King's Creatures Animal Training

05/30/2026

We had a great time at the Pet Social at The Pedaler's Fork! In true Laura fashion, I remembered to take one whole photo 🤦🏼‍♀️

Gale said hi to Joy the Comfort Dog 🥹

What's your favorite pet-friendly patio?

05/27/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about therapy animal work is the idea that a pet who LOVES people is automatically ready to become a therapy animal.

That’s actually just one tiny piece of the picture.

A pet who frantically pulls toward every person they see may be social, but that actually means they are not emotionally prepared for therapy animal work.

Because therapy animals also need to be able to:
recover from startling sounds
walk calmly past distractions
settle quietly for long periods of time
handle awkward interactions
ignore food on the floor
work as part of a team with their handler
and stay emotionally steady in unpredictable environments

A lot of therapy animal work is honestly pretty boring.

And that’s a GOOD thing.

The strongest, most successful therapy animals are often the ones who can simply exist calmly while life happens around them.

That kind of steadiness usually doesn’t just magically appear.

It’s practiced slowly through routines, real world experience, clear communication, and lots of repetition.

That’s why we spend so much time focusing on foundations before jumping ahead to certification goals.

Calm is trained.

If you’d like help getting started, you can grab my free Therapy Animal Training Guide at kingscreatures.com/therapy-animal-training-guide. It walks you through the foundations I recommend before most teams ever start thinking about certification.

05/25/2026

Today we remember the men and women (and animals!) who gave their lives in service to our country.

Memorial Day is not just about long weekends, cookouts, or the unofficial start of summer. It’s about sacrifice, families forever changed, and honoring people who gave everything for our country.

Who are you remembering today?

05/22/2026

Just having one of those weeks when I am feeling INCREDIBLY grateful and blessed for the pets I get to work with but especially for their people!

The compassion, dedication, fun, care for community, and love for your pets that you all show... it just knocks my socks off. There's no better group of people than the KCAT Community! Thank you for making my job the best job EVER. Thank you for all you do for your pets and your communities!

Please enjoy this of one of the tiniest members of the KCAT Community: Scout!

Tell me something good! Share something you're grateful for in the comments.

05/18/2026

Does anything feel better than being done with crate deep clean day?! 😁🧼🫧
How many crates are at your house?

05/17/2026

Hey Cedar Rapids friends! Is there someone available this week Thursday at 3pm to help out with a Canine Good Citizen test as a friendly stranger?

05/16/2026

Summer is basically here… kinda? We hope?

So of course, we’re all getting excited for more summer adventures with our pets!

If there’s one thing I wish every pet owner knew right now, it’s this:

Unless you are 99.99999% confident your pet will make all the right choices… let them drag the leash!

Inside when visitors come over, outside while you’re gardening, during your first few visits to an off leash area.... Drag. The. Leash.

Just do it.

A dragline gives you a simple way to calmly interrupt bad decisions before they become habits, while still giving your pet more freedom and responsibility. It’s one of the easiest ways to set your Adventure Team up for success safely!

"My pet is dragging the leash throughout the day, every day” is actually part of Stop #1 on the King's Creatures Adventure Team Club Trail to Success... with good reason!

Read more here:

This post may contain affiliate marketing links for products my pets and I adore. You won’t ever be charged a fee for shopping via my affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through my affiliate links. I'll most likely use that commission to spoil my own pets or the Li...

05/14/2026

Here's something every dog should be able to do in case of emergency:

Go potty on the leash!

You'd be surprised how many dogs with fenced in yards never potty on leash or never even potty outside of their yard! Often this stems from being nervous either about how the leash limits them when they move or about simply being out of the safety of their yard.

If you're planning to serve as a therapy animal-handler team, what will you do if your dog needs to go during a visit?

Or what if you're on a vacation or even just a long hike with your pets?

Gouda had a mass removed today. While she heals, she's on crate rest and has to wear a cone. She's not allowed to be off leash outside. No worries! She can 💩 anytime, anywhere! Please send prayers and wiggle butts her way while we wait for the pathology results.

(P.s. If your pet needs to wear a cone, remember that you can give them breaks! As long as you're watching closely and will intervene if they even think about messing with their stitches, they can do potty breaks, snuggle, etc without it on.)

How does your pet feel about going potty on leash?