By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
A prison officer strides into the room and it immediately descends into chaos.
Dogs are barking and straining on their leads, a group of young prisoners start cheering, and chants of “it’s the ham man” ring throughout the room.
I have no idea what is going on here in HMP Polmont, and alternate between joining in with the hysterics, and mild panic.
And then it becomes clear.
The officer – AKA Ham Man – produces a packet of cold meat from his pocket, rips it open and starts feeding it to the salivating dogs, who are beside themselves with excitement.
Order is restored: the dogs feast then settle, and the group of young prisoners get back to what they were doing.
They are all part of a unique programme – the only one of its kind in the UK – where dogs and prisoners are paired to help each other learn a new set of skills.
The residents of the young offenders’ institution gain a host of practical skills centred around how to care for their canine companions.
But perhaps it is the emotional side of the Paws for Progress programme which brings the most learning, though its subtleties ensure there is no grand fanfare. The learning is organic, but it is undoubtedly there.
For the rescue dogs who come to the prison on ‘day release’ from the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, they learn how to socialise, to overcome fears, how to obey commands, and most importantly, how to be loved.
“Although there was lots of recognition of the benefits of human-animal interaction programmes in prisons elsewhere in the world, there wasn’t anything in the UK, so my colleague Rebecca Leonardi, who had a background in dog training and psychology, set about looking at how she could introduce the UK’s first prison-based rescue dog training programme,” explains Suzanne Ruby, operations manager for Paws for Progress, which delivers the initiative in Polmont.
Initially founded in 2011 as a four-year PhD project in association with the University of Stirling, Paws for Progress was so successful that it now operates independently, though it maintains its academic links.
Since then, it has worked with around 2,000 young people in prison and communities, with the majority of those in Polmont.
“Our ethos and approach to the dogs goes beyond training – it’s very much about helping the young people recognise them as another individual who has thoughts and feelings”
“Feedback from young people during the PhD phase was ‘I wish I’d had access to this sooner, I might not have ended up in prison’,” says Suzanne.
“Most of them come in loving dogs – they may have had dogs before, they may have not. But we teach them all about dog body language, how to approach a dog, what a dog looks like when they’re happy, what they look like when they’re a bit worried, how we can make dogs feel more comfortable.
“Our ethos and approach to the dogs goes beyond training. It’s very much about helping the young people recognise them as another individual who has thoughts and feelings and recognising how they’re feeling and building a relationship with the dogs.
“So, it’s not just about how well we can train them to do X,Y, Z, it’s much more about understanding the dog and building that bond and relationship with them.”
Today is a session for Polmont’s ‘peer mentors’ – a group of six young men who have been involved with the programme for more than a year.
As with all participants, they start with dogs who are already used to people and are acclimatised to the prison surroundings – their home away from home.
Only when they are confident enough do they begin working with the rescue dogs borrowed from the kennels in Edinburgh a couple of mornings per week.
Former rescue dogs Gryffin and Harry – affectionately known as ‘June’s dugs’ as they were adopted by Paws for Progress’s June McPhillips – are in with the group today, living their best lives as they are played with, groomed, and most importantly, rewarded with treats.
“I’ve always been brought up with dogs,” one of the peer mentors tells 1919. “When you come in the jail you don’t expect to see dogs.
“I worked with Gryffin, he’s really hyper. He’s wired to the moon. Then I got on the rescue dog course and I got a dog who had social anxiety so it was a completely different dog where you had to work with it and focus on the time.
“It might not have wanted to do tricks or other things but if you gave it the time of day and sat and played with it, it was the best dog you could have had.
“After my rescue dog course, I became a helper. When different groups come up, I help and support them and show them how to do it as well.”
While the participants form bonds with the rescue dogs, they ultimately want to see them rehomed into a loving household so they don’t have to spend their lives in the kennels, which one of them described as “like a jail for the dugs”.
The parallels between the lives of the dogs who may have gone through traumatic experiences before being taken in by the dog home while they await a brighter future, and the young men who have ended up in prison are hard not to see.
“We want the dogs to be rehomed, we want them out of kennels. It’s an eight-week programme but if a home comes up sooner then we won’t delay them,” says Suzanne.
“It’s bittersweet – they’re so happy and proud that the dogs have been rehomed, but it’s sad to say goodbye.”
“You do build up a relationship with them, especially the rescue dogs,” says David*, who has been on the programme for a year and a half.
“When you get a rescue dog in and they’re shy, they’re nervous to come in, they don’t want to do anything. My rescue dog was like that – she didn’t want to do anything.
“Then eventually I got her to the point where we were building that relationship and honestly we’d open the van and she’d run out and jump right at me and she was completely different.
“And then she got rehomed. It’s nice to see them get rehomed – you don’t want them sitting in a shelter.”
“Two of the dogs I worked with got rehomed and it was really nice to see,” says Sam*. “I got a wee report back about how they were doing in the house and it was brilliant. I felt really happy.
“I have a dog at home and didn’t realise you’d be able to work with dogs in here so it was really great when I found out you could. It’s brilliant getting out your cell and getting to work with dogs and getting a qualification. My dog is my wee best pal.
“When I first started, I just worked with June’s dogs. Then you get to do the rescue dog course after that, and the rescue dog course is brilliant.
“You learn a bit more with that, because June’s dogs know how to do some things, and a rescue dog might not know how to do anything, so you pick up some training with June’s dogs then you work with the rescue dogs and try to get them rehomed. It’s really nice to see their story and do a portfolio for them.”
Conor Holt, Polmont’s citizenship officer for Paws for Progress (pictured above), works on the programme every day.
He’s only been in the job a few weeks but is already impressed.
“I have never seen anything like this being done,” he says.
“The biggest benefits are things like breaking down barriers, especially young people struggling with mental health issues.
“We do one-to-one sessions, which could be people who struggle in bigger groups. These could be people who are self-depriving, shutting their own doors so we are helping them to break down barriers.
“This teaches them relationship-building and things like patience. A lot of people in here act on impulse rather than taking a breather, so this helps them to build that patience.”
Not only does the programme offer the young prisoners at Polmont the opportunity to care for the dogs, to learn about their behaviours and routines, to build relationships and trust, and form emotional bonds, but it also offers an opportunity to gain qualifications.
Conor Holt, Polmont’s citizenship officer
Paws for Progress initially teamed up with Fife College to incorporate educational qualifications into the programme, and this has continued under the new prison education provider, PeoplePlus. Writing about the dogs, doing digital presentations, measuring out food and weighing the dogs can all earn them qualifications in communications, literacy, ICT and numeracy through the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Through the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers, the Polmont group have the opportunity to gain additional qualifications, which range from level one to level six.
“Sam said ‘level four’s hard’ and I’m like ‘yeah that’s the whole point’,” laughs June.
He agrees it’s hard, but adds: “Nobody’s got their level four yet so I’m trying to get my level four. I want to be the first one to do it. It’ll be difficult, but I’ll do it. Imagine being the first person in Polmont? That’d be minted.”
*Not their real names