puppies inside

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Dog spelled backwards

January 9, 2014

He said that we are role models, both for him and for the other inmate raisers. He said that Tammy and I are role models because we volunteer - for Leader Dogs for the Blind and the prison puppy-raising program. Another inmate raiser sitting nearby nodded his head and said, "Don't underestimate that."

I can't quite wrap my mind around the notion.

I help because I can. I help because it is fun - for a lot of reasons. I love going to the UP, I enjoy Tammy's company and friendship (and Deb's too, when she joins us), I keep learning about dog behavior and training. And, of course, I adore puppies!

But, a role model? It never entered my mind, beyond trying to be as accurate as possible in my training suggestions. (Remember "leg?" The inmate raisers pay attention to everything we say.)

On our drive across the UP from Chippewa to Baraga to deliver the facility's first two puppies, we stop at the Hilltop Family Restaurant in L'anse. For once, we are a little early. Over the world's largest cinnamon roll (yes, more than one pound, no, we couldn't finish it!), I share my inmate story with Deb and Tammy. I say I am not sure if or how my involvement with this program has changed my life.

"It's changed my life," Deb says. She says that she had never been in a prison before working this Leader Dog program. She says she has witnessed the inmates' demeanor open up overnight, after bringing puppies to them in the afternoon and visiting again the next morning. She says she has never visited the UP until these trips. And she says she enjoys our developing friendship.

"It has changed your life too," Deb says to me. "Even if you don't realize it."

Until my chat with the inmate raiser I had not thought very hard about the idea that my life might be changing. Like Deb, I had never seen the inside of a prison before visiting the Chippewa Correctional Facility last July. Until now, my only contact with convicted criminals has been with those in our local "Sheriff's Work Crew;" men and women clad in neon yellow vests and electronic tethers as they assist various groups in our community.

I find myself trying not to think about what the men might have done that landed them in prison. Thinking about it only leads me to wonder how the victims feel about the inmates participating in the puppy-raising program. But these men are serving time that our society has decreed to be just; do these same men not deserve a chance to turn themselves around?

I prefer to concentrate on the positive. I want to believe in justice, forgiveness and redemption. I do believe in the power of puppies to make the world a better place.

After all, dog spelled backwards is "god."

A black and white close photograph of a small black Lab's head. He is looking to the left. He is being held in the arms of an inmate. The forearm holding the puppy has a tattoo on it that says "HOPE." A leash is draped over the forearm.

FLD Bear, bringing hope.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Changing lives

Puppies do that.

Ask anyone involved with the Leader Dogs for the Blind prison puppy-raising program. Prison officials, Leader Dogs for the Blind staff, volunteers, inmate raisers and their families all feel that the program is life changing.

Can one assume that raising and training a puppy teaches patience? That loving and caring for a puppy teaches empathy? That returning a puppy to Leader Dogs after spending 24/7 with it for a year teaches a little something about loss and sacrifice?

These things may all be true; in fact, one inmate raiser told me that raising a puppy for Leader Dogs is teaching him patience. But not just the patience that an outside raiser might also learn, things like realizing that puppies really don't pee on the floor in front of you just to spite you, or that it's hard sometimes to wait for the "reward-able" moment when your puppy is busy behaving on instinct.

No, this inmate raiser said that the patience he is learning has more to do with his reaction to other inmates, the ones who aren't supportive of the program. He didn't go into specifics, but the inference was that these other inmates copped an attitude that raised his ire. He said that in the past he might have gotten into a fight over it.

"But now when I get angry, I just look at him," he said, placing a hand gently on his puppy's back. He said that the puppy helps him realize what is really important, what the ultimate goal of raising the pup will do for a stranger.

Much like his puppy, he's learning self-control and redirection.


FLD Axel looks up at his handler. Deb once told the potential inmate raisers that she believed one reason why prison raised puppies are more successful is because the inmates raisers need the puppies as much as the puppies need them.

How has the Leader Dogs for the Blind prison puppy-raising program changed your life? Please feel free to leave a comment!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Chippewa training - in photos

January 8, 2014

The Chippewa raisers weren't lined up waiting in the snow outside of Pike Unit when we finally arrived. Can't blame them, the wind was wicked cold. Rob was quick to bring some helpers to carry in the 50 pound bags of Purina Pro Plan Deb brought up from Leader Dogs for the Blind.

We handed off the new pups that were destined eventually for Baraga, FLDs Bear and Axel. Even FLD Jedi, the German Shepherd that Deb is raising now, went to an inmate handler. The inmates weren't excited at all. *cough

A bald young man is holding a small black lab in his tattooed arms. The puppy is facing to the left and is wearing a blue bandana.

FLD Bear.

A small yellow lab puppy is held by a young man with short dark hair. He is wearing the blue with orange stripe uniform of the prison, wth a white long stleeved shirt underneath. He has a huge smill on his face!

FLD Axel.

A small german shepheard puppy is lying on a light colored tile floor. He is wearing a blue bandana with a white and red patch that says Future Leader Dog in red letters with a black paw print. His body is facing to the right of the photo, but he is looking back over his shoulder to his left toward a pair of lower legs. The legs are wearing blue pants with an orange striped on the side, with tan boots. The puppy has a brown leather leash going up to the person.

FLD Jedi.

TIME FOR TRAINING

Two men are standing in front of metal prison tables, each with a golden retriever sitting at their left side.

FLDs Drummond and Bravo practice their "sits."

Three large puppies lie on a light colored tile floor while a woman dressed in a blue fleece jacket and blue jeans steps over them. She is on the left side facing away from the camera. Three inmate raisers stand opposite the dogs, facing the camera. There are several other men sitting in the background.

FLDs Bravo, Drummond and Zella (left to right) hold "down" positions while Deb steps over them and their handlers stand by.

A small yellow Lab puppy is facing to the left, his head is sniffing a hand that is at the floor level. A young man with short dark hair is squatting to the left of the puppy, handing him a treat. He is dressed in the blue prison uniform with an oragan strip down his shoulder. Another young man, dressed the same, is squatting behind him. That man is holding a brown leather leash.

Is FLD Axel being lured?


FLD Bear sits nicely in heel position, eyes intent on his soon-to-be-awarded treat.

At the floor-level shot of a small yellow lab walking from right to left toward a black water bowl that says Purina Pro Plan on it. A golden retriver's head is just peaking out from between the legs of an inmate wearting green pants and white tennis shoes. Another inmate is sitting behind the yellow pup wearing blue pants and blac shoes.

Learning new things makes a pup thirsty. FLD Axel heads for the water bowl. FLD Harper is happily chewing on a Nylabone.

A low-level shot of a small yellow lab in the distance, a bit out of focus. He is laying on his left side, asleep, with his brown leather leash on the floor in front of him. On the left side of the picture is the face of a larger yellow lab peeking out between inmates legs. They are wearing the blue prison pants with an orange stripe on the side.

After his drink of water, FLD Axel finds a quiet corner and takes a nap. FLD Zella hangs with her handler.

A bald man is squatting, facing away from the camera. He is wearing a white t-shirt and the blue and orange prison pants. A golden retriever is sprawled out on the floor facing the same way in the foreground. The dog's back legs look like frog legs!

Frog legs! FLD Bravo cools off after working his brain.

A full-sized yellow lab is lying on a light brown tile floor facing the camera. She is wearing a blue bandana with a white triangle patch with red letter that say Future Leader Dog and a black paw print. Her brown leather leash is being held by a man off camera to the left, except for his lower legs and feet. He is wearing the blue pants with an orange stripe down the side and white tennis shoes.

FLD Zella looks as though she is bored. "Really, now, all this fuss over a couple of puppies?"

FURLOUGH

After training, every Chippewa puppy went on furlough. Rob had arranged a presentation at the Pickford Fire Hall for several eastern U.P. Lions Club members. Deb talked to the group about Leader Dogs for the Blind and the prison puppy-raising program.

The pups were a big hit.

A woman dressed in a blue fleece jacket and blue jeans is kneeling on one knee on a wood floor facing a small german shepherd puppy. He is lying on a blue "mat" and facking her. She is gestering with her right hand, which has a black wrist brace on it, and is holding the pup's brown leather leash with her left hand at her right knee. A man and a woman are in the background on the right side smiling and watching the two.

Deb Donnelly talks to a group of Lions while FLD Jedi demonstrates "mat."

Three men and one woman sit on folding chairs. The first man and woman at the left are holding a yellow lab puppy. The third man is holding a black lab puppy.

FLDs Axel and Bear are great ambassadors for Leader Dogs for the Blind. The Lions Club members enjoyed holding the puppies.

A group of seven people are standing around with Future Leader Dog puppies. The woman on the far left, wearing all black and carrying a huge black purse, is interviewing a woman who is kneeling on the floor with her yellow lab puppy. Two of the other puppies are black labs, two are golden retrievers and two are yellow labs.

The Future Leader Dog pups and their furlough handlers are celebrities. A reporter from the St. Ignace News interviews the group before taking their photo.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Better late than never

CHIPPEWA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

January 8, 2014

Another winter blast hit southeastern Michigan with several inches of snow and temperatures below zero. Travel was slow leaving the city for Deb in the Leader Dogs for the Blind van. Then Tammy's car got stuck. It took a bit of time to get it unstuck and parked at Meijer's instead of her usual meetup spot on I-75.

In the foregroiund a ground of second grade kids are sitting on the floor looking away from the camer a toward a woman holding a small black lab puppy. She has short brown hair and is wearing a red fleece jacket and blue jeans. There is a white board in the background.

FLD Bear meets Surline second graders.

When I got the call from Tammy that they'd be an hour late picking me up another 100 miles north, I took advantage of the free time. Over the 10 days that I had had FLD Bear, every time I scheduled a visit to Mrs. Matthews' second-grade class at Surline Elementary, the school had a snow day. This was my last chance. This trip I would be handing Bear off to his new inmate raisers at the Baraga Correctional Facility.

I found Mrs. Matthews' class hard at work in the computer lab. FLD Dutch had been a frequent visitor during our year together so the students were well versed in Future Leader Dog protocol (not unlike when you meet a working Leader Dog). They contained their ooohhhhs and awwwwws and stayed at their computers. A snuggly FLD Bear welcomed their gentle pets with no mouthing as I carried him from station to station. Afterwards they gathered round for questions and to hear Bear's story.

ON THE ROAD

Deb and Tammy and I were two hours late getting into the Chippewa Correctional Facility. Deb hoped that the guys had not given up on our arrival. "We were late last month too," Tammy said. "They guys weren't worried at all. They said they knew we would make it. 'You ladies are tough,' they said."

A picture taken from the back seat of a van, looking forward through the windshield. The view out the windshield is of a snowy road with trees along the side. The headlights of cars coming on can be seen. A woman with short brown hair wearing a purple jacket is driving.

Deb drives through the snow.

Through rain or snow or sleet or hail, the delivery of puppies shall prevail.