Both controlled studies and anecdontal evidence support the many benefits to including animal assisted activities in children's lives. Showing an increase in self-esteem, self-reliance, compassion, and human directed empathy as well as a decrease in agitated and aggresive behavior animals can make a real change in people's lives.

Animals can do all these things just by being, they offer an unconditionally accepting and non-judgmental presence as well as an unconditional love that only animals are capable of. The KIA project takes this one step further, rather than just allowing the kids to spend time with the animals we also include them in the animals lives.

Caring for the animals- In helping to perform the daily tasks necessary to care for the animals such as feeding, filling water bowls, and simple grooming tasks, kids learn about the care of animals, and have a chance to feel needed by helping animals in need.

Training Program- Kids participating in our training program learn patience, see visible evidence of their success, and achieve that success solely through positive methods with out coercion, anger or violence towards the children or the animals.

In addition to promoting self-confidence through success the KIA project provides other skills that will help the children find success in other avenues of their lives. One such activity is the Training Game, a game in which humans take turns clicker training each other to perform certain behaviors. Each person has a change to be both trainer and learner. They have the opportunity to learn how difficult it is to learn without verbal communication. Leading to feelings of empathy for both the dogs and the other humans who are being trained. This empathy helps the child exercise self-control when frustration arises due to bumps in the training process.

Children's observation skills are improved through interacting with the animals. Dogs have a rich visual communication system, teaching the children to recognize both large and small changes in the dog and what is trying to be communicated is not only important for safety but for training. When playing the training game, children have to closely watch the people or dogs they are training so they can click small approximations of the desired behavior. This close observation gives the child a chance to notice small clues indicative of peoples emotions that will follow the child in to the future.