Dogs on a Mission (Part II)
The Men Behind Bars
Can you share how the dogs shape the lives of the people who train them? I’m speaking of the incarcerated individuals. I understand that is a very unique dynamic. They are, of course, meant to go on to serve other people.
It’s funny. The men’s prison that I teach in is a maximum security prison in New York. I have been teaching there for a year and a half. I just started the program there. There were no dogs. No anything. I started in June, and the first dogs didn’t go in until the following January. We are documenting that process. We have a photographer who we have hired to come in once a month to take pictures of the incarcerated individuals and the dogs, and you can see in the pictures the changes in the men. They stand up straighter. Their faces are softer. They are smiling. They are laughing. Working in Puppies Behind Bars, being an incarcerated individual is really really hard work. It’s hard to have a puppy. It’s hard to raise a puppy through adulthood. The Puppies Behind Bars program is really hard. What the men and women in our program experience is that people trust them. People tell them they can be responsible even in that kind of environment. People tell them that they can contribute to society. All of that changes them as individuals. They begin to see themselves as human again.
As someone invested in supporting both incarcerated individuals and people with post-traumatic stress disorder, what has been your greatest challenge and biggest triumph?
The funny thing is - when our dogs are in prison, I know where they are, and I know that they are safe. I mean, I just know it. When they graduate and they go home with somebody, that is when I worry. Is the guy going to love the dog as much as when he was training with us? Is she going to give the dog a quality of life? My biggest challenge, even 26 years later, is making sure that we make the right pairings – that we send the dog home with somebody who is going to love them, care for them, and cherish them forever.
I think that because post-traumatic stress is invisible, it is really easy to think that somebody is just being a jerk. Or somebody is being overly sensitive. Post-traumatic stress affects every waking moment of somebody who really has it badly. … Disabilities are both visible and invisible, and just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that somebody is not disabled.
Visible And Invisible Disabilities
What do you think people need to understand most about people with PTSD, the prisoners, the dogs? Is there something that is commonly missed?
I think that because post-traumatic stress is invisible, it is really easy to think that somebody is just being a jerk. Or somebody is being overly sensitive. Post-traumatic stress affects every waking moment of somebody who has it badly. If somebody is in public and sees somebody with a service dog, and they don’t have an obvious physical disability, I think people should be respectful of the fact that somebody needs a dog to function in life and kind of say, I’m so lucky that is not me – that I don’t feel that way. Disabilities are both visible and invisible, and just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that somebody is not disabled.
How can people get involved with your organization?
We are looking for volunteers, so if somebody is interested in volunteering – meaning taking our dogs out of prison to socialize in the world – teaching them how to ride in a car, or taking them to go see a kid on a bicycle, they should go to our website www.puppiesbehindbars.com and look up volunteering and fill out an application.
“Disabilities are both visible and invisible, and just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that somebody is not disabled.”
My blog is titled “The Shoes We Wear.” It is meant to celebrate all the people with disabilities and those who support them. What shoes are you wearing?
High Top Converse All Stars
More resources and information about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Service Dogs, and Incarceration on the Inspiration page.