(upbeat guitar music)
- [Emily] Preston does the entire base population.
He is actually trained in 25 different custom skills
that you set him apart to be able
to perform those skills and there are currently
166 Courthouse facility dogs, which is
the type of facility dog that he is
and there are a total of three
that work for the federal government.
The other two work for the FBI.
He's the first one to work for the Air Force
or Department of Defense.
With his work as a Courthouse facility dog,
he's available for just the day to day
interactions with the clients coming through the office.
He has the ability to be present in OSI interviews,
be available in court, and then just be
another ambassador for the program
and somebody to be out there helping bring
the program to the forefront of the base population.
He went through two years of training
and he came from an organization that's called
Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dog Organization,
but the type of program that
that organization facilitates is called POOCHES which is,
Prisoners Overcoming Obstacles Creating Hope.
He spent two years at the Mule Creek State Prison
and when working at Mule Creek State Prison
he actually had a team of inmates,
three of them all together, that trained him
from the time he was eight weeks old
until just about a month ago.
To be able to learn all the different cues,
be able to work with him daily,
and be able to really show him
what he needs to accomplish as a facility dog.
About a month ago, I went up there to Mule Creek
with the four other recipients
that were receiving dogs during the spring graduation.
We actually as handlers were trained as well
and we did a public access test
to make sure he has the temperament and the skillset
to be allowed in public, as well as we did
an intensive five day training
and then a graduation at that point.
Then after Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dog Organization
came down here, just to assess the facility
and make sure that he was able to be working
with the skills that he was provided previously
and then also train Teresa and Lt. Hyman
to make sure that they know how
to continue on with his training and work with him.
(fun upbeat music)