ARGYLE — Lucky Puppy Rescue in Argyle looks to help dogs find a home in Upstate New York. And they travel a long way to do so.

Lucky Puppy’s rescue center is located in Bonifay, Florida, roughly 90 miles west of Tallahassee. Founder Teri Mattson, who resides in Bonifay, said the organization started “completely by accident,” after she found two abandoned puppies in a park.

“There were two little puppies down there, playing in the mud and water,” said Mattson. “There was only one other person there besides me, and I said, ‘Are those your puppies? They’re really cute.’ He said, ‘No, somebody dumped them off here.’”

Mattson and her partner took the dogs in, and “it snowballed from there,” she said.

The Argyle location came about after Lucky Puppy’s Florida rescue center began transporting dogs to be adopted out of centers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. 

“We started with a large van, and we moved to a school bus, and then now we have a big commercial bus that we use,” Mattson said. “We would literally vaccinate them, get them healthy, fix them, and then drive them up to these rescues and hand them off, and then they would adopt them.”

That model was not financially stable for the organization, so Lucky Puppy purchased a former boarding kennel and training facility in Argyle and converted it into an adoption center for dogs from the Florida rescue.

“It’s the same corporation, Florida and New York, but the rescue is in Florida where there are so many abandoned dogs, and the adoption center is here in Argyle,” said Mattson.

Transporting the dogs from Bonifay to Argyle involves a bus ride of 24 to 28 hours, said Mattson, who typically drives the bus herself. 

“We’re very blessed that our bus is set up to where it makes a comfortable trip,” Mattson said. “It’s still stressful, and it’s still long, but it’s a comfortable trip for them health-wise.”

The Argyle location, at 511 Pleasant Valley Road, is an “ideal” location, Mattson said. There are two buildings to house the dogs, as well as a home that Mattson and fellow Florida employees stay in while visiting the location. Mattson said several dogs typically stay in the home while people are there, “so they get a little feel of what the house is like too.”

The buildings have fenced-in yards connected, while Lucky Puppy’s property also includes walking trails through a wooded area and another open field that the organization hopes to expand to.

“When we purchased the property, the idea is to expand. We would be able to put more buildings over on this area, because it’s nice and open, and then fence in the whole property so we could have the woods for play, and the area between the house and the kennel,” said Mattson. “Our biggest point is we try to give them enrichment, not just put them in a kennel and hope somebody comes by and picks them out for adoption.”

Mattson said the organization emphasizes exercise and activity for the dogs, saying “it builds their confidence.”

“When you adopt them and take them home, you have a dog that’s more confident, that’s willing to meet new people, go new places, it makes for a better adoption,” Mattson said.

Lucky Puppy specializes in medium and large-sized dogs, Mattson said, naming breeds such as shepherds, border collies, and “all the kind of mix-ups.”

“A little bit of lab, a little bit of retriever, a little bit of border collie,” said Mattson. “People that are looking for good family pets, we can help match them. We know the dogs so well, when you come in and tell me what your life is like, I can say, ‘Oh, this is the dog for you.’”

Mattson said the adoption center typically has 30 to 35 dogs on-site during the warmer months, and said there are “almost always” between 150 to 200 dogs at the rescue center in Bonifay.

The adoption process begins with an online application, Mattson said, which is reviewed by volunteers at Lucky Puppy.

“We have a team of volunteers that would go through that application,” Mattson said. “If you have a pet now, we would check your vet records.”

After the application, an appointment can be made to visit the adoption center to meet the dogs.

“Sometimes, they have a specific (dog) that they want to meet, that they saw online,” said Mattson. “That’s good, we can start with that. But we actually, sometimes, may steer them toward a different one if the first dog they’re interested in is not a good match.”

Mattson said when evaluating matches, Lucky Puppy looks at things like fenced yards, apartments, and more.

“If it’s a young, active dog that needs to run and play a lot, a fenced yard is probably more suited. If it’s an older dog that just might do some leash walks and maybe hang out a little bit, that may not be required,” Mattson said. “People, if they live in an apartment, there’s some dogs that might do well in an apartment, there’s other dogs that would be crazy and bark and disturb your neighbors.”

All of the dogs at Lucky Puppy’s adoption center are fixed and vaccinated before arriving in New York, said Mattson. The center will also take a dog back “if something doesn’t work out.”

“Sometimes, somebody takes home a puppy and they don’t realize the demands of it. The amount of time for training, the amount of time for potty training,” Mattson said. “We’ll always take them back, but we’d hope, of course, that that won’t happen.”

Lucky Puppy also offers fostering opportunities, allowing a dog to live in a home until they are adopted. Mattson said it helps prepare the dogs, as well as provides them with a comfortable environment.

“They’ll take them home and let them live with them until they get adopted. It’s excellent, because they get some extra one-on-one attention,” said Mattson. “They can spoil them a little bit, they can also train them a little bit. They can expose them to riding in the car, expose them to what it’s like living in a house. It’s kind of like a prep school for adoption.”

Mattson said the typical foster stay lasts a week to two weeks, saying it is “a way to have a little fun but not have the commitment.”

The organization is also doing what it can to establish a strong footing in Upstate New York, appearing at numerous outdoor events and offering volunteer days.

“I’ve been trying to capitalize on the fall weather, where it’s so beautiful and people are out walking around and going to the different outdoor events,” Mattson said. “So I’ve been capitalizing on that, so there have been times when I drive back to Florida and spend the night, and then I load up the bus again and drive back.”

“I’ve had people come here and say, ‘We’ve been looking for a puppy to adopt for over a year.’ And here, I have 100 of them down in Florida, waiting to get their turn up here,” Mattson continued. “And they’re healthy, and they’re vaccinated and ready to go to a home. … When you deal with us, we have them off on the right foot to be able to go into your home and be a lifelong pet.”

Lucky Puppy charges adoption fees, but a majority of income is via monetary donations, Mattson said. 

“We do charge an adoption fee for the dogs, which helps to kind of go back and cover the vet work that we’ve done, the vaccines, the spay surgeries, things like that,” said Mattson.

Donations help cover the costs of utilities, insurance, vehicles, fuel, and more, said Mattson. She said the organization, like many others of its kind, is in need of funding.

“We have to feed them, house them. We vaccinate everybody, we do flea and tick prevention every month for every dog, which is thousands of dollars,” Mattson said. “Especially when funding isn’t coming in to support that.”

Mattson said the situation with strays and owner surrenders is “overwhelming,” mentioning a crate with four dogs that was left at her home’s carport, and that the organization recently rescued roughly 40 dogs from a house in Florida.

“We operate on such a spectrum. I need money down there to take care of those dogs that we just rescued, and then I need money up here to support our adoption center to be able to get them into homes,” Mattson said. “In order to keep us open and operating, we need monetary support.”

Mattson said Lucky Puppy accepts Venmo and PayPal donations, and mentioned the organization also welcomes volunteer work. Mattson herself is a volunteer, she said, holding an unpaid director position.

She emphasized the work that has gone into Lucky Puppy, saying “we put a lot of effort into it.”

“I also think we could win people over if they come here and see what we do,” said Mattson. “I know this sounds egotistical, but we do a good job. … I live at the farm where the rescue is, my partner and I live there. I’m pretty much 24/7. When babies are being born, I sleep at the kennel and deliver puppies. When puppies are sick, I take them home and care for them there. When I come up here to New York, I stay in the house.

“So I live it, and I know how much we put into it.”