08/29/2026
Your dog can know every basic command and still struggle during a therapy dog certification.
Some of the most common challenges evaluators see are:
🐾 Disconnected from their handler
🐾 Anxiety in chaos
🐾 Doesn’t enjoy the work
The goal isn’t a “perfect” dog. It’s a team who can stay calm, make good choices, communicate with each other, and recover and adapt when things get challenging. 🤍
Training in realistic environments and gradually increasing distractions can help your team build these skills before evaluation day!