Prisons, punishment and puppies

Prisons, punishment and puppies The cute puppies you see on this webpage have a big destiny in the world. "As a trust, we'll continue to support them on the outside," says Jody. Lots of people other than prisoners are working to raise and train mobility assistance dogs. The Corrections Department tells me that the prisoners who raise puppies are those with not too much time left on their sentence and who are in transition back to life on the exterior. When the puppy is 12 to 14 months old and its early training is over, it will leave to carry out its training at kennels run by the Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust. Finally, they'll learn another life skill: saying goodbye. At weekends, the dogs leave their prison guardians behind for socialisation in the ways of the "real" world - malls, escalators, traffic lights, crowds. But the connection between prisoner and dog doesn't necessarily have to end: Jody encourages the trust's clients to write to the prisoners about how "their" dog is getting on. The trust's general manager, Jody Hogan, told me that six months is a typical time for advanced training. The scheme runs at two Auckland prisons, and may expand. The plan is that in shaping a dog's behaviour, the prisoners think about their own behaviour; they will be helping someone on the outside, and be connected to the achievement of something important. The dogs that come out of the prison scheme actually show a higher skill level than those raised in private homes, but Jody points out that prisoners ,"not to put too fine a point on it, have a good deal of spare time". The dogs are mostly large breeds such as Golden Retrievers and Labradors, because their job is going to require strength. If you still think that's all soft-headed nonsense, then look at Puppies in Prisons as restitution - people contributing something good to a society that they've hurt in some way. Check out the trust - there might be a role for you. Prisons, punishment and puppies Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 26/04/2012