Working hand-in-paw

Jonathon Janousek admits he’s taken some wrong turns in his life.

But now he’s working to turn his life around, thanks to K-9 Penpals.

K-9 Penpals is a volunteer-based non-profit organization. The group selects dogs from the Beatrice Humane Society, Capital Humane Society in Lincoln and Central Nebraska Humane Society in Grand lsland.

The program began when Julie Thornburg, K-9 Penpals representative for the Beatrice Humane Society and Dr. R. Gene White, president of the program, saw a show called “Cell Dogs” on Animal Planet. They both thought that a program like that could be done in Nebraska.

Selected dogs are transported to the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, where they’re introduced to their handlers.

The handlers, all inmates at the State Penitentiary, are with the dogs a minimum of 12 hours a day. They are responsible for teaching the dogs obedience. Each dog gets two handlers, one primary and one secondary, to make sure they have a handler at all time. The dogs are not allowed to be in the hospital or the lunch room, so that’s when the handlers can switch the dog back and forth, Thornburg said.

The obedience program runs for nine weeks and after a week or two break, new dogs are introduced. The average number of dogs in the program is around nine to 12 for each rotation.

The goal of the program is to teach the shelter dogs obedience, which program organizers hope increases a dog’s chances for adoption.

Since the program began, 190 dogs have been saved from euthanasia in shelters. Twenty volunteers are involved and 115 inmates have been handlers.

At a dog graduation on Monday, the group and the handlers celebrated four years of success with the program. This was the 21st group of dogs to pass through the program.

Janousek has been training dogs for three years.

He has been lucky enough to get the same dog twice, because his and fellow handler, Andy Blume’s dog, Holly, a golden doodle, is taking her training a step further.

At the celebration Monday, K-9 Penpals announced a partnership with DomestiPups, a Lincoln group that trains dogs to be service and therapy dogs.

Holly is the first to take on the extra training. Not a full-service dog, Holly is an EduPup. She will be taking a plane to Indiana soon to her new home, a school where administrators will study the effects Holly has on children with developmental disabilities, Janousek said.

After training so many dogs, Janousek admitted that he hasn’t just helped the dogs, but the dogs have helped him.

“Look at Holly, you just can’t be in a bad mood around her. It’s hard to hold a grudge around a dog,” he said.

“They gave me a lot of time. I was a so-called ‘normal kid’ and I took a wrong turn. But having the dogs here really makes things positive,” Janousek said.

“We weren’t living the best lives when we were out there,” Blume said.

Although Blume is serving a 20 to 30 year prison sentence, he feels he’s happier now than he’s ever been.

“And it’s not because I’m in prison, but because of what I’m doing with my time here,” he said.

Blume appreciates the self-esteem that the program gives all of the handlers. He also said it’s an incentive to stay out of trouble, because if they’re in trouble, they don’t get to spend time in the program.

Peter Sufferdini hasn’t spoke publicly since he was in fifth grade. Thanks to his pup, he addressed a large crowd at the graduation ceremony.

“It makes you think, who’s training who?” he laughed.

Kim Osterman, representative for the Beatrice Humane Society, couldn’t thank the handlers enough.

“The behavior of the dogs is a testament of the hard work they’ve done. I wish you could have seen [the dogs] on their first day. That’s a really a testament of the work they’ve done,” she said.

After the ceremony, the dogs that have been up for adoption prepare for their new home and new owner. The new owners prepare as well, taking a one hour course to learn the commands the handlers have taught their dogs. After the course, the new owners get to meet their pets.

Janousek’s father, Jerry Janousek, had adopted one of Jonathon’s dogs.

“She’s so spoiled,” the elder Janousek laughed. “I’m sure she’s forgotten some of her commands.”

“So was it worth it?” Deputy Warden Rick Cruickshank asked the handlers at the end of the ceremony.

“Yeah!” they yelled in unison.

“We’re very proud of you,” Cruickshank said. “You’ve done an outstanding job.”