Dogged Justice

Founder of The Courthouse Dogs Foundation Ellen joins Colleen & Jim this week to share the history of the organization. This deeply personal journey into her career and personal life will shed a light on the passion behind this project. They also help define some of the terms you’ll hear in the episodes going forward.  Show Notes

1:20 - Ellen’s early career

3:00 - Sean (Ellen's son is born)

5:15 - A growing career as a prosecutor

8:30 - Becoming aware of secondary trauma

10:00 - Ellen adjusts her approach toward  people in this process. 

13:00 - Sean’s long term needs lead to the discovery of service dogs.

18:30 - Ellen’s first dog training experience

20:21 - Training the people who handle dogs

24:20 - Ellen learns how K-9 Companions utilized dogs in many scenarios

26:30 - Jeeter comes home but a complication arises. 

30:00 - What a Facility Dog Is

34:30 - Differences between your dog and a Facility Dog

Definitions: 

Prosecutor - Someone who represents the state and when a law has been broken, they are responsible for holding a person accountable. (Mentioned at 6 minute)

Drug Court - Specialized court to manage drug offences. 

Facility Dog - Expertly trained dog partnered with a human to facilitate a specific outcome for those that the dog serves.  

Links To Resources: 

Canine Companions For Independence

Assistants Dogs Of the West 

Chelsea & Jeeter

To learn more about what they are doing to change the criminal justice system, go to courthousedogs.org.

Dogged Justice is an educational podcast focused on sharing the positive impact facility dogs make in the criminal justice system. Hosted by Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Dr Jim Ha and Facility Dog Handler Colleen Phelan each episode will share a new aspect of the world wide work of the Courthouse Dogs Foundation. Weekly 30 - 45 minute episodes will bring you insightful interviews from members of the community, to deep dives into cutting edge research, and Jim’s Training Corner. To learn more about what they are doing to change the criminal justice system go to courthousedogs.org.