Luna Lobos is a dog sanctuary in Utah where second chances reign supreme.

It's a place where children learn valuable lessons alongside rescue dogs as they forge their paths in life.

(gentle music) - So it started out when I was a little boy.

I had just seen the movie "Balto".

Now, my little brothers, and they had this little plastic toy table, so I turned it upside down and attached skis to it, and I had my yellow lab pull me around my parents' property.

They thought it was funny, and ironically, they were out in a garage sale around Park City and they saw an old dog sled.

Now, the only requirement that my mom had was that she says, you know, "We'll go along with this journey, but we have to rescue the dogs from shelters.

We're gonna build your team from scratch."

With sled dogs, it was always the idea of like, I wanna be a champion.

If I can be an Iditarod champion, gosh, that'd be amazing.

And so I had always grew with the mentality that if I'm a champion, then I'm worth something.

(gentle music continues) Rancho Luna Lobos is a 55 acre ranch specializing in northern breeds.

So, we are a rescue rehabilitation center, and we use dog sledding as a form of therapy for these guys.

(dogs barking) Uba.

Dana and I are typically up around 6:30, getting the day started.

(dogs barking) Good morning!

Mr. Peroda.

When you're working with a kennel of 80 plus dogs, you have to take in consideration that, you know, you're thinking not of yourself, but of other living beings.

So, you know, Dana and I, we have our family of our kids, and not only do we have to be parents to them, but I feel like we have to, in a sense, be parents to the dogs.

- No, come on.

It's provided such a unique teaching opportunity for our kids to really learn how to have a servant's heart and a servant's mind, and that's something that we're so passionate about.

You really have to feel what the dogs are saying and work in a way where you are showing them love and patience with your actions.

And that is an easier concept for kids to understand when they're working with the dogs.

- Just use the shovel and then attack the runway, okay?

I got most of it, but start from the top gate and just work your way down and just...

Okay, baby?

It's funny, most kids have their chores to do while they clean their rooms, and these guys have to do dog chores if they wanna race in season, so.

This is the majority of our group here, and they're a mixture of race dogs or really high strung touring dogs.

And so they get along well, they're on the same vibe, the same frequency, they play hard together.

And then I have the evening crew that are more mellow, a little more reserved, that are normally too shy to run around with these guys.

And so they come out during evening play time.

And then I have those that I'm still working with that maybe have a little bit of a, we call a trigger or red flag.

They may flip on a dime and they may cause, like, an altercation.

We'll take a group of five or six of 'em and do a free hike.

They kind of get their stimulation, we can still work with them, and then slowly ease 'em into one of the playgroups.

Hey Sarah, can you let out Frida please?

(Frida barking) When Frida's mom called us asking if we had any room for her, Frida was found wandering a parking lot.

They picked her up, they took her home to their apartment, but they knew that they couldn't keep her, so when they dropped her off at the ranch, they didn't really know her history too well, but they knew that she didn't get along very well with other dogs.

So, that right there was our initial like, okay, that's our project, that's our work.

- We always say that we are not dog whisperers.

We aren't going around saying, "I want you to sit, stay, shake.

I want you to do this and that."

Instead, we believe in being dog listeners, because our dogs have a voice, they have a purpose, and it's our responsibility to really listen and learn what it is that they wanna teach us through their journeys.

Are they gonna love being a sled dog or would they love being a ranch dog, which is great too?

Or would they thrive in a family?

Awesome, we'll help 'em find the right family.

We just want them to find their perfect life, their best life.

So welcome to the ranch.

This here is our doggy pueblo area, so this is a multi-use spot.

My name is Dana.

My husband Fernando is running summer camp, we'll run into him at some point today.

So our summer camp is designed to really help kids to unplug from technology and get back to basics, get involved in nature, get outside of themselves for a minute, and we use our dogs, their stories, to really develop that with these kids.

- My favorite story to tell is the story of Maya.

She didn't look anything like a sled dog, you know fluffy Siberian Husky or Alaskan Malamute, but it was what was in her heart that mattered most.

I always turn it around on the kids, and like, how many of us have overlooked other kids because of their outward appearance and not giving them a chance?

She didn't look like she was a champion.

She was the only one, the only dog in our kennel that was a champion.

I want you to think of that.

The smallest but mightiest dog that didn't look anything like a Husky was the only dog that was a champion.

(children chattering) - I learned that it's hard to do stuff together.

Like, some people are pushing it a little left or right.

It's really important for teamwork because if you don't, you can, like, fall or you can be unbalanced.

But it's just fun to see how it works.

I love dogs.

I actually have two of my own.

They're quite hard to take care of.

I can't even believe how they rescue all of these because there's 85 dogs.

They probably have to train them again, and like, they might be scared of people.

There's a lot of dogs that are very, very shy.

(children chattering) - Let's go, Frida.

(gentle music) - We get the dogs that no one else wants.

They've bitten people, they've attacked other dogs, and so no one wants anything to do with 'em.

And it's tough.

And it's also tough when we get dogs that have come from such a loving home and they don't have that family anymore.

- Dog sledding provides such a powerful outlet for dogs.

And a lot of people say, "Well, you're never gonna be competitive if you don't start having these proven bloodlines."

But I've seen our rescues be just as competitive and just as passionate and they have more heart than any other dog out there.

- Does dog sledding need to exist now?

No, it doesn't.

But I do think in a spiritual aspect and a more therapeutic aspect, I think it's still much needed, you know, for both people and dogs.

When you have it all together and it was working well, it's a work of art.

It's funny how it went from wanting to really have a fast team and to win races and wow, that's great, and what gets me now is that my dream lies within the ranch and changing lives.

Inspiring kids and adults that come and they wanna learn about the dogs, and spreading hope.

That's my dream.

Dana and I took it upon ourselves to really build the foundations of what would become Luna Lobos, and with our children being so young, it was tough at first, but they were always so a part of the dog world and a part of everything.

And I would love for one day if one of the children would wanna take over this, and not necessarily the touring aspect, but take over the sanctuary and take over the ranch, the therapy that we work so hard in.

We feel like it's our job to save as many lives as we can.

We can't take 'em all, we can't save 'em all, but the ones that we do take in, I know that will make a difference in their life.

And if it makes a difference in that one dog's life, you know, that's all we can ask for, giving them a safe sanctuary to thrive in.

Wow, so many vibrant colors and characters who warm my hearts simply by sharing their story.

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Until next time, I'm Liz Adeola and this is Utah.