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WINSTON-SALEM – Some dogs in animal shelters are often overlooked for being older or a little rambunctious, but a North Carolina program called New Leash on Life allows prison inmates to train dogs so they can be adopted.

Just a few weeks ago, dogs Rex, Buddy and Storm weren't exactly the pick of the litter.

"When we first tried to take Rex for a walk, he ended up walking us," new dog owner Catherine Brewer said.

But after 12 weeks of training from inmates at Forsyth Correctional Center, the dogs are now ready for their new homes.

"He wouldn't sit before, and then two weeks, he was sitting. It's been a blessing," Brewer said.

Inmates said it’s been a blessing for both the dogs and their trainers.

"I had come from a low place in my life, and it's given me some hope," inmate and dog trainer Ricky Hall said.

Friday the dogs and their trainers graduated from New Leash on Life, showing off their new tricks for their new families.

The North Carolina Department of Corrections program has been around for several years, but this is first time it was offered in Forsyth County.

"The other programs have been extremely successful so we were a little nervous because it was our first program but looking at our other facilities we knew it would be a wonderful program because of theirs," Keisha Boyd with Forsyth Correctional Center said.

New Leash on Life partners with area Humane Society programs to find dogs to train and adopt out. The program has an adoption rate of 93 percent statewide.