Dogs, inmates learn lifelong lessons

In the classroom
Every Friday morning and afternoon for two hours, the inmates in the program and their puppies go for training and show what they have accomplished. It’s a serious atmosphere and everyone pays attention.

At one session in March, the inmates enter a special indoor training room, sit down with their canine companions and turn in their written homework.

Afterwards, Rothe invites one or two of the inmates to the center of the room to demonstrate one or two of the 80 commands they have to teach their dogs.

Nichols and Rezzie are up first. Nichols places three objects on the floor, one being an empty plastic water bottle. The purpose is to teach Rezzie to distinguish it from the other objects, and pick it up gently, without making the bottle crunch. Rezzie does well and gets a few treats and hugs from Nichols. The others applaud.

Nichols listens carefully to Rothe as he teaches him other commands and tasks. Rezzie is instructed to go into a kennel by himself. He does. Nichols gives him a couple of more treats and hugs.

Next up is Charles Jones and Peek who do an exercise resembling a tug-of-war game. In reality, Jones is pretending to be disabled, unable to get up without assistance. Peek is being trained to ease him up carefully. Rothe reiterates throughout the class the importance of setting-up the dog for success and uses real-life scenarios as part of the teaching process.

“Critics of the program don’t have a clue how much time it takes to train a puppy into a service dog,” Carmichael said. “The inmates have the time.”

Letting go
People from the community take the dogs on weekends, to gain real life experience and socialization. Carmichael said the dogs need to become acclimated to noises such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners, sounds the dogs don’t normally hear at Fishkill CF. And the dogs are taken on shopping trips and walks outside a prison environment.

The puppies were once donated from various sources, and in 2005, Puppies Behind Bars started breeding its own puppies through “The Puppy Project.”

Nichols said Rezzie is his second dog.

“The learning experience goes beyond the daily care and training,” Nichols said. “I think about when Rezzie was 10 weeks old and the time it took to housebreak him.” Nichols smiles and pats Rezzie on the head. “There were no accidents with him. He was so good.

“The program also teaches us a bigger lesson,” Nichols said. “We become aware of what it’s like to live with a disability.

“The hardest part is when it’s time for your dog to go out into the world and do what you’ve trained him to do. You have a sense of pride. It’s sad too,” Nichols pauses. “It’s a bittersweet moment. You realize letting go of something you love is also a part of life.

Story and Photos by DEBORAH A. MILES
Andrew Nichols rolls out of bed at 6 a.m., puts on his green uniform and looks into the big brown eyes of his dog, Rezzie. It’s time to go outside. A guard opens the cell where they live, and off they go to start another day at the Fishkill Correctional Facility.

They do almost everything together. Rezzie goes along as Nichols does masonry work throughout the prison. He accompanies him to class, where Nichols is studying for his GED (General Educational Development) test. Between work and school, Nichols and Rezzie practice their own special homework — training Rezzie to be a service dog for the disabled.

The program is called Puppies Behind Bars. Nichols and Rezzie are just one example among hundreds of how inmates are given an opportunity to be responsible for a life and make a difference in their worlds and the worlds of others.

Carl Rothe, a Puppies Behind Bars trainer, said inmates learn to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled, guide dogs for the blind and explosive-detection canines for law enforcement.

The program is the brainchild of Gloria Gilbert Stoga, who founded it in 1997 when inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility were the first in New York to give it a try. Today, five prisons in New York have implemented the program, plus one in New Jersey and another in Connecticut.

Everyone wins
William Carmichael, a supervising corrections counselor at Fishkill CF and PEF Division 310 member, said everyone wins with this program.

“The inmates learn responsibility. They have to make a commitment to train these dogs,” Carmichael said. “People in the community also win.”

Among the 1,600 inmates at Fishkill, about 20 of them are in the program. Their crimes range from robbery to murder.
“They have to meet certain requirements. They are interviewed, screened and have no disciplinary problems.

The puppies stay with the inmates from eight-weeks-old up to 18-months, so the inmate must have at least two years left on his sentence,” Carmichael said.

Jennifer Fluck, another PEF member and a Fishkill CF correctional counselor trainee, said the program gives inmates something to care about.

“They are entrusted with a dog’s life, and work individually and as a team,” she said. “They learn tangible skills and learn about issues facing disabled people and the blind.”