It’s a dogs life at Wyoming Medium Correctional Institute

TORRINGTON –  Their behavior was far better than what you would find in a public school lunch line, or teacher’s lounge. There was no barking, whining, tugging, jumping or acts of aggression. The dogs, all mixed-breed, rescue dogs, marched together with precision and without so much as a sideward glance or whimper. They sat, stayed and laid down without ever taking their eyes off their handlers. For a dog lover, it was inspirational. For the handlers, all of whom are inmates at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institute, it was an opportunity to demonstrate not only the value of a rescue dog, but the value of a man rescued and given
a purpose.
The dogs and handlers are part of the D.O.G. (Doing Others Good) Project that has been going on at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institute since Fall 2015. It is a partnership program between WMCI and Black Dog Rescue in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a unique rescue operation in that it has no shelter facility. Instead, all rescued dogs are placed in foster homes until more permanent arrangements are found.
“We are completely foster-based,” said Black Dog Operations Director, Emilee Intlekofer. “The number of foster homes vary, but we have about 45 dogs in the program at any given time.”
At the WMCI foster home, there are six to nine dogs in residence at any given time; living, eating and training with their inmate-handler 24 hours a day, seven days a week for about six weeks.
“Currently we have six handlers and four sitters (someone who cares for a dog if its handler is engaged in some other activity,)” explained Marlena McManis, unit manager at the facility and canine training program supervisor. “There is an extensive application and interview process for the inmate-handlers. Whenever we have an opening for a handler we get about 20 applications from inmates to fill the vacancy.”
The rescue dog program actually began in 2014 with two handlers and two sitters, but McManis said in July 2015 the prison wanted to formalize the program, so it adopted a curriculum used by the Colorado Correctional Industries in their “Prison Trained K9 Companion” program.
“Now our trainers have to go through a class on the fundamentals of training and vet care and they, and the dogs, are evaluated on a regular basis. Two of our current handlers have earned a Master’s Level Handler certification, and in July, the handler positions became a paid employment opportunity.”

Like their handlers, many of the dogs come to the program with various behavioral programs, but of the 77 dogs that have started D.O.G., 65 have successfully graduated and have been adopted upon returning to Black Dog Rescue.
“We look for dogs that will be good for the program,” said Intlekofer. “They are dogs that are easy going because the program is very structured and some dogs don’t do well in extreme structure. They have to be under 70 pounds and, as a prison policy, we cannot send pit bulls or pit bull mixes.”
The dogs sent to WMCI are between 10 months and seven years old, but before they make the 85 mile journey from Cheyenne to Torrington, they spend time in a foster home, undergo spaying or neutering and get caught up on their
vaccinations.
During the six week stay at WMCI, the dog becomes the inmate-handler’s shadow, going to bed when he goes to bed, getting up when he gets up, going to meals, class or recreation. For the most part, whatever the inmate is involved in, his dog will be beside him. If the dog needs to go out at night, rain, wind or snow, the inmate takes him out to the yard. There is no free time for dog or handler, for six weeks they
are inseparable.
During their stay at the prison, the dogs go through the canine citizenship course and learn basic obedience, crating, housebreaking, socialization, not to jump on people and, if time permits, even a few tricks, and once they complete the citizenship course, they are ready
for graduation.
“Some dogs may take a little longer than six weeks, and thats OK,” Intlekofer said. “We list the dogs on our website for adoption about two weeks prior to graduation and we almost always have a home lined up for them before
they graduate.
“The dogs do really well in homes that appreciate [that the dogs have] had six weeks of training and they keep up on
the training.”
But besides giving the rescue dogs a second chance at living a good life, the D.O.G. program has also given many of the WMCI residents a second chance.
“The program has not only helped the dogs but also the inmates,” said McManis. “Morale on the units really increases when the dogs are around. And the handlers have to be willing to put someone else’s needs before their own. It has been an incredible program.”