Trained to serve others

FRAMINGHAM -- The wounded soldier and the convicted murderer, sitting side by side in the women's prison here, smiled at the colorful scrapbook images of the doting 2-year-old that links them.

That 2-year-old, a black Labrador named Dace, dozed yesterday beside Specialist Raymond Hubbard, whose left leg, right elbow, and carotid artery were ripped open by an artillery shell last Fourth of July near Baghdad.

Hubbard, a father of two young boys, looked ahead to bringing Dace home to Wisconsin today to help him navigate the new, daunting obstacles he will face.

"She'll be a big part of my life," said the 28-year-old Army National Guard member, whose leg has been amputated below the knee. "She'll be at my side when I go out in public. She'll help me with my balance, and she'll get things on the floor when I can't."

Barbara A. Goucher, convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 stabbing death of Florence Munroe, an acquaintance in Gloucester, cried as she looked at the dog she spent a year helping train in a unique program that matches disabled Iraq veterans with service dogs.

Goucher, 41, said the chance to work with Dace helped bring focus to her life in prison and gave her a sense of responsibility to others.

"I've done a complete turnaround," said Goucher, who has been behind bars for almost nine years and said she will not be eligible for parole for six more. "I think that I'm a better person today."

When she's released, Goucher said, she'd like to work with animals.

At a ceremony yesterday marking Dace's transfer to Hubbard, state Correction Commissioner Kathleen M. Dennehy praised the dog-training program, which some critics had said should be limited to inmates about to be released.

"At the end of the day, we are all human beings," she said. "And all human beings are entitled to respect and dignity."

The matching program, called Canines for Combat Veterans, is the only one of its kind in the country, according to the dog-training organization in Princeton, Mass., that created it. Hubbard, who spent five months in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is the second wounded veteran to receive a service dog through the program.

The Princeton nonprofit, called National Education for Assistance Dog Services, sends a professional dog handler to several Massachusetts prisons for weekly training sessions with inmates so they know how to work with the animals. It also matches the dogs with disabled people from around the country who need them.

Goucher, who applied and was chosen for the program, received Dace in 2005. With the help of tutoring over the next year, Goucher was able to teach Dace how to fetch, behave, and respond to commands.

She said the dog has many other skills, including barking at signs of danger, "singing" along with her human companion, and even positioning her front legs in a "praying" posture.

Goucher cared for Dace on her own, even watching over the dog as she slept in her cell. "I get locked in, and she gets locked in," Goucher said.

The Princeton group also helps inmates train dogs for civilians with disabilities. That program, called Prison Pup Partnership, started in 1998 and will be expanded soon at state correctional facilities in Norfolk and Gardner, said Lynn Bissonnette, superintendent of MCI-Framingham.

Yesterday, prison officials marked Goucher's farewell to Dace, and Hubbard's beginning of a life with a dog who will become an indispensable helpmate. As the dog rested at his shoes, Hubbard gently held Dace's red leash decorated with small American flags.

"My wife has kind of turned me to cats, but. . . " Hubbard said, his voice trailing off as he glanced affectionately at the dog.

Hubbard, who worked for a manufacturing company in Wisconsin, said he had been standing guard outside Baghdad when an artillery round exploded 20 feet away. His left leg needed to be amputated at the spot, he recalled. His right elbow was completely shattered, and he went into shock as blood spilled from wounds that included a slashed carotid artery. A long, thin, vertical scar shows where Hubbard's neck was cut open.

Dace, his new friend, can open doors and pull a wheelchair, Hubbard said. The pair spent the last two weeks in intensive training at Princeton, where they worked together from 10 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. every day, he said.

As Hubbard prepared to leave, straightening slowly on his prosthetic leg, Goucher knelt to give Dace a playful kiss on the snout. She then embraced the soldier, the pair clenching tight for several seconds before separating.

Hubbard said he is planning a trip to California with his two boys, 8 and 9 years old. Goucher will remain in a prison world where she has already started training another dog, a 9-month-old yellow Labrador named Tikva she received after finishing with Dace.

The pain of the separation from Dace, she said, is mixed with a blessing. "She's going to have a very good life," Goucher said.

Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at macquarrie@globe.com.