Young offenders set to train dogs in a bid to boost behaviour

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

A prison-based dog training scheme, the first in the UK is being introduced at Polmont Young Offenders Institute near Falkirk.

Young male inmates will be paired with dogs with behavioural problems that need to be trained and rehabilitated in order for them be rehomed. Elizabeth Ormerod, a vet, said the scheme had proven successful among prisoners in other countries and had reduced aggression, violence and self-harm among inmates.

Ms Ormerod has helped introduce human-animal bond programmes in residential care facilities, sheltered housing, schools, hospitals, psychiatric units and prisons. She now chairs the Society for Companion Animal Studies, which is organising the scheme at Polmont.

She said: "In other countries, they've found that if you pair a youth with behavioural problems with a dog with behavioural problems and demonstrate to the youth how to train the dog using praise and encouragement, rather than punishment and force, then you can actually change the young offender's own behaviour."

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