By Danny Bay
Through the Colorado vocational Prison-Trained K-9 Companion Program, offenders at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex are helping rescue and train dogs for purposes such as family-pet adoption and government services.
“We’ve had almost 2,000 dogs rescued. And we’ve had 3,000 come in for boarding,” said Debi Stevens, creator and supervisor of the Colorado Correctional Industries K-9 Companion program.
Using a curriculum implemented by Stevens, model offenders at the BV Complex work individually with dogs from humane shelters and poor living conditions. They also work with privately owned dogs in need of obedience training. The dogs remain with their trainers constantly and stay in the offender’s cells to simulate life in a home.
“It’s a bit easier in prison because they live such a regimented life and that is something that dogs like: consistency,” said Stevens, regarding her dog training experiences in and outside of prison facilities.
Though it varies depending on the program, the length of training usually lasts four weeks but can extend while the dog awaits adoption. And during this training, the dog continues to learn a variety of beneficial commands.
But according to Stevens, the program benefits more than the dogs.
“I’ve had inmates come tell me it has taught them new parenting skills and how to be responsible,” Stevens said, “It’s really kind of interesting the things that they learn that aren’t actually involved in the program itself.”
Self-funded and unsupported by tax dollars, the program allows offenders to pursue college credits for canine behavior modification through a series of beginner and masters training certificate courses that total 39 credit hours.
“New guys all get a book written by Ms. Stevens. So we’re all on the same page with commands,” said Mike DelaRosa, K-9 Companion Program Instructor, who teaches courses at the BV Complex and two other facilities.
DelaRosa said that the program has helped many offenders find work at pet stores, Freedom Service Dogs, doggy day cares, and with veterinarians and groomers.
Robert Martin, an offender in the program who is scheduled to be released this month, said that he plans to return to Kansas where he will open his own board-in basic obedience kennel.
“If I hadn’t gotten into the program, I’d be back. But I won’t. It’s given me purpose that I didn’t have before,” Martin said as he kneeled down to pet his current dog in training. “Your tail never stops wagging, does it, Zach,” he said.
For other offenders, the program has proven to be more of a cathartic experience.
“The joy out of it is you see a scared dog come out of their shell. You see them running around and playing. And I feel like I actually helped this dog, not just that I trained him,” said Anthony Carrillo, another offender in the program. “It helps me too. It kind of helps me escape.”
Carrillo said that throughout his year of being in the program he has trained 15 dogs and has come to adjust to the challenges that each dog presents.
Beginning with treat, or ball, motivation and eventually without, he said that he is able to verbally, and non-verbally, teach each dog basic manners like sit, sit-stay, talk, and then move to more advanced tricks like how to pray.
“It’s about repetition. And slowly but surely they’ll get it,” he said.
Carrillo said that he has gotten several thank-you letters from people who have adopted the dogs that he trained and that it’s especially rewarding if the dogs go to the military or become rescue dogs.
“It’s always good to see how excited these guys are when their dog gets adopted. It makes you feel like you’re doing something,” he said.
After observing the interaction between the trainers and their dogs at the minimum security center, R. David McCrary, Correctional Officer at the BV Complex, said he decided to adopt a dog through the program.
“I got to know Raven and I thought that she would fit in with my family and be a part of it quickly,” McCrary said.
According to McCrary, upon adoption, new owners go through a brief orientation class where they are given veterinarian records and a log of remarks and quirks about the dog that was written by its trainer(s). They are also shown how to employ the commands that the dog has learned.
“I use the verbage and vocabulary day to day so she maintains what she’s learned,” McCrary said about Raven, “I say them to her all the time. And she’s strictly business if she knows she’s working. I personally think that those trainers do a hell of a job.”
• The program has grown to be used in 9 Colorado correctional facilities.
• It costs $450 to adopt a dog, which includes training, vet work, vaccines, heart-worm testing and spay or neutering. “On the outside you really could not begin to do what we do for the price of it,” Stevens said.
• 60 percent of the dogs are in boarding-in training, 40 percent are rescued dogs in basic training
• Every dog is 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed and, if needed, will be worked with for the duration of it’s life.
• For more info visit: http://www.cijvp.com/serviceproviders/puppy/index.html?faq
(Originally published in The Chaffee County Times)
