Unleashing Potential, Improving Lives

Paws for Progress originated in 2011 at the PhD project of Dr Rebecca Leonardi, an ambitious project which involved a collaboration between the University of Stirling and the Scottish Prison Service. To ensure the continued sustainability and success of this ground breaking work, Paws for Progress became registered as a Community Interest Company in 2014. Naturally an evidence based approach remains a key aspect of our work.

At Paws for Progress we specialise in collecting and evaluating data to provide solid evidence on the impact that our services are having. This ensures that we are meeting the needs of our service users and enables us to continue enhancing our services. We work in close partnership with the University of Stirling to achieve this, and are very excited to collaborate with Stirling Human Animal Interaction Research (SHAIR) Centre.

We have carried out extensive research on our rescue dog training programme at HMP & YOI Polmont, and since 2017 have been disseminating our findings through the publication of research papers in peer reviewed journals.

Learn more:

Leonardi, R. J., Buchanan-Smith, H. M., McIvor, G., & Vick, S. J. (2017). “You think you’re helping them, but they’re helping you too”: Experiences of Scottish male young offenders participating in a dog training program. International journal of environmental research and public health14(8), 945.

Leonardi, R. J., Vick, S. J., & Buchanan-Smith, H. M. (2024). Participation in a Prison-Based Training Programme Is Beneficial for Rescue Dogs. Animals14(11), 1530.

 

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Every donation, large or small, will help us to enhance the well-being of people and animals