About Creek Life Canine Academy

Online training and therapy dog certification

Creek Life Canine Academy is an Atkins-based program offering professional dog training and therapy dog certification delivered online, along with boarding. It credits its founder with "20 years of real-world experience" training dogs for families, schools, hospitals and therapy clinics, including founding a nonprofit that placed service dogs with veterans and built a therapy dog program for local schools.

Programs

Owner programs are self-paced video courses with lifetime access. Puppy Foundation, for pups aged 2 to 5 months, covers socialization, bite inhibition, and crate and potty training. Basic Obedience, for dogs 5 months and up, covers core cues, loose-leash walking, recall and reactivity, with two live calls. Three therapy certifications prepare dogs for nursing home visits, clinical animal-assisted work alongside licensed clinicians, and school settings such as reading programs and counseling sessions. The academy also works with schools, hospitals and care facilities on group programs.

Method and boarding

Creek Life describes its teaching as "Relationship First" and uses "evidence-based, reward-focused training" with "no aversive tools." Its new boarding service offers climate-controlled runs, several daily play periods and a small daily cap, with dogs cared for by the same trainers.

What owners say

One graduate of the therapy dog program wrote, "we both learned so much throughout the experience."