Are you looking for a new furry family member? A furry family member that has already been well-trained?

Well, then, take a look at the doggies now up for adoption below, trained by participants in the Canine Cellmates Beyond the Bars program.

Canine CellMates is a program that pairs men caught up in the criminal justice system with rescue dogs, and teaches the participants to train the dogs.

The Smyrna-based organization recently launched the Beyond the Bars initiative in partnership with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.

Beyond the Bars is a pre-trial diversion and sentencing alternative program. Canine Cellmates Executive Director Susan Jacobs-Meadows said she believes this is the first program of its type in the United States. It’s part of a trend away from purely punitive approaches toward criminal justice, and toward programs that provide alternatives to incarceration.

The program also counsels the men in skills needed to avoid incarceration, and upon successful completion of the program, the legal proceedings against them will be terminated, similar to the outcome of successful program completion in Cobb County’s Accountability Courts.

But enough with the introduction. Let’s move along to the doggies. And I’ve only featured a few here. Be sure to follow the big link at the bottom for more photos and more details on how you can bring one of these pups into your home:

[All photos provided by Canine Cellmates]

Bubbles

Here’s Bubbles.

Here’s what Canine Cellmates has to say about Bubbles:

Bubbles is a very young girl – about 11 weeks now. She came to us at about 8 weeks old, when she was going to be tossed out in below freezing temps to survive on her own. What were we supposed to do? So she came here and she is already learning, and loving it! We aren’t quite sure what is in this mix? Maybe some mastiff? If the growth chart is correct, this girl is going to be over 100 pounds at full growth! Right now, she is gaining confidence daily, meeting new people, and learning with the other dogs.
Are big beautiful girls your jam? This cutie pie will be tons – and we mean tons – of fun as your new best friend!

Bronco

Now let me introduce you to Bronco.

Here’s Canine Cellmate’s description of Bronco:

Bronco is an extremely handsome boy with a gorgeous flashy brindle coat, and one of the cutest underbites we’ve ever seen! He’s a large muscular boy, weighing in at a little over 65 pounds. He dearly loves to play, and he would love someone who was up for a long hike, or a fun romp in the yard. 

Gremlin

When I visited Canine Cellmates to watch the participants train the dogs, Gremlin was living in the front office, and he was friendly and excited to see everyone.

Canine cellmates wrote this about how Gremin came to be in the program:

Gremlin joined the family when we helped get him out of a bad situation. We don’t know all of the particulars about how life had been for then 8 week old pup, but we do know that his start in life wasn’t very good.

​We believe him to to be a yellow lab mix. We know that he’s a beautiful cream color with darker accents on his ears. When he arrived, he was 4 1/2 pounds of extreme cuteness. He is still tons of cuteness in a slightly larger package now. At 22 weeks, he is 32 pounds, which should put him at around 70 pounds when he is fully grown.

Jazzy

Canine Cellmates has this to say about Jazzy:

Jazzy came back to us from her adopter, who had a change in his mobility, and was no longer able to care for her. The good news is that no matter where Jazzy goes, she is one happy girl! She went from a beloved home back into a boarding situation. She’s happy anyway. She doesn’t have the freedom to pick her favorite napping spot now. Guess what – she’s happy!

Know what else would make Jazzy happy? To be in a new home! Jazzy is around 7 1/2 years old. We believe her to be a shar-pittie (sharpei, pittie mix). She weighs about 65 pounds. She would prefer to be an only dog adored by as many two legged family members as possible, but she would probably be okay with an mellow boyfriend around her age.

Visit the Canine Cellmates website for more

There are a lot more photos, and more doggies, on the Canine Cellmates website, along with information on how to bring one of these wonderful potential family members into your home:

>> Follow this link to see more photos, and to learn about Canine Cellmates and Beyond the Bars