“What is it they say?” Ryan Abramson, co-owner of 24/7 Dry Cleaners in Parker, muses. “You rescue them, but they really rescue you.”
As he leans over to pet his 16-month-old puppy, Jaxson, an Australian cattle mix they rescued through the Prison Trained K9 Companion Program, it’s hard to tell whether the human or the dog is happier at being rescued.
Ryan and his wife, Stacey, acquired 24/7 Cleaners back in 2024 and moved next to Convict Coffee on Parker Road.
“It was Convict,” Stacey explains about learning how to rescue through the Prison Trained K9 Program.
“They [Convict Coffee] usually pick a different entity or charity each quarter,” Ryan says. “They had a little display board out in front of their store, and it had pictures of the dogs that were up for adoption, and I saw Jaxson’s picture up there…It’s a wonderful training program they have.”
Colorado Department of Corrections’ Prison Trained K9 Companion Program began in 2002 with Debi Stevens, a dog trainer living in Penrose.
“She [Debi] was approached by a correctional officer who wanted to start a dog program at Canon Women’s Correctional Facility,” Christian Andrade, Marketing and Communications Lead at the CDOC, explains. “Ms. Stevens and a staff member walked five unwanted dogs into the facility, and the Prison Trained K9 Companion Program began.”
Rescuing dogs from shelters and other terrible situations, the Prison Trained K9 Companion Program trains dogs for a minimum of eight weeks with inmates before they are available for adoption. They also offer training for privately owned dogs. Dogs learn basic commands like sit, stay, come, down, heel, as well as crate training and fun tricks.
“They put on this whole show,” Ryan says, when he went to the prison to adopt Jaxson. “The dogs are there with their designated inmate, and they show off all the tricks they’ve learned.”
This program helps the inmates as much as the dogs. Once they meet the necessary requirements of a GED or high school diploma and good behavior, they are selected to be a part of the program.
“The program teaches them so many skills,” Christian says. “Not only dog training, caring for a dog, including bathing, nail cutting, and teeth brushing, but also being a team member, communication skills with the public, and writing daily journals on every dog. The skills they take away help them find jobs.”
“The dogs stay with the prisoner in a kennel in their cells,” Ryan explains.
Stacey continues, “The trainer wrote up a journal on his daily activities and what commands he knows.”
“What got me was when he was telling me the training commands. They’re in prison, so they [only] have so much time to go outside. They’re on a time limit, so they taught him to get busy. So I tried it with him, and I took him out, and I said, ‘Get busy,’ and he pees on command,” Stacey laughs.
As of September of 2026, the Prison Trained K9 Companion Program has trained over 13,000 privately owned dogs and rescued over 5,400 dogs.
For Stacey and Ryan, Jaxson has been such a joy in the four months they have had him. He stays with them at 24/7 Cleaners since they are there so much of the day. He’s now the mascot of 24/7 Cleaners and takes his job seriously.
“I do have a gate right here, so he can’t run out on people when they come,” Stacey says. “But everyone asks, ‘Oh, can he come out?’”
Stacey and Ryan love how they were able to give back to the program by rescuing Jaxson because giving back to the community is a massive part of their business. In addition to their 24-hour dry cleaning service, which includes a door code, a dropbox for dirty items labeled Drop Your Pants Here, and lockers for after-hours pickup, they have an entire shelf with business cards dedicated to featuring local businesses that are members of the Parker Chamber.
“Probably 99% of what’s here, they are in the chamber,” Stacey says, referencing the business cards decorating the shelves. “We try to promote other people.”
It’s no wonder Stacey and Ryan found the Prison Trained K9 Companion Program and wanted to support it, too.
As Christian says, “The program changes lives on both ends of the leash. It gives dogs a second chance while providing participants with responsibility, purpose, companionship, and the experience of an unconditional bond, something some of the men and women in our facilities have never had before.”