It All Started With A Rescue Dog 🐶 And A Tablecloth

Kris Kiser adopts Lucky the rescue dog and is inspired to create the TurfMutt Foundation.

The TurfMutt Foundation is launched as a science-based youth curriculum program for kids in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. via Weekly Reader Custom Publishing.

TurfMutt inspires 42,000+ teachers and 800,000 elementary students to “save the planet one yard at a time.”

Discovery Education helps expand TurfMutt’s youth curriculum program by rolling out lesson plans, multimedia content and at-home activities for teachers, students and families nationwide.

Cloverleaf Elementary School in Statesville, NC, wins TurfMutt’s “Landscapes Across America” contest, TurfMutt’s first annual contest to help schools add green space and outdoor classrooms.

TurfMutt hosts a national sweepstakes and awards a grant to Palomar Elementary School in Chula Vista, CA, adding trees and other green space to their school yard.

TurfMutt wins praise from renowned Sierra Club and prominent parenting blogs. The program’s national sweepstakes awards a grant to Morgan Elementary in Paducah, KY, to help them spruce up their outdoor space.

TurfMutt’s paw-tnerships expand to include the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Center of Green Schools.

Lucky the TurfMutt is cartoonized and joined by his sidekicks the “Outdoor Powers” to engage kids in being backyard superheroes that care for and spend time in their outdoor space.

TurfMutt makes its first appearance on the Lucky Dog TV show, offering landscape makeovers and tips to pet owners.

TurfMutt makes its first appearance on the Lucky Dog TV show, offering landscape makeovers and tips to pet owners.

Drought hits California and other areas, causing some to rip out their lawns and established landscaping. TurfMutt is ready with messages about the importance of living landscapes for homeowners, through its youth education program, and on Emmy award-winning Lucky Dog.

TurfMutt awards grants to Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh and Samuel Beck Elementary School in Trophy Club, TX to help them green their school yards.

TurfMutt hosts an annual essay contest to award green school yard grants to two schools – Playa Vista Elementary in California and Belmont Station Elementary School in Loudon, VA.

TurfMutt’s annual essay contest awards Guardian Angels Catholic School in Clearwater, FL, a grant to install an outdoor classroom.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) selects the TurfMutt curriculum as an education partner for its inaugural Global Learning Lab, a resource for environmental education materials for teachers.

Parade magazine features the TurfMutt program in its Earth Day issue. TurfMutt is also featured in the Wildlife Habitat Council annual calendar.

TurfMutt is featured in a National Geographic book, Love Unleashed: Tales of Inspiration and the Life-Changing Power of Dogs.

TurfMutt paws it forward for rescue dogs by hosting the first pet adoption event, Lucky’s Mutt Madness, which matches a dozen rescue dogs with their fur-ever homes.

TurfMutt sponsors a new TV show Ready, Set, Pet. Each of the 13 episodes features pet friendly landscape tips.

TurfMutt wins a coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series for the Turfmutt animated series on the Lucky Dog TV show.

The TurfMutt program adds new curriculum for grades 6-8, as well as a graphic novel in Scholastic’s Science World magazine that showcases Lucky the TurfMutt. The popular “Be a Backyard Superhero” contest grants prizes to students and teachers that enable them to create school and community green space.

Sadly, Lucky crosses the rainbow bridge in Fall 2019 after spending a decade teaching us that we can “save the planet one yard at a time.”

Mulligan gets adopted at TurfMutt’s annual pet adoption event, Mutt Madness. She steps in to fill Lucky’s pawprints as Mulligan the TurfMutt.

During the pandemic shutdown, TurfMutt is featured on Good Morning America and countless other media outlets with a reminder that the backyard is “not canceled” and is available for stress relief, socially-distanced gatherings and outdoor classroom activities for those scrambling to keep education going.

TurfMutt awards cash prizes to several students and teachers who submitted essay and art recommending better ways to connect with the outdoors.

TurfMutt showcases the new “backyarding” trend which involves taking activities typically done indoors, outside. By now, more than 70 million kids, families, and teachers have used the TurfMutt youth education curriculum.

The backyarding concept is so successful, the TurfMutt Foundation introduces backyarding personality types, where homeowners can refine their outdoor lives.

Mulligan’s 5K Fun Run & Walk brings out Equip Exposition attendees to raise funds for the Kentucky Humane Society (KHS).

The TurfMutt Foundation sponsors a makeover of the Kentucky Humane Society’s play yard, giving rescue dogs a safe place to play and meet potential adopters.

A new dog park called Mulligan’s Bark Park opens in downtown Louisville that has happy dog tails wagging.