The term Canis lupus familiaris might sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo at first, but it's really the scientific trinomial name for man's best friend.

Dogs have been around for decades. Domesticated from wolves an estimated 15,000 years ago, puppies and their adult canine counterparts are known for softening hearts and saving lives. And for inmates at San Quentin, puppy pals are saving lives in a whole new way.

Last year, officials at the California DOC jumpstarted the Pen Pals program by joining forces with the Marin County Humane Society.

Pen Pals finds dogs that are typically very hard to place in a new home because of their difficult nature or aggressive attitude. But these rough dogs have found a habitat at San Quentin where inmates train them to become well-behaved candidates for adoption.

"Basically, the Humane Society travels around the state of California and finds dogs that are about to be euthanized. We screen the dogs to see whether they are aggressive towards people, and if they aren't we bring them to San Quentin for our inmate trainers," explains CADOC Public Information Officer Vernell Crittendon, founding member of Pen Pals. "Once they come to San Quentin they are assigned to an inmate handler and they live with the handler 24-hours a day, seven days a week."

The inmate handlers are something special too. Every inmate handler works with the offender-run San Quentin Fire Department. The SQFD is dispatched to fires that take place in San Quentin buildings. Any inmate chosen to work as a firefighter or handler must meet certain requirements; they cannot have a disciplinary record or any crimes against animals on their records, and they must have at least six months left in their sentences so they can complete training for each pup.

"Once the inmates are chosen to participate, we conduct an in-depth, three-day training session with them," says Larry Carson, canine evaluator for the Marin County Humane Society and coordinator of Pen Pals. "We talk about health issues and different types of problems the handlers might encounter with the dogs. They also have plenty of reading materials, and we show them videos about behavior, body language and ways to play with the dog."

Carson and Crittendon teamed up to create this program after seeing a special on television about dog training at the Nevada State Penitentiary. Carson hopped on a plane to Nevada and took a full tour of the facility and the program. Impressed with the way offenders worked with would-be bad dogs, he was determined to partner with the CADOC.

"I just knew this would be a tremendous win-win situation," says Carson. "The inmates are learning to care about something other than themselves, and we're able to turn the lives of these dogs around and make them into great pets. We take adolescent, rowdy dogs that just need structure and training. They are usually difficult to find homes for, but with the San Quentin program, it just changes everything."

The partnership is successful on a number of levels. The Humane Society has helped the DOC obtain grants to absorb most of the Pen Pal costs. Additionally, Humane Society officials established a protocol that requires each inmate to keep a daily journal of life with their puppy. Twice a week, HS shows up at San Quentin to ensure the dogs are making progress. Once the dog is adopted, the log of puppy progress is given to the adoptive family so they can track how their particular pet has grown up.

So far, more than 50 dogs have been trained during the six-week program, all of which have been adopted through San Quentin. Many of the dogs are adopted by COs, who fall in love with the furry friends once they arrive at the facility. According to Crittendon, that's another benefit of Pen Pals.

"We're seeing lines of communication open up," explains Crittendon. "The inmates and the staff come in contact with their humanity through this program. Offenders and COs that have never spoken start to talk because of the dogs. COs want to know about the training and inmates want a chance to show what they have learned. We're seeing inmates talk to offenders they used to hate. These dogs are a great ice breaker for the facility."

San Quentin officials also allow those staff and inmates uncomfortable with canines to not participate in the program. Crittendon maintains that there have been no incidents with the dogs since the program started, and every dog has been successfully adopted with no reported problems or troubles. In fact, most of the adoptive puppy parents send letters of thanks to the inmate trainers for working so hard to train their new pets.

"The inmates really take on a lot of responsibility with this program," says Crittendon. "These inmates have a dog and accept that responsibility wholeheartedly. These puppies are constantly chewing and leaving droppings. They learn to handle that in a very positive manner and they take it all in stride."

Crittendon also has a few tips for any DOC thinking about starting up their own division of Pen Pals.

First, make sure to establish a community partnership with an organization like the Humane Society. By creating community ties, many of the costs associated with training and caring for canines can be covered through grants and other funding. Secondly, ensure that each handler has another inmate to serve as a stand-by trainer. If the primary handler gets paroled, for example, each puppy needs someone familiar to step in and take the place of the trainer. Thirdly, make sure that you have behaviorists monitoring the progress of the dogs.

And last, but certainly not least, don't forget to pet your new Pen Pal on a daily basis, even if they do leave droppings in your cell.