Our beginnings are deeply personal …
The Teacher’s Pet started as a result of our family’s need for a highly specialized service dog when my husband was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s at 38 yrs old (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS). Frustrated with the inability to find a service dog that could meet his extreme needs quickly, we embarked on training our own.
Cooper came into our lives in 2006 and was an able-bodied service animal by 8 months old… he continues to still be a blessing to our family. In the community, he has also become a role model for what a service dog should be. The company was started when everywhere we went someone wanted a dog like Cooper.
Since that time, we have trained close to 3000 dogs (a combination of service/therapy/companion). We are proud to have some of our dogs in the school system with school psychologists helping children with special needs as well as strengthening our community through the gifts of increased independence and confidence to adults with challenges.
We are more than your typical dog training company… not only do we intimately understand how important a quality service animal is; we also know what a gift a well trained companion dog is to each family. We believe that our Dogs are blessings that add balance to our lives.
UPDATE: Sadly, our beautiful Cooper was laid to rest (2005-2019). Happily, Cooper is now reunited with his Dad; who he dearly missed.
Owner BIO:
Starting in Jr High, Kelly shadowed veterinarians as a vet tech in the hopes of becoming a Vet. Later, she entered Penn State’s Animal Bioscience program for Veterinary medicine. Though she eventually changed majors to Business Logistics with a minor in international business; her love of animals remained. Coming full circle, when her husband was diagnosed with ALS, she again found her calling in a need to train him a specialized service animal.
starting in 2005, Kelly apprenticed for 2 years with the Phoenix location of Sit Means Sit dog training. During this time, she ran beginner and advanced off-leash group classes as well as assisted with their “board and train” program. Concurrently, she trained her husband’s service animal utilizing the training materials from Top Dog service training company.
The Teacher’s Pet LLC was formed in 2007 as a service, therapy & pet dog training company.
Over the past 14 years it has grown to include boarding and breeding. As a result; its reputation has grown…
She was a member of the Phoenix Schutzhund club for 5 years where she trained client’s dogs as well as her personal protection dogs.
Her training has resulted in dogs entering the school system with school psychologists/principals for children with special needs as well as in the library program for the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation helping kids want to read books.
Additionally from 2015-2020, The Teacher’s Pet was contacted by Valleywise Health ‘s therapy dog program (aka county hospital or MIHS) to be their Therapy company of choice. The uniqueness of volunteering there is that they are the 3rd largest hospital in AZ, the 2nd largest burn center in the US & have a full scale Behavioral Health Annex.
She is also approved by Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue (DHDR) as a foster and works with other rescues training dogs for quicker home placement.
She has been requested to speak at eldercare facilities in the valley on the differences between service and therapy animals.
She has been a breeder of quality Golden Retrievers, & less frequently Shepherds, for over a decade
The company now employs 3-6 part time employees.
Professional affiliations:
IAADP – International Association of Assistance Dog Partners
IACP – International Association of Canine Professionals
