Camp Maddy:
A Glimpse into Lucky Lab Rescue

Most of you do not realize that Lucky Lab Rescue has a kennel, Camp Maddy, named after my Madeline who passed away from a congenital heart defect on 6-17-05 (We miss you baby!).  My husband, Dean, and I built the kennel in September of 2007 and Lucky Lab Rescue began in January of 2008. 

Camp Maddy sits on our 12.5 acre wooded residential property (our home) and a walk across the driveway is all the traveling I have to do in order to care for all the dogs.  The kennel holds about 25 adult dogs and 2 litters of puppies.  Each adult dog gets a 5 x 5 kennel space with a raised dog bed to keep them up off the epoxied concrete floor or they are kept in a 48 inch dog crate to help establish good manners for their new home (in other words, to start the potty training process if needed).  All dogs get ample time in one of the two foster yards for several hours a day for outside time and play time with other foster doggies waiting to be adopted.  Each playgroup consists of 5 or less dogs depending on personality and temperament and each dog is matched with other group members for optimal compatibility.  Every dog that arrives at Camp Maddy is behaviorally assessed for re-homing purposes, but also to provide the best possible atmosphere and playgroups in order to help create a happy and healthy dog while in this temporary living situation. The foster yards are spread with pea gravel which helps provide a safe and healthy environment allowing for cleaner yards as well as yards that are easy to maintain.  The dogs are supplied with plenty of toys like Kong balls, knotted rope toys, nylabones and all the sticks and branches a Lab can chew. Of course, we want all of our Labs in homes, as that is the best situation for any dog and we do have several wonderful foster homes that will take a dog on a moment’s notice, but for the need, there just are not that many people willing to foster.  So, Camp Maddy’s is a pretty good gig for dogs that were once on death’s door for whatever reason with no other alternative.  
 
Camp Maddy is temperature controlled, equipped with running water and kept clean to provide our dogs with a disease-free and suitable living environment until they are adopted into their new family.  We have a totally separate puppy area where the pens are separated and two litters of puppies can be housed and maintained away from incoming dogs that may be sick and from the adult population to keep them safe and happy.  Puppies are the most vulnerable and precious of dogs and need much more attention to keep them healthy, safe and thriving.  We also set up outdoor puppy pens for the young babies that is away from the adult area and that will give them plenty of playtime activity outdoors with new puppy toys that squeak, shake, and roll. 

Camp Maddy’s also has an isolation room for a dog that may be sick and contagious and needs to be placed in a safe situation.  Sometimes when we pull a dog from a shelter, they may be sick already and this room provides a safe place for all the dogs to be kept out of harm’s way.  This room is away from all the other areas and has its own building entrance to help reduce the possibility of spreading the disease.  Fortunately, that room has been empty for over a year (knock on wood!) and we hope it stays empty.    

I am up and taking care of all the dogs by 7:00 in the morning, cycling through all the groups, letting them out to potty, get water, and stretch, then back in to eat their morning meal.  After all the adult dogs are cared for, the first play group goes outside.  All the puppy pens are cleaned and puppies fed and put out in the outdoor pens, weather permitting.  The kennel is cleaned and dogs are cycled through several times a day until about 9:00 or 10:00 pm, when we start the process of cycling them through for the night.  We go through each group of dogs again, letting them out to potty and get water for the final time of the day and they are brought back in to eat their evening meal.  Puppies are brought back in around 7 or 8 pm and put back into their clean, indoor puppy pen.  Then, lights out until 7:00 the next morning when the routine begins again. 

All of our dogs eat a premium quality dog food and Lucky Lab Rescue feels that the food quality is so important for these dogs.  We spend about $900.00 a month on food and feel that it is worth the expense.  Most of these dogs come from such bad situations and shelters that do not provide them with nutritional food and we believe this is the most effective and beneficial thing that we can do for our dogs to help them to have healthy immune systems, shiny coats, and better temperaments (you are what you eat, after all!), so we spare no expense when it comes to feeding the dogs and puppies a top quality brand of food.

This is just a glimpse into one aspect of Lucky Lab Rescue and basically where it all begins - where all the “magic happens” of saving dogs.  Our system is not perfect and improvements are always being made, but it is accomplishing the one goal that it was designed to do: RESCUING LABS, getting them out of harm’s way and into safety.  Because of this kennel, about 1,000 labs have been rescued over a 3 year span (this is an approximation and not an exact number).    In this building, there have been some sad times, some frustrating times, some desperate times, but mostly joyous and happy times that just cannot be explained unless you live it.  Looking into the eyes of the rescued and knowing they are well cared for and will move far beyond the fate that once awaited them brings me great pleasure.  There is a satisfaction that comes with caring for these dogs and I feel blessed to have the ability to do this for them.  I enter Camp Maddy every morning with a big “GOOD MORNING BABIES!”, while all the dogs are barking and waiting to be greeted and to be let out for the morning. And, at the end of each day, I leave them with a soft,” Good night, Babies, I love you.”

Kathy

Kathy Martin
President and Founder
Lucky Lab Rescue and Adoption