Pound Pup Legacy

Founded in January 2002 by Woods, Second Chance is one of more than 100 programs modeled after the Prison Pet Partnership Program (PPPP), the first program in which inmates trained shelter dogs to be service (or assistance) animals for people with disabilities. Located at the Washington State Correctional Center for Women (WSCCW) in Gig Harbor, PPPP was formed in 1981 with the help of Sister Pauline Quinn, a Dominican nun who wanted to help inmates give back to the community.

PPPP’s mission is threefold: to rehabilitate offenders by offering vocational skills, to rescue unwanted shelter dogs and to train these dogs to help people with disabilities, said Susie McGehee, a PPPP training coordinator.

After discussions with Quinn and people at other prison pet programs, Woods started meeting with a small group of volunteers to discuss organizing Arizona’s first prison dog program at the Florence Correctional Center (FCC). (Woods has multiple sclerosis and relies on her self-trained service dog, Satchmo, when her MS flares up or she becomes fatigued.) Many meetings with prison staff members encouraged Warden Frank Luna to open the medium-security institution’s doors to Second Chance

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Founded in January 2002 by Woods, Second Chance is one of more than 100 programs modeled after the Prison Pet Partnership Program (PPPP), the first program in which inmates trained shelter dogs to be service (or assistance) animals for people with disabilities. Located at the Washington State Correctional Center for Women (WSCCW) in Gig Harbor, PPPP was formed in 1981 with the help of Sister Pauline Quinn, a Dominican nun who wanted to help inmates give back to the community.

PPPP’s mission is threefold: to rehabilitate offenders by offering vocational skills, to rescue unwanted shelter dogs and to train these dogs to help people with disabilities, said Susie McGehee, a PPPP training coordinator.

After discussions with Quinn and people at other prison pet programs, Woods started meeting with a small group of volunteers to discuss organizing Arizona’s first prison dog program at the Florence Correctional Center (FCC). (Woods has multiple sclerosis and relies on her self-trained service dog, Satchmo, when her MS flares up or she becomes fatigued.) Many meetings with prison staff members encouraged Warden Frank Luna to open the medium-security institution’s doors to Second Chance

Second Chance is run by a core group of 20 volunteers, including transporters, foster parents, puppy socializers, and even the veterinarian and trainer.

Second Chance’s first group of dogs stayed with their foster parents for one to three weeks. Now the dogs stay with families for a longer time because it can take at least three weeks before the dogs’ true personalities show through. While in their foster homes, the dogs are taken to the veterinarian where they’re examined, immunized, and spayed or neutered.

All prison pet programs select inmates according to strict guidelines. Offenders can’t have a history of child or animal abuse.

"They understand from the beginning that this is not a right to participate, but that their behavior has earned them the privilege to participate in this type of program," Woods said. "They know that if they do not comply with the rules and regulations they can be suspended, and they have been."

Most guidelines have to do with the safety of the dogs and the program’s volunteers. Of FCC’s 1,600 inmates, only 12 were chosen to participate in Second Chance’s first session in 2003.

These men care for and train dogs to retrieve dropped items, open and close doors, turn lights on and off, pull wheelchairs, provide stability or balance, and remove articles of clothing. Second Chance Trainer Jay Smith, who owns Community Dog Training in the Tucson area, volunteers his time to teach inmates to train the dogs using a positive reinforcement technique called clicker training.

Service dogs in training remain in the prison setting for anywhere from nine months to two years, depending on their level of improvement.

Sometimes after less than a month it’s obvious which dogs aren’t going to make it as service dogs because they’re too hyper or aggressive with other dogs. These "paroled pets" are adopted out as pets.