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At the Guilford Correctional Center, a hound-mix named Yankee lies in the grass at inmate Delemon Williams’ feet.

“Over, over,” Williams tells Yankee, gently rolling the dog onto his back and rubbing his belly as incentive. Yankee, content and sleepy, closes his eyes. After two weeks, he has his schedule down, and this is nap time. But by the end of his eight-week stint at the center, Yankee will know “roll over” and many other commands.

Each day Williams and a handful of other inmates train homeless dogs from the SPCA of the Triad to improve their chances of adoption. Inmates have trained more than 60 dogs since the “New Leash on Life” program began three years ago.

But the program may end soon. Both the governor’s and the Senate’s proposed budgets include closing Guilford Correctional Center.

Frankie Heath , the founder and director of “New Leash on Life,” and other supporters of the state-funded program are collecting petition signatures and pushing elected officials to keep the prison open.

People concerned about the pet overpopulation problem are always telling Heath, ' “Somebody should do something about this,’ ” she said. “Well, I’m doing something about this. I have a program that has worked.”

With the recent economic downturn, more owners are surrendering animals to the Guilford County Animal Shelter, and the number of healthy animals that must be euthanized may increase, said Marsha Williams , the shelter’s director.

A New Leash on Life helps keep animals out of the shelter “It’s a program we need,” Williams said.

A New Leash on Life benefits the inmates and, in turn, the community, supporters said.

Inmate Tim Johnson, who worked with the dogs for 16 months, said he learned responsibility and patience through the program.

“It was awesome getting a scared, abused dog and watching it transform before your eyes into a loving, trusting friend,” Johnson said.

The dogs, about three at a time, are crate-trained in a trailer nicknamed “The Dog House.” Inmates let the dogs out by 6 a.m. daily and train and socialize the dogs until about 8:30 p.m., with the exception of a mid-day doggy nap. The dogs learn to walk on a leash and heel and are taught basic obedience and a few tricks such as “high five” and “speak.”

Each dog has two trainers, so if one inmate gets too frustrated, he can hand off the dog to the other person. The dogs can sense your attitude, inmate Daniel Chrisco said.

“You learn to be productive and positive, which are things you need going out of the gate,” he said.

Rhodney Yates said he and the other inmates can relate to the dogs. Both are trying to improve themselves in a structured environment, and “they just want a chance,” he said.

Yates, who has been looking for work-release jobs, is trained as a welder, but there aren’t many job opportunities in that field now because of the economy, he said. So, he’s considering work at a veterinarian’s office or dog day care facility.

“I can work with animals now,” Yates said. “It definitely gave me another skill.”

Every eight weeks, the prison hosts a graduation ceremony for the dogs, which perform on an agility course the inmates built. Usually, the dogs go home to their adoptive families that day.

“We miss them, but it’s really rewarding when you see them go to a good family,” Yates said.

Greensboro resident Katrin Deil and her dog, Charlie, have attended many of the graduation ceremonies.

“I think everybody should get a second chance, not just the dogs but the inmates, too,” Deil said.

Deil adopted Charlie, a New Leash on Life graduate, in November 2007. She had been worried about being able to handle the young lab/shepherd mix, but when she met him “I just fell in love with him” she said.

“It was amazing how well they trained him,” she said. Charlie has such good manners that he’ll walk down the aisle with Deil when she marries in May.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at jkennedy@news-record.com or 449-4610.