Living Grace Canine Ranch
Where Love Resides
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
LGCR's Core Mission: To Save, Serve, and Value Senior Dogs' Lives. Founded in 2020, the LGCR organization embraces the principle that all God's creatures (including humans) deserve respect and unbiased love. Texas senior dog homelessness results in the highest at-risk population for shelter euthanasia, regardless of the dog's age-appropriate condition. Per the State of Texas Public Health Department, sixty-four percent of advanced-aged dogs with not survive a shelter experience. Age bias and concerns of unforeseen medical, physical, and emotional challenges are understandable for potential adopters. Whereas shelters provide food, water, and safety, they need more basic diagnostic, medical, and dental disease treatment, undermining a senior dog's life value and adoption favorability. Therefore, our community response core mission is saving, serving, and valuing adoption-disadvantaged Texas senior dogs with medical, physical, and behavioral challenges.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
#Live Long, Live Well
#Live Long Live Well: A comprehensive wellness approach benefitting every sanctuary resident. Focus: Disease prevention, early detection, and management through diagnostics, nutritional support, and alternative healing modalities, such as acupressure, massage therapy, and nutraceuticals.
#Forever Foster
#Forever Foster: For residents that may resume a life away from the sanctuary, our Forever Foster program offers senior parents an opportunity to share a life of companionship without the financial burden of pet ownership.
#Let's Shake Paws
#Let’s Shake Paws: Unique to Living Grace Canine Ranch is our community outreach program that assists in building mutually beneficial relationships for seniors and children finding themselves on the fringe of society due to dementia and Pervasive Development Disorders.
In just eight short years, puppies become senior dogs. Pet parenting knowledge and responsible caregiving throughout a dog's youthful years render significant statistics on how the final life stage will be experienced.
LGCR is committed to providing educational opportunities to advance pet parenting strategies for living with and loving an aging family member. In addition, mobile LGCR's PopUP Clinics bring veterinary and microchipping services to rural communities. Preventing young dogs from becoming old dogs in shelters is a win for the community.
Where we work
Awards
Outstanding Community Service 2023
Pedernales Electric Cooperative United Charities
Outstanding Community Service 2021
Texas United Charities
Outstanding Community Service 2022
Austin Vegan & Vegetarian
Outstanding Community Service 2022
Torr Na Lochs
Outstanding Community Service 2021
Raba Kistner
Outstanding Community Service 2022
Radiation Detection
Outstanding Community Service 2023
David Hood Endowment Fund
Extraordinary Woman of Year 2023
Austin American Statesman
Outstanding Community Service 2023
Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation
Top Rated 2023 2023
GreatNonProfits.org
Affiliations & memberships
Best Friends Animal Society Network Partner 2021
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Percentage of No Kill Fulfillment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
LGCR embraces No Kill in philosophy and practicum. A euthanasia recommendation is supported as a last resort to comfort a senior resident with medically unmanageable suffering.
Number of external speaking requests for members of the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Let's Shake Paws
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
2020 was a memorable year: ~LGCR was organized in February ~Launch a media campaign in March. ~Broke ground in May ~Open the Ranch Sanctuary in December. All while COVID-19 locked down the country.
Number of sector award nominations earned by the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of programs documented
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
LGCR's signature program #Live Long, Live Well embodies every aspect of our core mission to save, serve, and value senior dogs' medical, physical, and emotional needs.
Number of staff members certified in subject area training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Given the ranch sanctuary's rural location, lack of county emergency services, and a high population of senior citizen volunteers, all staff members are certified in first aid, CPR, and AED.
Number of referrals to resources offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Let's Shake Paws
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
An alternative to killing senior dogs with treatable conditions is needed due to shelter economics and owner convenience. Website resources and building niche rescue relationships have helped.
Number of veterinary field clinics held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Multiracial people, People of Latin American descent, Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
#Let's Shake Paws
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
A collaborative effort with the Humane Society, a local rescue, and LGCR to offer free cat/dog immunizations and rabies vaccines. Within a five-hour window, five hundred injections were administered.
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These are the number of volunteers trained. They are primarily trained as canine companions, but some are qualified for running community events and working "behind the scenes" on social media or fund
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of hours of training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These hours reflect training during September-December of 2022.
Number of one-on-one coaching sessions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of manuals produced
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Volunteer Handbook.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These are hours volunteering as Canine Companions September-December.
Number of grants received
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
#Live Long, Live Well
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
BooBoo Foundation Zuora Betty Jane Bryant Foundation Anonymous
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
A secondary problem we strive to address is human isolation. Like canines, humans are social creatures and believe 'feeling whole’ is possible regardless of the life challenge. Dogs seek and value human relationships; they are experts at detecting body language and are pre-wired for nurturance.
Across Central Texas, memory care facilities enthusiastically embrace LGCR to provide emotional and tactile comfort to their resident's quality of life experience.
Lastly, our community outreach program, the Ranch Buckaroo Club, works on the opposite vulnerable age spectrum: children. Being ‘different’ has always placed children at risk of bullying, but most often, it was localized. Today, the new tool for bullying and demeaning is social media, whereby in the matter of a ‘click,’ the entire school or neighborhood casts unwanted spotlights.
Our Ranch Buckaroo Club seeks to provide children with first-hand experience of giving and receiving unconditional love through LGCR residents, increase knowledge of pet caregiving skills and encourage human respect for differences.
Summary
Core Mission: Save, Serve, and Value adoption-disadvantaged Texas senior dogs. The core purpose of Living Grace Canine Ranch is to provide homeless dogs, commonly undervalued by society, with an opportunity to live medically, physically, and emotionally in wellness for the remainder of their life stage.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Texas landscape for treating homeless senior dogs falls short in every resource measure. Long considered by shelters as the 'old dog' problem, convenience euthanasia claims sixty-four percent of elder dogs' lives, despite having age-appropriate and treatable conditions.
LGCR's Beliefs and Values
• We value all dogs, regardless of breed, and believe they are born with natural gifts and talents.
• Beyond basic life sustainment (food, water, and shelter), we believe all dogs seek companionship and reach their fullest potential when supported by medical, physical, and self-agency caregiving.
• We believe 'Man' is solely responsible for the lives of domesticated animals, and every effort should be made to prevent and protect pets from harm.
• We hold that death is a natural part of the life cycle and active dying with dignity is paramount to the life completion journey.
• We support and advocate No Kill in philosophy and practicum. Terminating a life due to anything other than unmanageable suffering falls short of humane caregiving governance.
Lastly, we are convinced that the traditional animal welfare model purporting ‘adoption’ as the gold seal of program success is problematic in concept and execution for lasting change.
Programs
#Ranch Sanctuary: The LGCR sanctuary does not offer adoption; LGCR maintains legal guardianship until a resident life cycle is completed.
#Live Long Live Well: A comprehensive wellness approach enjoyed by every sanctuary sweetheart (resident). Focus: Disease prevention, early detection, and management through diagnostics, nutritional support, and alternative healing modalities, such as acupressure, massage therapy, and nutraceuticals.
#Forever Foster: For residents that may resume a life off-sanctuary, our Forever Foster program offers senior parents an opportunity to share a life of companionship without the financial burden of pet ownership.
# Let's Shake Paws: Remarkable to LGCR, Central Texas community outreach activities indirectly support our core mission of saving, serving, and valuing adoption-disadvantaged senior dog lives.
Community Outreach Initiatives, Legislative Advocacy, and Collaboration
In a matter of eight short years, puppies become senior dogs. Critical to how the trimester life stage will be experienced, LGCR is committed to providing educational opportunities to advance pet parenting strategies for living with and loving an aging family member.
Takeaway
LGCR's philosophic beauty shines through three simple words, "Where Love Resides." Pure at heart, an exceptional organization that elevates the traditional animal welfare conversation for valuing Man's most trusted companion because life is precious and time is short.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
#Ranch Sanctuary
Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, forty-eight miles NW of Austin, the Living Grace Canine Ranch Sanctuary is a welcoming sight and permanent home for homeless senior orphans due to medical, physical, and behavioral challenges.
Most often arriving broken in body and spirit, our residents thrive throughout their life journey surrounded by 10,000 square feet of senior lifestyle wellness. Since 2020, LGCR's uncompromising integrity and dedication to adoption-disadvantaged dogs has been exalted as the 'ultimate' destination by shelters, rescues, and the Texas community at large for "Where Love Resides."
Evidence of Unfilled Service Need
Since the inception of an alternative approach to senior dog homelessness, sanctuary operations have been fully engaged. Sanctuary residency averages eighty-five canines depending on the degree of skilled medical caregiving required and breed size. Residents achieving the wellness status to live off the sanctuary, the number of permanent fostering households is only limited by LGCR's guardianship resources.
Senior Dog Planned Community
Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, the five-acre sanctuary is unique to Texas in philosophy and design. Specifically engineered to promote canine life satisfaction and caregiving considerations for senior canines with medical, physical, and behavioral challenges.
Amenities include:
~Ten thousand square feet of breed-appropriate sized apartment-style living, private patios, community socialization space, and a full kitchen that fills the air with scents of 'something delicious.'
~ Five agility and water play parks that turn every hot Texas day into an oasis of exercising pleasure.
~ Casey's Healing Hands Wellness Clinic supports life's health essentials with immunizations, pharmacy, and routine veterinarian exam assessments. Beyond general health, Casey's trained staff delivers critically needed post-care for all too frequent gunshot wounds (country living spoiler alert) and cruelty/neglect survivors.
~ Minnie's Skincare and Groom Salon. Common to aging canines, dry eye, lenticular disease, alopecia (hair loss), and dermatitis infections, keep the hydro tub running daily. Of equal importance to living joyfully in the golden years are therapeutic massages targeted to promote neuro-muscular elasticity, cold-laser therapy, and medically applied acupressure massage techniques.
~ Parker's Place Memorial Garden. As humans, every Cypress tree is a living memorial to residents who celebrated their end-of-life journey experiencing love, inclusion, and dignity at LGCR. But to LGCR residents, it's a natural scent wonderment experience that offers enrichment long after vision and hearing fade.
Known across Texas, LGCR has earned the trust of the veterinarian community, shelters, rescues, and the private sector, offering joy, wellness, and inclusion to seniors with much to enrich humanity and little remaining life stage time.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Living Grace Canine Ranch
Board of directorsas of 06/11/2023
Rhonda Minardi
Ginny Stubblefield
Nancy Bewley
Michael Beecher
Jennifer Friday-Jones
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/09/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.