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Rick was a mystery to me. He’d been in prison a good while, and had a bone-deep wariness about him. I often wondered what he thought about things, how he felt inside; while always polite, he was hard to read. I was with four inmates from A New Leash on Life, a North Carolina Department of Correction program at the Forsyth Correctional Center. We were waiting for “clicker” training instruction from an expert.

A New Leash on Life, in 18 prisons throughout the state, pairs inmate trainers with dogs deemed unadoptable for unruliness, excessive fear, or other behavioral problems. Locally, the Forsyth Humane Society provides the dogs, funding and care, and coordinates with volunteer professional trainers who teach the men. The dogs live at the prison, and are with inmate-trainers from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily for 10 weeks. Inmates learn patience, compassion, self-esteem, and develop a marketable skill; men and dogs alike learn how to give and receive unconditional love.

A natural trainer, Rick had been with the program at another prison before coming to Forsyth. He’d asked for a “challenge” this time, expecting a really rambunctious dog, an unruly, obstinate mutt needing firm, creative discipline.

Instead, he got Trakker: remote, removed, unresponsive. Not unpleasant, but blank. Not frightened, but utterly unreachable. Good trainers know understanding a dog’s temperament is key. Some dogs are motivated by treats. Others by play. Still others by affection. Discern the personality, choose the training method that matches, and you’re on your way to a well-behaved dog.

Clicker training, we learned, works best for treat-motivated dogs. Instead of praising with words while giving a treat, the trainer praises good behavior by snapping a metal clicker. Reducing the time between praise (“Good dog!” by voice; “click” by clicker) and treat speeds the dog’s learning. It’s a good skill for your bag of training tricks.

Read more on page 76 in the December Issue