clipped from: www.cnn.com   

Still, dogs are more than just companions. They can be the eyes for those who can't see, lead those who can't walk and calm people suffering from conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

Where do these service dogs get their start? For some, it all begins behind prison walls...

Now, a groundbreaking program called Puppies Behind Bars is transforming these offenders. Inmates are given 8-week-old puppies and taught to train them to become service dogs for the disabled, including wounded soldiers.

Inmates at the Fishkill Correctional Facility work with the dogs to prepare them to help wounded troops.

The puppies and prisoners are together 24 hours a day. The puppies sleep in crates in the inmates' cells.

"The bond that's created between inmates -- who never knew love, never knew responsibility, have only been told that they're worthless -- and the bond that they then train their dogs to establish with these wounded returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is changing their lives."