Puppy power

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By Norman Miller/ Daily News Staff - Metro West Daily News

FRAMINGHAM -- Heather Santerre is an inmate at MCI-Framingham, but she said she knows she is helping people.

She is one of 10 puppy handlers who take part in the Prison PUP Partnership, training the canines to become helper dogs.

"We receive self-satisfaction," said Santerre. "The program gives us a sense of self-worth, knowing we make a difference."

All the inmate puppy handlers gathered together last Wednesday for a Prison PUP Partnership presentation.

The program is a partnership between the Department of Correction and the National Education for Assistance Dog Services or NEADS program.

The program began at MCI-Framingham in 2004 after Superintendent Lynn Bissonnette left the Gardner prison. Since then, she said, the project has been a rousing success.

"It is the first program to operate with a medium-security environment, but when you see what these women and dogs can do, you’ll see it works," said Bissonnette. "Having the puppy not only brightens the days and lives of us handlers, but the other inmates and the staff, too."

Each dog has a handler and assistant handler, Santerre said. The dogs, usually younger than 4 months, live with their handlers, who train the dogs for at least 30 minutes, three times a day. The dog is always with the handlers, except on weekends.

On weekends, the dogs go with a weekend foster family to expose them to situations they cannot experience in prison.

The dogs typically are at the prison for 10 months before being sent to NEADS in Princeton for advance training.

The program has been a boon for NEADS, said Director Sheila O’Brien. The wait for a dog has dropped from five years to a little less than two years for people, she said.

"We didn’t have enough foster families," said O’Brien. "These were fragile people and some were passing away before they could get the dog. I didn’t know what would happen to these puppies in prison, but I can safely say, eight years later, this is the best partnership NEADS has ever entered into."

The prison program dogs have a higher success rate than the dogs raised by foster families, O’Brien said.

The dogs and their handlers demonstrated several tasks including turning on lights and opening doors. They also did such tricks as shaking hands, sit and roll and giving kisses.

Although it was "heartbreaking" when her dog, Kimmy left, Santerre said she was "honored" to know her dog will someday help someone.

Finn, a golden retriever helps Rick Thompson of Wayland, who has cerebral palsy. His dog came from a Connecticut prison.

"Keep it up," Thompson told the women. "There’s a kid or adult out there where this could make their lives 100 percent better."