Prison Dogs

Project Pooch www.pooch.org – just south of Portland doing some amazing work with incarcerated teens. At risk shelter does are brought in for on-site training by the at risk kids. Both canines and young adults are learners and trainers in their own way. Dogs are adopted out, mostly with their Canine Good Citizenship http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_Good_Citizen and the teens learn a lot about themselves through their dog’s eyes.

The program I was involved with for two great summers is Project Click http://www.clickertraining.com/node/310 . “Project Click! is a highly structured program matching at-risk teens from the Clark County Juvenile Court System with difficult to place animals from our shelter. Project Click! students learn the clicker training method to rehabilitate behavior challenged dogs and learn first hand the value of reinforcing positive behavior. The interaction with our animals helps these troubled teens gain a sense of responsibility, self-confidence, and patience. In addition, students learn problem solving skills and a greater understanding of the animal sheltering world. Many students express an interest in the field and all come to value the importance of community service.” That is what I wrote for the website anyhow but it is so much more than that! The bonding experience, the way that we all learn to trust, the power of positive interactions will make those times shine for me forever!

PenPals down at Marin Humane where I used to work brings shelter dogs to San Quentin: http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/programsservices/PenPals/PenPals.html.

And there are a number of programs that are doing basic service dog training within prison walls such as: http://www.puregolden.com/service-prison.htm http://www.champdogs.org/prison-program. There are many more simliar programs out there, making a huge difference to a lot of people and dogs.

It is a ripple effect as well. These programs make real changes for the better in ways that just shutting someone, pet or person, in a cell never will.