Prison Training Program
Training Dogs. Transforming Lives.
Training an assistance dog takes consistency, repetition, real-world experiences, and a community of people working together.
As a cornerstone of CHAMP’s training approach, The Prison Training Program increases capacity and meaningful social impact by providing valuable job skills, experience, and workforce development for incarcerated individuals.
What It Is
The CHAMP Prison Program is operated in partnership with the Missouri Department of Corrections – Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, MO. It creates a transformational impact for both assistance dogs and the people who help train them.
While at WERDCC, CHAMP assistance dogs-in-training live full-time with qualified resident handlers in a structured setting to provide dogs with the daily routine and focused attention that are essential for learning assistance dog skills; all under the guidance of CHAMP staff.
How It Works
Each dog follows a carefully designed training pathway that combines the strengths of both the prison environment and the community.
While in the prison program, dogs participate in multiple formal sessions each day, along with walks, handling opportunities, and ongoing skills reinforcement. Resident handlers provide practice and daily structure, while CHAMP staff deliver instruction, coaching, evaluations, and quality oversight to ensure every dog progresses according to program standards.
To create well-rounded assistance dogs, each dog rotates between the prison training environment and volunteer puppy raisers. When they move to the puppy raisers, they gain valuable exposure to everyday life – experiencing new people, places, sounds, and situations that strengthen socialization, adaptability, and public access skills.
This balanced approach combines intensive training with real-world experiences, helping dogs become confident and dependable partners in any environment.
The Impact
The impact of the program extends far beyond the dogs.
For the dogs, they progress through foundational skills quickly with consistent handling and repetition. The dogs also gain increased public access readiness through the obedience training they receive.
For CHAMP, the model increases training capacity, allowing more dogs to be developed and placed while expanding the organization’s ability to serve sustainably. It also allows CHAMP to deliver worthwhile community and rehabilitative impact.
For resident handlers, the experience provides important opportunities for personal growth. Participants develop responsibility, teamwork, communication skills, and a sense of purpose while contributing to something that makes a lasting difference in the lives of others.
Why It Matters
The CHAMP Prison Training Program demonstrates the power of partnership. By combining professional expertise and dedicated resident handlers, CHAMP is able to prepare exceptional assistance dogs while creating opportunities for human growth and community impact.
Every dog trained through this program represents the power of changing lives on both ends of the leash.
Help Change Lives
The Prison Training Program succeeds because of dedicated partners, volunteers and donors.