Albion Correctional training 2 more rescue dogs to be adopted by forever families

Provided photos: Chrissy, left, and Janet both were trained over eight weeks at the Albion Correctional Facility.

ALBION – Two more dogs are being trained by incarcerated women at the Albion Correctional Facility. That brings the total to 14 dogs who have been trained to be adopted out by families.

Albion Correctional partnered with a new community volunteer trainer, Dawn Spencer, who has over 25 years of experience in dog training.  She is the owner of Eye of Oden K9 Training in Kent.

The program is in collaboration with PAWS Animal Shelter in Albion. Janet and Chrissy, 5-month-old border collie sisters, started in the program on April 21. Janet and Chrissy will go through an 8-week training program.

This team is training two border collies through a partnership at Albion Correctional, PAWS Animal Shelter and Dawn Spencer, a dog trainer.

During the eight weeks, two teams of three incarcerated individuals will serve as handlers for the dogs. Spencer will visit the facility once a week to put the puppies through the AKC S.T.A.R Puppy Program.

S.T.A.R. stands for Socialization, Training, Activity, and Responsible owner – the pillars of getting puppies off to a good start. Spencer will instruct the incarcerated individuals on what skills to work on each week.

The graduation of Janet and Chrissy is tentatively scheduled for June 13 and the dogs will be ready to go to their forever homes.

For information on adopting Janet or Chrissy, applications are available at paws14411.com.