Auburn University (Auburn) and The GEO Group's Graceville Correctional Facility (Graceville) in Graceville, FL, have partnered to provide a unique program to train dogs with very specialized detection capabilities. Chuck Linderman, the Director of Canine Operations at Graceville commented, "Auburn and GEO have formed a true partnership with a program that is recognized and respected internationally.”
Auburn Canine Performance Sciences (CPS), part of the College of Veterinary Medicine, scientifically breeds dogs for genetic disposition relating to superior scenting ability, intelligence, physical soundness, and a high desire or drive to search and hunt. Auburn has developed training for the Vapor Wake ® dog, a patented name and process which trains the dog to detect and identify source for explosives worn or carried by a person. These Vapor Wake ® dogs are superior performance dogs, setting the standard for the breeding program. Before developing the Auburn Canine Program in the GEO facilities, Auburn placed puppies in private homes with volunteer families for socialization and environmental conditioning for the puppy’s first year. Volunteer homes resulted in less than a 30% success rate because the puppies were being treated more as family pets than being prepared to become working dogs. Auburn implemented the prison program in 2004, with structured training and development that had an immediate impact on the canines’ training success. In 2011, Graceville partnered with Auburn and now enjoys an 80% success rate for puppies raised in their program becoming detector dogs.
Auburn dogs are extremely valuable because of their specialized breeding and extensive training. They enter the facility program at six months of age and remain there until they reach ten to eleven months. At Graceville, each dog has a team of about 10 people who work with them, including the handler, assistant handler, and “sitters” who are mentored to work with the dogs as they move forward in the process. When a dog graduates, the team is dissolved. The assistant handler then gets his own dog and team, while others move around accordingly, allowing more inmates into the program. While the dogs are at Graceville, the handlers document everything about every dog, every day.
How do inmates get into this program? Inmates are vetted through a five-step process that begins with an inmate request that he would like to be involved. The program can accommodate a maximum of 75 inmates. A high school education or GED is a requirement. There are 72 enrolled now, 45 of whom are enrolled in the Canine Caretakers Course, a part of the Auburn Canine Prison Program curriculum. This 1150-hour course awards those completing it, 115 CEU credits through Auburn. The goal is to help facilitate inmates’ ability to find employment, with entry to mid-level job skills upon their release from the facility in the canine care and training industry. Additionally, before the inmates who have completed the program are released, Mr. Linderman works with them to make sure they are registered for college and an application has been submitted for a Pell Grant – typically in the amount of $5,700.
Mr. Linderman is a retired Police Officer and has seen how negative behavior has landed inmates into prison. He is proud of the program at Graceville and sees how it empowers these men and changes the way they think. “It’s a win/win for the inmates, for the facility, and for the GEO Continuum of Care program,” said Mr. Linderman. “We’re not just warehousing men, we’re changing lives.”
