Healing and Hope for Dogs and Their Trainers
Friday, February 11, 2011

HSHV's new program off to a successful start

We've partnered with the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility (HVCF) on a training program for dogs in need of more in-depth behavioral training. Each session, ten of our adoptable dogs are paired with inmates at HVCF and live them for 10 weeks for training and socialization. The program is part of MI-Paws, which stands for Michigan Inmates Providing Assistance, Work & Service. The MI-Paws program was developed to help repay a portion of debt back to local communities for some of the damage offenders have caused.

It is the intent that each dog graduating from the program will be capable of passing the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizenship test and earn their CGC certificate. The dogs will know basic commands such as sit, down, come, leave it and off. They will also be house-trained, be able to walk nicely on a leash and will most likely know a few pet tricks as well.

"The training will help these dogs find loving homes, but we also believe this program helps the human rehabilitation as well," said Tanya Hilgendorf, HSHV Executive Director. "The prison program is a part of giving a second chance to homeless dogs, something that I am sure the inmates can relate to... This benefits the dogs, the inmates and the community!"

Indeed, speaking at the graduation ceremony for the first class, one of the inmate trainers said, "In an environment where it is both illegal and detrimental to display any act of kindness; you have provided an outlet for us to reconnect with the human aspect of ourselves... I don't believe anyone anticipated the depth of healing... in allowing us to care for these animals. Who would have thought bringing broken animals to broken women to be 'fixed' so to speak, would become an opportunity for us to heal?"

Feedback from the adopters of the first class of dogs has been overwhelmingly positive. Some have even sent letters to the inmates thanking them for the training their dog received.

Learn more about the dogs currently enrolled in the program as well as recent graduates.