PAWSitive Support helping inmates through dog therapy

Prison-based animal programs are becoming more popular in North America, providing benefits for both the animals and the inmates.

At the Saskatchewan SPCA 2019 Human-Animal Bond Conference Tuesday, the founders of PAWSitive Support spoke about their work at the Drumheller Institution, where they bring in dogs to work with the inmates.

Dr. Colleen Dell said they offer the four-day program to up to 10 inmates, who go through learning about basic obedience working with the dogs and connecting that knowledge and skill to their correctional plan.

Dr. Darlene Chalmers said it’s really all about inmate wellness.

“Most of the programs that exist right now are often about the animals, so they’re training dogs to be service dogs, or they’re doing doggy daycare,” Chalmers said.

“But what’s really important and unique about what we’re doing is, it’s really about inmate wellness first and working with the dog. Of course the dog offers a really important component of that, but what it’s really about is inmate wellness.”

Dell said they are seeing an increase in the number of inmates who want to take part in the program.

“There is motivation, and a commitment to change for some of the participants whatever that might be,” she said. “It might be reconnecting with family, it might be finishing school, it might be connecting with other services and supports.”

One of the benefits of the program, said Chalmers, is the “feedback” the participants get from the dogs.

“If you’re in a grumpy mood and that animal doesn’t want to work with you, you need to self-evaluate,” she said. “You need to shake that off because she’s not going to walk for me until I’m in a place of leadership and calmness.

“So there’s not a lot of programs like that anywhere. Having that immediate feedback coming from the dog, who you know is not judging you, is very different than someone saying, ‘You’re grumpy today.’ Instead the dog will look at you and go, ‘No, I’m not walking with you.’ ”

For both women, the most gratifying part of the program is seeing people succeed.

“From one former participant who has since been released and his follow up, that evidence for him is that he’s not using (substances) anymore,” Dell said. “He attributes that in part, quite a bit, to being part of the PAWSitive Support program, and that’s huge.”