Derck and his family have adopted 2 dogs from Paws in Prison. Emma, their sweet blue heeler mix, was adopted around 2015. Emma loves big! Not only does she take care of her immediate family and stand watch if anyone is ill, she moved in with the grandfather after his wife passed and provided great joy to him for the rest of his life.

Back with Derck, Emma lives quite an exciting life and often accompanies him to his job as a teacher in his school near Fredricksburg. Not only does she have great rapport with the students and help to keep them calmer, she also actually saved a teacher’s life! She was in the room by herself with a teacher who had slipped into a diabetic coma. Emma raised such a ruckus that she alerted nearby staff members who called EMS and the teacher was rescued just in time. She is very attached to Derck’s adult son whom she sleeps with him every night.

Bandit is the latest PIP pup who they adopted in May. He is goofy, fun-loving, and totally devoted to Derck. During a recent illness, Bandit barely left his side. Protecting the house is Bandit’s number one goal in life, where he regularly patrols for security breaches by the Amazon Cartel.

Both dogs adore going out to the family farm. Bandit’s favorite farm activity is riding the 4-wheeler with his people.

We are grateful for adopters like Derck and his family!

The annual Cutest Critter contest is coming soon! In September, we will open an online contest to submit photos of your pet. The top 12 photos with the most votes will receive a  2027 Friends of Paws in Prison Cutest Critter calendar with each month represented by one of the top 12 Cutest Critter photo winners. These calendars (2026 pictured below) will subsequently be available on our website after the contest ends.

We are adding more prizes this year! There will be prizes (in addition to a calendar) for first, second, and third place winners and the Paws in Prison alumni dog that gets the most votes will be our "spokesdog" for 2027! Thanks to advances in technology, that special dog will be featured on social media, our website, and in our newsletters for a year!

So start snapping those photos to prepare your Cutest Critter for our second largest fundraiser of the year! Details to follow at the end of August via social media and in the September newsletter.

As summer begins to fade and the first hints of fall arrive, we invite you to fall in love with our dogs all over again.

Every wagging tail has a story.

Every leash represents hope.

Every Paws Day Pass has the power to change a life.

As we head into August, September, and October, we hope you'll consider joining one of our incredible Paws Day Pass outings. These special outings are led by graduates of the Paws in Prison program, women who once trained dogs while incarcerated at the Coleman Unit in Lockhart are giving back to the very program that helped change their lives. The graduates partner with our Paws Day Pass volunteers and the dogs currently in training, creating an experience that is truly unique.

Together, you'll spend the day out in the community—walking through town, visiting local parks, enjoying lunch on a restaurant patio, exploring pet-friendly stores, or simply introducing a dog to the everyday sights and sounds they'll experience once they're adopted.

These real-world adventures provide invaluable training opportunities that simply can't be recreated inside the prison walls. They allow our graduate trainers to observe how each dog responds to new environments, unfamiliar people, distractions, noises, and everyday situations while sharing those observations with the women currently training the dogs inside the Coleman Unit.

Every outing teaches us something. Sometimes we discover a dog is completely confident in a busy store. Sometimes we learn they need a little more work around bicycles, loud noises, or relaxing on a restaurant patio. Those lessons are taken back into the program, allowing the women inside to continue refining each dog's training before they begin their next chapter in a forever home.

This Fall, Commit to Changing a Life

One day.

One outing.

One dog.

One second chance.

Your participation doesn't just help prepare a dog for adoption; it helps continue a cycle of rehabilitation unlike any other. Women who have successfully rebuilt their own lives are now mentoring the next generation of dogs, volunteers, and program participants, proving that second chances don't end at the prison gates.

By signing up for a Paws Day Pass, you become part of that story. This fall don't just witness lives changing. Help change one.

Graciously, Beyond the Bark sponsors this program! Please help us by volunteering so this benefit to our dogs doesn't disappear!

Thank You to Our Paws Day Pass Regular, Committed Volunteers!

We are sorry if we omitted any names from those of you who helped us in any capacity this month, but we do not always know the names of our Paws in Prison angels! (Note that Venmo contributions are especially hard to track!)

Monthly donations, no matter the size, help us know what we can count on each month. Thank you to Eve B, Gale B, Sharlene E, Daniel H, Marcus L, Debbie M, Jennifer K, Shelly R, and Diana S for your continued support!