Attached is a photo of our local prison service dogs on their 'Passing Out Parade'. It was a really miserable and damp day, but that didn't seem to stop the dogs enjoying themselves. 3 of these dogs are from North East GSD Rescue and Rehoming.

Another of the dogs is 1.5 year old 'Cisco' who had several homes prior to coming into our rescue. He had no lead training and owner after owner claimed they could not handle him. Basically no one had spent the time with him as a puppy to train him to do anything.

The third dog is 'Nick' who came to us from West Lothian Police where he had been removed from a home and was under threat of being destroyed. Fortunately, one of the police officers is also a GSD breeder/exhibitor and didn't want to see Nick put to sleep for what had basically been a barking incident.

All 3 dogs were neutered by the rescue with the help of NCDL "Give A Dog A Life" campaign which supports our rehoming scheme. They were assessed by the prison service and have recently undergone an 8 week training course to qualify as Prison Service Working Dogs. The initial course consists of basic obedience, tracking and protection work. Following this there is a development course and each year the dogs are reassessed in order to retain their license to work.

We have homed several dogs in the past with the prison service. Its a good life for the dogs who all live at home with their handlers as part of the family and go to work at local prisons during the day. Most of these dogs would be difficult to home into regular family homes and so we feel it gives dogs a real second chance doing something useful.

Alyson - GSD Rehoming Northeast