2 days Ago By Julia Wythes
There is a buzz outside a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop on a sunny street in Bathurst, NSW. or signup to continue reading Members of the Bathurst RSL Sub Branch mill around, having a chat and sipping coffee. They are ready for a chin-wag, and maybe a pat or two.
They wave as a group wanders down the street towards them - they are 10 correctional centre inmates, and they each have a special friend with them. Dressed in their uniforms, the inmates walk their attentive and immaculately behaved dogs into the crowd, shaking hands and having a joke. But the gold and black Labrador dogs keep their eyes calmly on their handlers, receiving a pat, a softly-spoken command and a little treat every now and then.
It is a moving sight - minimum security prisoners, people the community may want to shrink from or shirk, being welcomed earnestly by passersby, hearing words of encouragement and congratulation. It is even more moving to see the devotion and unstinting care the inmates show towards their dogs. They know and trust each other.
And they both have a very important job to do. The inmates are part of the Defence Community Dogs (DCD) program. And it is a rare example of a case where there are no losers - the dogs are rescued or from pounds, sometimes donated by breeders or not at the level required to be Guide Dogs.
They are trained by a carefully selected group of 10 inmates based at Bathurst Correctional Centre who have worked their way from maximum security prisons across NSW, and when the time is right, they are gifted to an Australian Defence Force serviceman or woman as a service dog. It is a situation where you don't know who to be happier for - the dogs that often escape being euthanized, the inmates who find great meaning from training the dog, or the war veteran who, with the help of a service dog, can face life once more. Among the crowd is an inmate who has only had his dog, Turbo, for two weeks.
With a guiding hand, Turbo settles down between the inmate's feet, ever watching for signals. The inmate's first ever dog, Suki, who he had been training for 10 months, graduated only the week before. It is immediately obvious the inmate is extremely proud of his dogs, as he explains how much time is spent with the dogs forming a bond, and teaching the basic commands.
Although they train all the dogs the same, when a dog is matched with a veteran, they tailor the training towards that veteran. And it is here that the inmates go above and beyond to make sure the dog is prepared. "Suki's veteran was the first paraplegic we had - so Suki learned to walk beside the wheelchair and with a walking stick," he said.
This meant the inmate worked with Suki from a wheelchair and with a walking stick for six months. "She could do things like opening the fridge and getting drink bottles for me, opening the washing machine, getting clothes out and putting them in the clothes basket, picking items up off the ground, getting a lead or a walking stick. She could turn lights on and off," he said.
But the dogs do so much more than help with tasks. "Some of these veterans haven't been able to leave the house because they have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The dogs are trained to provide stress interruptions.
A veteran might show his stress by tapping his feet, so the dog will interrupt that behaviour so the veteran will focus on the dog rather than whatever they were thinking about," he said. Here the inmate taps his foot to demonstrate, and Turbo immediately places his paw on the inmate's foot. "The veteran may elevate their stress levels by heavy breathing and rubbing their hands, so we train the dogs to interrupt.
" Again, he demonstrates. Turbo jumps up and places his paws on the inmate's chest. He said they trained the dogs in all sorts of environments.
"We do a lot of street walking, going into shopping centres and pushing trolleys, elevator and travelator work, we visit hospitals, nursing homes, schools, we jump on and off trains and local buses. We even take them tenpin bowling." The day Suki graduated was a massive moment in the inmate's life.
"It was probably the most rewarding thing I've ever seen in my whole life," he said. "It was the first time my dad told me he was proud of me. "Seeing the connection that Suki had with the veteran pretty much straight away - it was like she forgot about all the playtimes, the training, me picking her poo up, all the treats I gave her in that moment.
"It just shows that the program actually works." For this inmate, it was also a chance to give back to the community. "We're inmates and we've made some bad decisions in our lives.
But I guess we want to try and give back and change," he said. "We also want to change that stigma that all inmates are scumbags. It feels good.
" He said a huge moment for him was leading the Anzac Day March, hearing the crowd clapping and cheering. "The street was lined with people and I couldn't make eye contact with anyone because I was so emotional," he said. "I didn't expect it.
After so long in the prison system, being accepted in the community is amazing. We are treated like normal people. It gives us hope for getting out.
" He said it was more than win-win-win - because the community wins as well. "It is changing the community's lives too - these great people who served our country are getting out and involved again. The inmates are being well rehabilitated - they are not going out with the same mentality they went in with.
" Another inmate in the group is busy with his Labrador Isabel, who he has been training for five months. "She is wicked smart - we are looking for a veteran for her right now," he said. It is a hard prospect that Isabel will be leaving him soon - given his other dog also graduated a week before.
"I had Twix for 12 months. He was my best friend through the worst time in my life. You can't imagine how hard it is to say goodbye," he said.
"I got a letter from my veteran two days ago. Twix is going great, which gave me reassurance. It's so hard to let go, but I see that Twix is out there doing his job.
He's helping his veteran to be independent. "You are giving the veteran a piece of your heart. A piece of you is out there, changing the world for the veteran - he is like a son to me.
I'm like a proud parent. "It is so rewarding. It's the biggest achievement of my life.
" When he first worked with Twix, he saw Twix had a very soft nature. "He was an introvert. It took him two or three months for him to come up to me and open up.
But after that, he's yours forever. He was such a loyal companion. "We are incarcerated - we have good days and bad days just like everyone else.
But when I had him there, he would always be cheering you on and checking up on you. It's all the good things you remember - they make your day. "Those good memories stay with you for the rest of your life.
" Among the chatting group, there is a very familiar face - Mick Nobes. Mick can attest first-hand that every second of work the inmates are doing is making a difference - and so can his service dog Lola, who sits patiently by his side. They have been a team for seven years, and according to Mick, he wouldn't be here without her.
Mick served as a clearance diver in the Navy for 24 years, and it took its toll. "I spent 24 years under water, just about," he said. "I came back pretty messed up and cranky on the world.
I was messed up about the things I saw and did. It took me 10 or 15 years to admit it. "I wasn't getting much sleep, but I wasn't getting out of bed until two in the afternoon.
I wouldn't go shopping." Getting his life back was due to two ladies - Lola and his partner Jodie, who has been a massive support. Lola is a Labrador-Kelpie cross - on the day she was selected for the DCD program, she was meant to be put down the next day.
But both their lives were saved when they were matched together. "She is a godsend," he said. He said there was something very different about 'voicing' his memories or concerns to Lola instead of people.
"It's not going to mess her up, and she can't tell anyone. You don't want to put things in other people's heads. It's hard to say," he said.
"It was so cathartic to say my emotions out loud, and not harm her." When veterans receive their dog, there is an eight-day changeover, so the veteran and dog can get to know each other. "On the third night, Lola came back to my hotel room.
That night, she woke me up from a nightmare, and that's when I knew it was going to work." He used to kick and punch during nightmares. "Lola sleeps in a crate at the end of my bed, and as soon as I start to move or lash out, she turns the light on, jumps up and licks my neck.
I wake up and go through my routine of breathing exercises and so on. As soon as my pulse gets down to 60-mark, Lola will slip off the bed, turn the light off and go back to her crate. "I haven't had a nightmare in nearly three years.
"Four years after getting her, I went off all my medication, and I don't see a psychologist anymore." He says he's now 'back to being Mick'. "I'm a nice man again," he said.
"She saved my life." Mick is now a veteran assistant - he helps the veterans who are receiving dogs to adjust to the change. "I give them tools to handle situations," he said.
Mick says it is great to see more understanding of the profound role the dogs provide. "The community is getting more aware of assistance dogs, which is really cool," he said. Mick said the changes he had seen in the inmates was incredible.
"They've made some bad decisions, but this is their rehabilitation. To see them walk around and people saying 'thank you' - that means the world to these guys. It tells them they are going to be let out one day and can assimilate back into society.
It tells them people will forgive them." Ben Brown reckons he's got the best job in the world. He is overseer of the DCD, so he spends his days, along with the brilliant dog trainers Alison Abbott and Tenkea Priestley, working with the inmates, dogs and veterans.
"We are the only facility in Corrective Services NSW that does this program," he said. Since 2014, they have graduated nearly 100 dogs that have gone to veterans. Ben said hearing the feedback from veterans was the best part of his job.
"The veterans join the Defence Force to defend their country, and a lot of them come home with issues, whether it is PTSD, anxiety or depression. It can be crippling," he said. "They can't do the things that we take for granted, like going to the shops or the doctor's surgery.
We just walk into that environment without thinking about it. But for the people with these conditions, they are always looking for exits, counting how many people are there, looking for suspicious things, like unattended bags. "To see them at such a heightened level when they first come in on day one and then on day eight when they take the dog home - the transition they have made even in those eight days is remarkable.
" He said the dogs' journey was incredible. "We see them come in on day one - some of them are street dogs. They run around, try and hump things, chew sticks.
They are menaces. Then later you see them go to the veteran. You see them working - they have found their purpose.
" The changes he has seen in the inmates are indescribable. "You see them break down barriers, from being in maximum security where you've got to have your back against the wall, it's a dog-eat-dog world, and you've got to be a big, tough individual. Then you see them here in the dog program handing over dogs to veterans in tears.
It brings a sense of normality in life. "Those fellas have made mistakes, but now they are doing something that is bigger than them. "They are so accommodating to the veterans and will do anything to make them feel welcome.
" He said the inmates often visit local schools, mental health units and nursing homes. "As an inmate, they are all associated with a negative persona," he said. "But here we are, part of the community.
" And they are - and they will continue to be. Seeing the dogs sitting quietly at the feet of inmates and sub branch members chatting in the bright sunshine, it is easy to believe that not one inmate who has graduated a dog has ever returned to custody. National agricultural features and special publications journalist for ACM National agricultural features and special publications journalist for ACM Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.
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