Canine Companions provides service dogs, free of charge, to individuals with disabilities who need them. As a school nurse, this program's mission spoke directly to my heart. John and I began our journey as volunteer puppy raisers with Canine Companions on 2/27/25 when we welcomed our first puppy, Lanai, into our home, aka "Camp Cheyney." We are co-raising Lanai with FCI Beaumont. In this program, he is spending 8 months in a special program where he is learning his basic training while he is being raised in a prison by incarcerated handlers. He will then come back to us in October for "finishing" (learning while exploring the world outside of prison) before entering professional training.
While waiting for Lanai to return to us, we have had the honor of hosting six other amazing pups in various stages of their journeys as Canine Companions puppies here at "Camp Cheyney." All of these puppies have been part of the South Central Region Prison Puppy Raising program. This program is special to us because these puppies have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on both the lives of their incarcerated handlers and the program graduates they will eventually serve! The statistics speak for themselves:
To date, the success rate of prison-raised dogs in SCR is close to 80% The average in-home puppy raiser has a success rate of 40%. The prison program essentially doubles the chance that a puppy will successfully complete the program to become a service dog!
To date, incarcerated adults who finish the Canine Companions puppy raising program at their federal prison have less than a 1% rate of recidivism. This is almost unheard of in any other program!
To honor the hard work and dedication of these incarcerated handlers, "Camp Cheyney" has teamed up with "SCR Naming a Prison Puppy" to provide an opportunity for our incarcerated handlers to name two puppies this year. Our team's goal during "Dog Fest" is to raise $30,000 to sponsor naming two puppies. You can help honor this cause with a small donation- EVERY DOLLAR HELPS!
As a special thank-you to my friends and family, I will be sending all donors of $10 or more to my page a special Christmas ornament as a thank you. Please PM me your mailing address. Your love and support for "Camp Cheyney" have been and continue to be, invaluable!
Much Love,
Chris, John, and all the pups of "Camp Cheyney"