Forsyth Sheriff Pups With Purpose Begins Training Dog Program

CUMMING, GA — Man's best friend has taken on a new role at the Forsyth County Jail, helping not only pups, but the inmates they work with.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday that its established Pups with Purpose will be adding a new type of program in the form of therapy dog training.

The Pups with Purpose program was established in 2019 by Sheriff Ron Freeman as a way for select inmates at the jail to give back to society by providing foster care and basic obedience training to shelter dogs. In turn, the inmates, who are all female, are able to enhance their social and vocational skills to better succeed once released from jail.

"Pups with Purpose is changing lives, both inside the jail and beyond its walls," Freeman said. "I'm so very proud of the deputies, our partners and the inmates who have done an incredible job training these pups to serve others."

The inmates come from the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program and must apply and be accepted to work with the dogs. So far, 15 inmates have participated, with 69 rescue dogs finding adoptive families.

On Wednesday, Freeman announced the Canine Good Citizen program to provide more therapy dogs to various groups, including the Forsyth County Senior Center, 911 Center and local schools.

"We're not only helping the animals and these places in need, but we're also helping our Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program," Freeman said on Wednesday. "I've been doing this for three decades and I have yet to see a program have a bigger impact. Not only are we able to adopt a dog and provide a needed service. But we're also providing a service to these inmates to give them something to be proud of, something to work on and something to do, so when they do get out of here and graduate, they got a better chance to not come back to jail."

Dog trainer and owner of Fido's World, Scot Rucker, is leading the training program and donating his services.

"We have high hopes for these pups and all the training they've been through," Rucker said. "The fun part is working with these ladies and hoping when they get out of here, they stay out of here. The dogs are fun, and I love seeing the dogs go out and serve the community. But the emotional part is hoping these inmates are able to do better for themselves."

This expansion of the training program came to fruition when a litter of seven Labradoodle puppies were surrendered to the Forsyth County Animal Shelter. Their assignments will be:

• Marley and Gable will serve at the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
• Hank will serve at the Forsyth County Senior Services Center
• Merle will serve at the Forsyth Emergency Management/911 Center
• Colt will serve at Forsyth Central High School
• Ruger will serve at the Office of School Safety and Discipline
• Jack will serve at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center

The Forsyth County Animal Shelter is providing all food and medical care for the pups while they are in the program.

The pups joined the program at just 8-weeks-old, and began working with the inmates on basic obedience, general exposure, and house training. County departments were able to request one of the pups, so long as they understood the 15-week training requirement and successful completion of the Canine Good Citizen's assessment.

The pups, which are now about 18-weeks-old, are set to be released to their new handlers on Dec. 1 where they will be fostered until they complete training. After graduation, they will be certified therapy dogs and will be officially adopted by their handler or department.