The canine reference book aids Holmes and his cellmate and fellow dog handler, Ricky Kidd, in adjusting the training of their chihuahua mix, Lil' Bill, to meet the needs of the dog training program, Puppies for Parole.
In September, Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston became the ninth prison in Missouri to implement the program, which offers selected offenders an opportunity to train dogs rescued from animal shelters and animal advocate groups. The Charleston prison's partnering agency is the Caruthersville Humane Society. Offenders learn skills that assist in their rehabilitation, and their work ultimately produces dogs that are more adoptable.
"I think it's so important when the dogs go into a home and they are already equipped with basic fundamentals," Kidd said.
Using a 10-point system, all dogs are trained in basic obedience and tested for the Canine Good Citizen Award. The dogs are with the offenders for a minimum of eight weeks. "Achieving some of these results takes time — time many people don't have," Holmes said.
But Holmes and Kidd and other offender/handlers incarcerated in Missouri's correctional centers do have the time.
Three prisons joined the program after Charleston, and George Lombardi, director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, said he expects two more in the next couple months for a total of 14 of the state's 20 prisons.
"We're about to adopt out our 200th dog, which is just amazing since it did start Feb. 1 a year ago," Lombardi said. "That's when the first dogs walked into the Jefferson City Correctional Center..."
The program has fostered good relationships with the communities, Lombardi said.
"It has been a benefit to the counties and the areas that instead of euthanizing dogs were able to adopt out these really good pets and made a lot of difference," Lombardi said.
He noted the programs are being implemented without the use of tax dollars.
Lombardi said he hopes eventually to engage universities to gauge the impact efficacy of the program in terms of inmate behavior.