional issues in their dogs, and are too quick to label a dog as “no good.” Failure to recognize the dog’s subtle signals often lead to wrong training methodology which contributes to behavior suppression and anxiety for both dog and owner.

The Solution

When we started this organization five years ago, we knew that we did not want to deal with simply pulling dogs from high-kill facilities and placing them as quickly as possible with a “forever home”, which if legitimate statistics would be gathered, would show that many of those dogs are either returned or “passed on” to be someone else’s “problem” unless there has been substantial training for the dog and education of the owner. The truth of the matter is that the overpopulation problem will never improve regardless of how many rescue organizations step up or how many low cost spay and neuter programs are set up. There has to be a change in the public perception of dogs, in general.

We have taken some of the most difficult cases and proven that with the correct type of training, they can blossom to the point of becoming service and therapy dogs, eager and happy to do their job. Education about the emotional intelligence of dogs has been the hallmark of our training and assessment program, and we have been awarded grants to develop proprietary materials to educate owners and the public in general. Our mission is to take some of the most seriously traumatized “death row” dogs and provide enrichment and play training which focuses on emotional profiling so that they can blossom into extraordinary partners for their human(s).

Nonprofit Identity

Extraordinary Dogs is a nonprofit public charity incorporated in the state of New Mexico in 2014 and is a corporation in good standing. . On April 3, 2015, the IRS approved our 501(c)3 status as a public charity. EIN 47-1068094, retroactive to August 13, 2014, the official date of incorporation.

Our Mission

The mission of Extraordinary Dogs Inc. is to provide rescued “death row” dogs with the skills and training to help them become extraordinary canine friends for life to their adopted family. We are a training and enrichment facility that focuses on the emotional intelligence and resilience of all dogs, especially those who have been discarded.

Adoption Rate 100%
Award rate of grant applications 75%

Amazing Results from Awesome Dogs

When our dogs are matched with the appropriate home/adopter, most “teach themselves” to be therapy or service dogs. We offer continued customized enrichment training for all our placements.

Live Project