News and Press Releases
Dog lover partners with prisoners, again
A woman who has dedicated her life to working with dogs in all capacities is now combining her talents with the Langley Animal Protection Shelter and an Abbotsford prison.
One could say that Jayne Nelson is a passionate person.
Studying to become a dog trainer straight out of high school, the south Surrey resident was so focused on her small-paying career that she barely managed to eat from day to day.
"Are you kidding?" she said when asked if she had any financial burdens throughout her dog training career. "I nearly starved. Twenty-two years ago, I made $400 a month, lived in a 20-foot trailer, and worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week. My mom sent me food." Her drive didn't let up.
Working seven days a week with no vacation time for the first 10 years of her career, she said her family had to come visit her at work.
"I just knew I wanted to be a dog trainer," she said.
Working with dogs in every possible way throughout her career, from grooming to training them as police dogs to cajoling them into acting on movie sets, Nelson always put her full energy into everything she did.
But it wasn't until 1996, when she partnered with the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women, that she truly found her life's calling.
The prison had tried and failed at several different dog programs, which were meant to offer life training and reintegration skills to the inmates, and Nelson felt she knew the key to making it work.
"You had to have a business inside the institution," Nelson said of the dog kennel she set up at the prison. "We had $100,000 in revenue per year, which paid all of the expenses of the program. BCCW wanted a therapeutic component [of the kennel program] but they didn't want it to cost them a lot of money."
Nelson set the kennel up to have 10 to 12 inmates working with the dogs at any given time. She also taught program participants both theoretical and practical skills that helped them get jobs and build lives for themselves once out of prison.
Loving every minute of her work, Nelson said she was devastated when the institution - and her dog kennel program - were shut down in 2004.
Not knowing where to turn, Nelson decided to open up her own kennel just outside of Langley, at 184th St. and 32nd Ave., to accommodate the many customers with which she had built a rapport during her time at BCCW.
She was also called on by Langley Animal Protection Society shelter manager Sean Baker in August 2004, when his staff needed help judging the behaviour of several rescued dogs every week.
"Jayne's a pretty phenomenal person," Baker said. "She's worked with shelters and other non-profits. She brings a really solid approach to things."
While Jayne was enjoying her work, as she was still playing with and training man's best friend every day, her passion for working within the prison system refused to subside.
Therefore, shortly after meeting one another, Nelson and Baker decided to try and set up a partnership between the dog trainer, LAPS, and the Fraser Valley Institution - a correctional facility in Abbotsford, much like the one Nelson had worked in Burnaby.
While the pair guaranteed funding from VanCity almost immediately and presented a solid business plan to FVI, they waited nearly two years for all the paperwork to be cleared in order to set up shop.
Getting the nod on Aug. 3, Nelson's program was already fully functional by Aug. 8, with six shelter dogs from LAPS living at the institution and six kennels occupied by outside dogs.
Nelson has a number of women who take care of the dogs each day, attending to their needs and giving them love and attention.
They also become responsible for placing LAPS's shelter dogs. As the shelter dogs often have slight behavioural problems, inmates work closely with potential adopters, taking them through three training sessions with their future dog.
Only three weeks after the program began, its first graduate - Spud - has already found a new home.
And for Nelson, who beams when speaking about the women she has worked with over the years in prisons, it feels like she has come home once again.
"It makes me smile just to go there [FVI]," she said. "[The women are] so enthusiastic. It seriously fills you up to bring that kind of joy.
"I feel like it's the absolute best use of my talents. I just really, really, really like doing this work. It's like the dream job for me."
Seeing the enthusiasm of the women, whom Nelson said work extremely hard every day caring for both the shelter and kennel dogs, the dog trainer hopes to one day set up a similar program with troubled youth and at a men's institution.
But, she said with a smile, "women will probably always be my favourite."
Advancenews (Langley)
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Studying to become a dog trainer straight out of high school, the south Surrey resident was so focused on her small-paying career that she barely managed to eat from day to day.
"Are you kidding?" she said when asked if she had any financial burdens throughout her dog training career. "I nearly starved. Twenty-two years ago, I made $400 a month, lived in a 20-foot trailer, and worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week. My mom sent me food." Her drive didn't let up.
Working seven days a week with no vacation time for the first 10 years of her career, she said her family had to come visit her at work.
"I just knew I wanted to be a dog trainer," she said.
Working with dogs in every possible way throughout her career, from grooming to training them as police dogs to cajoling them into acting on movie sets, Nelson always put her full energy into everything she did.
But it wasn't until 1996, when she partnered with the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women, that she truly found her life's calling.
The prison had tried and failed at several different dog programs, which were meant to offer life training and reintegration skills to the inmates, and Nelson felt she knew the key to making it work.
"You had to have a business inside the institution," Nelson said of the dog kennel she set up at the prison. "We had $100,000 in revenue per year, which paid all of the expenses of the program. BCCW wanted a therapeutic component [of the kennel program] but they didn't want it to cost them a lot of money."
Nelson set the kennel up to have 10 to 12 inmates working with the dogs at any given time. She also taught program participants both theoretical and practical skills that helped them get jobs and build lives for themselves once out of prison.
Loving every minute of her work, Nelson said she was devastated when the institution - and her dog kennel program - were shut down in 2004.
Not knowing where to turn, Nelson decided to open up her own kennel just outside of Langley, at 184th St. and 32nd Ave., to accommodate the many customers with which she had built a rapport during her time at BCCW.
She was also called on by Langley Animal Protection Society shelter manager Sean Baker in August 2004, when his staff needed help judging the behaviour of several rescued dogs every week.
"Jayne's a pretty phenomenal person," Baker said. "She's worked with shelters and other non-profits. She brings a really solid approach to things."
While Jayne was enjoying her work, as she was still playing with and training man's best friend every day, her passion for working within the prison system refused to subside.
Therefore, shortly after meeting one another, Nelson and Baker decided to try and set up a partnership between the dog trainer, LAPS, and the Fraser Valley Institution - a correctional facility in Abbotsford, much like the one Nelson had worked in Burnaby.
While the pair guaranteed funding from VanCity almost immediately and presented a solid business plan to FVI, they waited nearly two years for all the paperwork to be cleared in order to set up shop.
Getting the nod on Aug. 3, Nelson's program was already fully functional by Aug. 8, with six shelter dogs from LAPS living at the institution and six kennels occupied by outside dogs.
Nelson has a number of women who take care of the dogs each day, attending to their needs and giving them love and attention.
They also become responsible for placing LAPS's shelter dogs. As the shelter dogs often have slight behavioural problems, inmates work closely with potential adopters, taking them through three training sessions with their future dog.
Only three weeks after the program began, its first graduate - Spud - has already found a new home.
And for Nelson, who beams when speaking about the women she has worked with over the years in prisons, it feels like she has come home once again.
"It makes me smile just to go there [FVI]," she said. "[The women are] so enthusiastic. It seriously fills you up to bring that kind of joy.
"I feel like it's the absolute best use of my talents. I just really, really, really like doing this work. It's like the dream job for me."
Seeing the enthusiasm of the women, whom Nelson said work extremely hard every day caring for both the shelter and kennel dogs, the dog trainer hopes to one day set up a similar program with troubled youth and at a men's institution.
But, she said with a smile, "women will probably always be my favourite."
Advancenews (Langley)
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
