Rachel Trafford opens a series of doors at HMP Doverdale in Staffordshire, England, a Category B high-security prison. As she walks deeper into the prison grounds the barking of the dogs can be heard. These aren’t those foam-flecked clamp-jawed Mastiffs from the movies that would strike fear into a potential escapee’s marrow. These are puppies, the energetic, tail-wagging Restart Dogs students. In November 2021, Dovegate will become the first adult men’s prison in England that runs a full-time training course for dogs. The programme trains assistance dogs in the community using a team of professional handlers. Foster volunteers also care for the dogs at weekends and evenings. The programme also gives men serving long sentences the skills and qualifications they need to become dog handlers and trainers. Assistance dogs help disabled people with everyday tasks such as unloading washers and opening doors. It can take two years to train the animals. Nine incarcerated people are taught positive reinforcement every weekday in the prison to teach dogs certain behaviours, such as carrying. Trafford, animal behaviourist and project leader, could be referring to the prison system when she talks about the psychology behind dog training: “Punishment suppresses bad behaviours but it does not help create positive behaviour,” Trafford explains. “The only way to create a new neural path is to reward it.” Dan is part of the first intake. The opportunity to quit his job as a drug dealer in prison encouraged him to do so “overnight”. “Reoffending is unlikely to happen if I don’t want to do it again,” he says. “You have to reduce the desire to use drugs by engaging in meaningful activities. This keeps me grounded.”
The course provides participants with useful skills to help them in their future lives.
The skills he is learning and the qualifications he has gained from the course paint a picture of a life free of crime outside prison walls. Trafford says, “This is now a group of prisoner about whom we don’t need to worry.” “They are drug-free and incident-free. They’re easy to manage in the wings.” Random drug testing is common in prisons. If they are on our program, it is mandatory. If they fail, they are out. Trafford says, “they had to do more personal work”. What will reduce my chances of reoffending the most is not wanting to do it again. The College of Policing, based on limited information about Restart Dogs, and other similar programmes, has stated that “overall the evidence suggests the intervention has decreased crime”. Tabitha Peterken, Alfred’s mother says that Nika is brilliant. “When she feels that a meltdown is happening, if it is going on for too long, she will just take him out.” We can now sit in cafes with drinks, something he never did before.
Although it’s still early in the project’s life, there are signs that it’s reducing crime
Trafford will expand the programme in November to a third prison near Leicester called Fosse Way. They’re also establishing a charity that will help newly released prisoners start their own dog training businesses. Dan’s sentence is set to end in December 2024. This means that prisoners like Dan will have the opportunity to continue their work from the other side. Images: Will HoldcroftYou are the solution Positive News needsOur small and dedicated team is passionately committed to building a better alternative media to the negative ones. Our mission has never been more urgent. But to produce the solutions journalism the world craves, we need funding. We work for you, not for a media mogul or a corporate owner. That’s why we ask readers to support our team by becoming a Positive News Supporter. Donate once as little as PS1, or join over 1,200 others who give an average of PS3 per month.
In England, prisoners are being trained to train assistance dogs and obtaining credentials so they can launch their own businesses after being released.
The second article to appear on Positive News was How Man’s Best Friend Is Helping Rehabilitate Inmates in England.
