Dogs and inmates eat, sleep and train together at RSW Regional Jail

A very precocious 1-year-old Pointer-Hound mix, Boone decides to take a spot at the head of the conference room table. – Better clear it with Sgt. Longmire, Boone, attaboy. Photos/Roger Bianchini

On November 15, Boone met us with an unanticipated leap on to a conference room table, then gave this interviewer a celebratory smooch to the amazement of his owner and the amusement of his audience at the RSW Regional Jail.

We were at the jail on Winchester Road north of Front Royal with the team that two years ago launched a practice run of “Pawsitive Partners” and this week introduced us to one of its graduates. Boone is a black and white pointer-hound mix who spent eight weeks earlier this year with four inmate trainers. The result of that training was the successful adoption of Boone into the family of a young mother of three.

“Does he jump on the table at home?” I asked, overwhelmed by Boone’s greeting. A resounding “no” was the response of owner Katie McDonald of Maurertown, whose husband adopted the playful, year-old pup into the family. And a great addition he has been she said, not only with the children but in helping her through a bout of post-partum depression she had been experiencing when Boone arrived.

This looks familiar – Boone returns for a visit to RSW with his new owner Katie McDonald, who is the direct beneficiary of Boone’s Pawsitive Partners relationship with RSW inmates; below, the connection between Katie and Boone is apparent.

The “Pawsitive Partners” program enters its third year at the jail with the enthusiastic support of RSW Regional Jail Superintendent Russell Gilkison and the enterprise of the jail’s Sgt. Megan B. Longmire. Also present for our introduction to the program were retired U.S. Air Force dog handler and trainer Diana Lieber; Suzy Daley, representing the Julia Wagner Animal Shelter in Front Royal; and Lisa Marino, a Frederick County dog trainer, a volunteer who evaluates the success or otherwise of programs like “Pawsitive Partners”.

“Pawsitive Partners” was established to help the Wagner Shelter’s foster program and to benefit the inmates, selected in groups of four, who are accepted into the two-hour-long dog training sessions taught by Lieber and supervised every Tuesday and Thursday inside the confines of the regional facility.

During this time, the dog lives in a special area of the jail with its four inmate trainers 24/7. The result – ultimately crate trained along with other usual dog related exercises such as sitting, fetching, rolling over and general obedience. Daley said this training makes the dogs much more adoptable upon their return to the animal shelter.

From left, Pawsitive Partners Cody Shuck, Luke Fredman, Boone, Michael Addison and Michael Weatherholtz in recreation area near 4-cell block where the inmates selected for each training program live with their dog. Courtesy Photo/RSW Jail

“The inmates bond with the dog,” Gilkison said, stressing the therapeutic value of the program which, according to Longmire, is unique in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Longmire quipped she had to contact a jail in Georgia to crib on their program and how to establish a similar enterprise in Warren County.

From left, people in the Pawsitive Partners program include Suzy Daley, Sgt. Megan Longmire, RSW Superintendent Russ Gilkison, Boone’s new owner Katie McDonald, Boone of course, and Diana Lieber.

While the four man or woman inmate team continue incarcerated, their dogs nevertheless get their “walkies” time outside the jail courtesy of  staff members. There is also an Astro-turf interior patch for use in housebreaking training when necessary during play sessions with the inmates in the interior recreational area. Afterward, the highly trained dog becomes a very attractive adoption candidate, Daley said.

But the benefit is not one sided. Jail officials stressed the “very therapeutic” value of the program for inmates, and the certificates and ribbons they receive upon successful completion of an eight-week session are proudly accepted.

”They get a feeling of accomplishment from that,” Gilkison said, noting a sense of pride in the successful adoption of the dogs they have worked with. In social media posts, two of the inmates’ moms voiced support for the program and its positive effect on their incarcerated sons.

After Boone said his doggie goodbyes – a lot of prancing around participants as Katie leashed the athletic hound – Daley, the shelter’s kennel director, chose January 2018 for the opening of the next “Pawsitive Partners”  program which, Longmire said, will be focused on women inmates.

“Everyone, males and females, get equal access to all our activities,” Longmire stressed. Judging from our experience this day at the facility, the most recent male team set a pretty high bar in their work with Boone. But we’re sure the ladies accepted into the next “Pawsitive Partners” team will be up to the task of matching the commitment of the guys to their dog in search of a forever home.

Boone schmoozes the writer for a little good press.