Healing Hounds

Justin Bartlett Animal Rescue

“Healing Hounds”

The Healing Hounds Program is a unique program made possible through a partnerships with local facilities (prisons, rehab facilities, schools) and Justin Bartlett Animal Rescue. Selected participants (resident /fosters/ inmates) have the opportunity to become trainers to rescue dogs in “The Program”. Participants work with the dogs teaching them basic obedience skills and properly socializing the animals. Some of these dogs move on to a more intense program to become therapy dogs for adopters with disabilities, others just simply become more adoptable. In either case, once the dogs have successfully completed either training, they will be adopted through the adoption process.

There are multiple benefits to “The Program”;
The Healing Hounds Program gives its participants the skills necessary to support successful rehabilitation and, ultimately improving community awareness. At the same time, this is an opportunity for the participants to develop training skills.

“The Program” may also be used as a form of reward, as only participants with the best performance may be eligible to participate in the Healing Hounds Program.

The opportunity for the participants to give back to the community.

Participants in “The Program” will improve behavior as poor behavior will result removal from “The Program.

“The Program” will also saves dogs' lives. Many dogs that were unwanted and would have been euthanized have found a temporary foster family after been through “The Program”.

Some of the pups that enter “The Program” have typically lost their trust in people. They have been traumatized and sometimes even abused. While in the Healing Hounds Program, they are given time to heal and re-gain their confidence and trust in humans. The dogs are assigned to a participant and they live alongside him/her the entire time the participant is in “The Program”.

The participants socialize the pups and get them ready to live with a family of their own or become therapy dogs to disabled vets. Over the course of time in “The program”, each pup learns to walk on a leash, is housebroken, and learns basic commands, all the while building a stronger faith in humans.

In summary “The Program” is designed to educate, reward and promote.

Educate the participant in animal care, the prevention of animal cruelty, and provide them the necessary new valuable skill to seek a job in the animal field.

Reward both, the animal and the participant, for good behaviour.

To promote a forever adoption as the result of a well behaved, trained dog.

Interested in joining “The Program” as a volunteer or as a host facility?