We’ve delivered our programme across young offender institutions, Category B, and Category C prisons since 2019. We currently operate at HMP Fosse Way in Leicester. We know how to adapt to your regime, your population, and your education provision.

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Bringing Restart Dogs to Your Establishment

Restart Dogs CIC delivers canine assisted rehabilitation programmes within prisons and young offenders institutions in England and Wales. The programme provides CPD-accredited vocational education, structured purposeful activity, and measurable rehabilitation outcomes, while producing fully trained assistance dogs for Armed Forces veterans and people with disabilities.

We work with both public sector (HMPPS) and private sector (Serco, G4S, Sodexo) prison operators. The programme is designed to integrate with existing establishment routines and support Reducing Reoffending strategies, Regional Outcomes frameworks, and purposeful activity requirements.

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What the Programme Includes

A full-time, five-day-a-week programme running throughout the year. Selected learners become primary handlers for puppies from 8 weeks of age, working with them across an 18-month training cycle.

CPD UK-accredited education at Levels 1 through 4, delivered in partnership with the School of Canine Science. Learners gain nationally recognised qualifications in canine behaviour and training, providing a genuine employment pathway in the dog training and animal welfare sector on release.

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All programme staffing, including qualified, ABTC-accredited animal behaviourists and experienced dog trainers. Restart Dogs is not a volunteer-led programme. The quality of the professionals delivering the programme is what makes it work.

All dog-related costs, including acquisition, veterinary care, food, equipment, insurance, and foster family support. The establishment provides suitable indoor and outdoor space.

The staff foster model, where prison staff volunteer to take the dogs home every evening and weekend. Foster families are trained in low-stress handling and programme methodology. This component improves staff engagement, morale, and the quality of staff-prisoner relationships across the establishment.

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Ongoing programme evaluation and outcome monitoring, contributing to the national evidence base for canine assisted interventions in custodial settings.

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Cost

The programme costs £94,800 plus VAT per year, per site, on a minimum three-year contract.

This is a fixed annual cost with no hidden charges. It covers everything required to deliver the programme. The establishment's contribution is space and learner access.

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For context, this is less than twice the annual cost of a single prison place (£47,000+). If the programme prevents even one participant from reoffending, the savings to the public purse exceed its entire annual cost.

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How the Programme Fits Within the HMPPS Landscape

Restart Dogs supports multiple strategic priorities within the current HMPPS framework:

Reducing Reoffending: The programme directly addresses desistance factors including employability, social skills, emotional regulation, substance misuse, and identity shift. Learners develop a prosocial identity as dog trainers, which provides a narrative of change and a practical career pathway.

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Purposeful Activity: The programme provides structured, full-time purposeful activity five days a week, contributing to establishment KPIs for time out of cell and engagement in meaningful work.

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Education and Skills: CPD-accredited qualifications at Levels 1 to 4 provide nationally recognised credentials. The programme can sit alongside existing education provision or form part of a blended curriculum.

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Staff Wellbeing and Retention: The staff foster model creates a unique benefit for prison staff, improving morale and providing a positive reason to engage with the programme and its learners. Establishments report improved staff-prisoner relationships as a direct result.

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Community Benefit: Every assistance dog trained through the programme goes on to support a veteran or person with a disability in the community. This creates a visible, tangible connection between the prison and positive community outcomes.

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Which Establishments Suit the Programme?

Restart Dogs can operate in Category B, C, or D adult prisons and young offenders institutions. The programme is most effective in establishments where:

Learners are serving sentences long enough to participate for a meaningful period (ideally 12 months or more, though shorter-sentence learners can take assistant handler roles).

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There is suitable indoor space (a dedicated classroom or workshop area) and secure outdoor space for training.

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The establishment is willing to support the staff foster model.

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There is senior leadership buy-in and a commitment to rehabilitation-focused activity.

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We have operated successfully in young offenders institutions (HMYOI Werrington), Category B prisons (HMP Dovegate), and Category C resettlement prisons (HMP Fosse Way). We are actively seeking new sites across England and Wales.

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Getting Started

If you are a Governor, Head of Reducing Reoffending, Education Manager, or Contracts Manager and would like to explore whether Restart Dogs could work at your establishment, we welcome an initial conversation.

We can provide a full programme brochure, a detailed business case document, and arrange a site visit to an existing programme. We are also happy to present to senior leadership teams, HMPPS regional leads, or commissioning panels.

Contact: office@restartdogs.com

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What we deliver

• Fully CPD UK accredited vocational education in canine behaviour and training 

• Practical, apprenticeship-style learning suited to learners who’ve disengaged from traditional education

• Improvements in learner behaviour, engagement, and drug test compliance

• Better staff morale and engagement through the foster carer model

• Fully trained assistance dogs placed with Bravehounds for Armed Forces veterans. Five dogs already partnered, five more in training and due to be matched during 2026

• Rehabilitation outcomes for learners and assistance dogs for people who need them, from the same programme

What we need from you

• Ground floor space with direct outdoor access

• Purpose-built classroom and kennel area with kitchen/prep facilities

• Secure outdoor exercise and toileting area

• 10 learner places (enhanced status) plus 2-3 ancillary roles

• Staff willing to foster dogs overnight and at weekends

• Regime flexibility for puppy welfare requirements

 

The cost-benefit case

A single prison place costs the taxpayer over £47,000 per year. The cost of reoffending, including courts, police, victims, and the prison place itself, is estimated at £50,000-£65,000 or more per individual.

Restart Dogs delivers intensive rehabilitation that addresses substance misuse, social skills, employability, and self-regulation at the same time. If even one learner avoids reoffending, the savings exceed the programme’s cost.

Each trained assistance dog represents a value of £20,000+ to the charity that receives it, and a dog that goes on to change someone’s daily life.

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The education pathway

Our courses are fully CPD UK accredited, developed specifically for custodial settings and supported by the School of Canine Science as our education partner. The programme is designed for learners of all levels. Many of our participants haven’t been in formal education for years.

Learning is apprenticeship-style: practical, hands-on, and led by the learner’s own progress with their dog. Theory supports practice, not the other way round.

Learners can study from Level 1 through to Level 3 in canine behaviour and training, gaining nationally recognised qualifications and real employability in the dog training industry on release.

Learner selection

Participation in Restart Dogs is something learners work toward. Candidates must:

• Hold enhanced prisoner status

• Be drug-free or actively engaged with substance misuse services

• Be committed to engaging with education and the prison regime

• Have a minimum remaining sentence length to allow meaningful participation

 

We’ve worked with young offenders aged 15-18, and with adult prisoners on both longer and shorter sentences. Primary dog-raising roles suit longer sentences; assistant roles suit those with less time.

The programme includes mandatory drug testing. Learners consistently maintain clean tests. The bond with their dog creates a motivation that sanctions on their own don’t.

What we need from a site

• Ground floor space with direct outdoor access (puppies can’t wait for escorts upstairs for toilet training)

• A large industrial-type area for indoor kennels, plus kitchen and preparation space

• A secure outdoor toileting and exercise area

• Space for 10 learners plus 2-3 ancillary roles

• Staff willing to volunteer as foster carers (typically 4-6 at any time)

• Flexibility for puppy welfare requirements within the regime

 

We adapt our programme to each site. We’ve delivered in YOIs, Category B, and Category C settings, and are happy to discuss how the model could work in your establishment.

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Dog welfare

Welfare is non-negotiable. Our dogs are raised using evidence-based, least intrusive, positive reinforcement methods. All training decisions are made in the interests of the dog first. Foster carers are trained in low-stress handling, trigger stacking awareness, and continuing the training methodology used during the day.

The programme is overseen by an ABTC-accredited animal behaviourist.

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