Transcript of Virginia program pairs inmates and shelter dogs to work together

That's Miss Gigi. For Gigi, Dallas, Zara, and Phoenix, the first stop on the road to a second chance is in an unexpected place. -darren, down.

-yes, good girl.

The Beaumont Correctional Facility, a temporary home for these dogs and others, and a way to get them out of Virginia's crowded shelter system, where the animals often face the risk of being put down.

The boy, state.

The unique program called Pixie's Pen Pals is a partnership with the prison and Fetch a Cure, one that was during the pandemic. It allows inmates, some who are serving decades long sentences to work with a professional trainer and behavior specialist to get a dog ready for their forever home. It's a.

Win, win, win, win, win, win because.

We're.

Opening up a spot in the shelter. Obviously, these guys are learning so much.

Team building, conflict resolution. You know what? It's a lot of give and take, a lot of compromising. And it helps you roll for... You know, give and take. We're dealing with people, not just the partner, but the other guys here. And we're an advocate for the dog. Teaches us, like I said, how to be patient and productive and just finally being able to do something good. There's not too many jobs while you're locked up that you feel good about doing.

Dogs like Gigi will train with their handlers for six to eight weeks until they pass their canine good citizen evaluation and can be adopted into a new home. It's a paid job for the handlers, like Christopher Dudley and Benny McCroske with Dallas, a pitbull mix, and Chance Winnington and Delvon Finney with Zara. They're paired up in teams, and the dogs stay in their cells with them. You have to come.

To terms together, and it teaches you a lot of skills in that way too, of being able to communicate. That's why schedules are really important. You're feeding off of each other. You're learning from each other. You got to know sometimes like I don't know at all, and I've got to sit back and know when to listen. He really reads all your energy, your body language, so it's important. Being on the same page with training.

The result smiles on both ends of the leash. Like I said.

It's not just their beauty for us. It's for our end of the morning. All the guys are lined up for work. They love him. He comes out and greets each one. They're all at price their day for the day. It really does give you a purpose. When you have something to get up in the morning for and you know, okay, this is what I'm doing today. This is what... It changes the dynamic of being incarcerated. The vast majority of the population, we're here for violent crime, being entrusted with the life and aware of another creature, it changes your perspective.

It may even.

Give you a.

Different worldview. In Richmond.

I've always had rescue dogs because I feel like there's wonderful dogs out there that just haven't found the right home.

Penny is a proud graduate, adopted by Susan Bennett almost seven years ago, one of about 80 rescues placed.

Each year. When they said, Well, Penny is ready to go home. So I went up to the prison. Two inmates there that had trained her, one of them gave a presentation about telling me that she liked to cuddle, and she was house trained and she loves cheese and she likes to chase birds and all that stuff. Really a lot of good information about her and her personality and how she loved to snuggle and things. After she had finished a presentation, the other inmate had Penny on a leash and so actually showed me how she knows to sit and stay and shake and down and those types of things. And then they gave me a nice little portfolio that they had put together that had all their notes as well as all of her medical records and everything. How long has... I love the dual purpose of it helps a dog that needs a home, and at the same time, it helps the inmates to help them really learn those life skills.

Meaningful connections on all sides and living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Maura Barrett, BBC News.

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