Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Puppies, Prisons & People


Welcome to the Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) blog page!  Our primary mission as a nonprofit is to make life-changing partnerships possible through the training and placement of assistance dogs that serve children and adults with physical or developmental disabilities.  Learn more at www.icandog.org - but for now, let us introduce you to one of our service dogs in training - little 11-week-old Dino!
He's a little worn out after a full day of learning how to be a service dog for a person with a disability!

Another part of ICAN's mission is to employ the time and expertise of carefully selected offenders inside Indiana correctional facilities who work with the dogs for two year's time to train them for service work. Offenders learn invaluable interpersonal skills and also professional skills to help them when they re-enter society. 

Now, here's another really great thing about ICAN: Clients receiving a service dog enter the prison facility for two week and are trained by the offenders on how to work effectively work with their new dog.  Yes, the offenders become the instructors, the clients become the students, and the dogs become the bridge that brings them together.

Stay tuned for more information about ICAN. We're glad you visited us. Learn more at www.icandog.org.

1 comment:

  1. WOW! this is a wonderful program. My fiance is signed up for a puppy and he is very excited and gave me this web sight to check out. The puppies are adorable. I love being able to see the puppies and follow what he tells me what is going on. I am impressed and think that this program is great for all those involved. I don't know who will learn more the dog or my man. LOL God Bless

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