I saw it a while back.I think its a great idea.The dogs are ones that need retraining and are so given another chance and the inmates get 'therapy' through it too.

I´ve only seen part of the program, but think its great.

The inmates are doing the job of teaching a dog the common manners and then they will get a new permanent home (the dogs!)

There is a possibilty that the dogs will get "attached" ( :smt017 )
to an inmate, but the progress is the same as in shelters for dogs.

Here inmates are making some use of the stay with I´m a big favour of, and besides that they are making a good deed to the dogs.

i have seen it a few times and it seems a fantastic idea. the dogs live in kennels on the prison site and are assigned an inmate as a handler and are trained up as dogs for the disabled etc. seems to benefit the inmates the dogs may have ended up being pts and also the people who get a well trained companian for life

Of course the dogs are supervised! I believe the only time they are allowed alone with their inmate companions is during the night. This particular prison allowed the dogs to sleep in crates with the inmates in their cells. During the show, there were 6 dogs paired with 12 men, so two men shared the care and training of one dog.

These dogs were only staying at the prison for about a year, as after a year of service dog training they are off to be further trained and then rehomed with a disabled person. =) Most of the men there were murderers, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees. They had a terrible past, but it didn't matter, the dogs loved them!

At the end of the show, the prison manager said he was so impressed by the program that he wanted to pick out another 20 dogs to work with.

I have watched it and thought it was a fabulous idea, I mean how many "problem" dogs could be saved and rehomed if a scheme were in place like this over here? After all these people have something that a lot of dog homes dont and that is time, they have all the time in the world so why not use it to do something worthwhile and train a dog in the process? Also it benefits the prisoners and not just the dogs.

Also it should be noted that prisoners were screened, I know that sounds daft because they are all in prison but certain offenders would not be allowed to take on a dog because of the risks they pose. Long may it continue.

Laura