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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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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