Puppies Behind Bars

I was practically speechless as I watched Oprah last Friday. She profiled a program called Puppies Behind Bars that is beyond amazing. The program takes dogs at 8 weeks and matches them with an inmate who then trains these dogs for sixteen months. The inmates spend valuable time socializing each dog as well as training them to do various tasks. Several weekends a month, the dogs go home to foster families to get used to living and interacting in a home environment. At the end of the sixteen months, the dogs go through testing. If they pass they are sent on to some final formal training. If they don’t pass the test, they are donated to families who have a blind child. The dogs that continue to the formal training are then given to veterans who need a service dog. Either way they become very important to people in need.

I think this program is brilliant for several reasons. First of all, the inmates form such a bond with these dogs. The dogs teach unconditional love and responsibility to their inmate-caretaker. Plus, the inmates can get such a feeling of accomplishment, while giving back to the society they once took from. Secondly, these dogs move on to help people who have bravely served our country. Be sure to watch the video above for more information. A dog’s love can cure us all!

Go to www.fetchdog.com for more information. For every Chewy Shoe toy they sell, $2 goes towards this amazing Puppies Behind Bars programs.

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