Before I get into today’s Speakers, I just want to report on what a great Conference this is! Everyone is so nice and friendly, I am rooming with Facebook friends, met lots of other friends as well as people I have interviewed. I am really enjoying the educational aspect of this Conference and the comradery of the Attendees.
Dr. Stephen Ledoux
My first Speaker today, was Dr. Stephen Ledoux, his topic was – Introductory Behaviorology: A Book Discussion on his latest book – “Running Out of Time—Introducing Behaviorology to Help Solve Global Problems”.
I enjoyed Dr Ledoux easy way of talking with his interjections of humor and he was very approachable. He talked about the origins of this book, the contents, the purpose of this book and other books and how they relate to dog training and other companion animal behavior training , behavior science. Attendees found out how the natural science of behavior was the common theme of many other behavior training books.
Newsletter Marketing: Help Dogs While Growing Your Business with Veronica Boutelle
My second Speaker was Veronica Boutelle, MA Ed., CTC of Dogtec fame, she talked about “Newsletter Marketing: Help Dogs While Growing Your Business”.
We learned about the different uses, audiences and goals of print and email newsletters. content and design, guidelines, best practices. Also covered was choosing an email marketing service provider, sourcing images, the structure of emails – short and sweet, whether to have a single topic or 2 to 4 topics, how often to produce your newsletter. How to get readers by interviewing, featuring dogs and dog related businesses.
85% of content should be fun and informative while the other 15% should be info on your business – services, special discounts, upcoming events. She also gave tips on how to maximize your chance of being read:
no lecturing,
short sentences,
using headers,
subheaders,
bullets and lists,
along with lots of photos – but watch that the dog shows the body language you want to convey.
I was so pleased to meet Veronica in real life since I had worked with her and Gina Phairas, when I won the APDT Business Makeover in 2013, she is as nice in person as she was to deal with online.
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My eyes opened up to darkness at around 6:00am and instantly I was excited when I realised I was in the Sheraton Dallas Hotel for the 2015 APDT Annual Educational Conference & Trade Show. This is the first year I have attended and this is known as being a “Puppy”.
I made my way down to the Dallas Conference Room for the Opening Session & Welcome given by Amber Burckhalter, Chair of the Board of Trustees, she welcomed the attendees and gave some random facts about Dallas – Barney the purple dinosaur from the very popular children’s tv show originated from Dallas along with German Chocolate Cake and the Margarita machine. She talked about the APDT Foundation and their Auction on Friday.
She handed over to the Treasurer – Robin Bennett, CPDT-KA who reported that the APDT’s pre-audit figures as at June 30th, 2015 accounts were in good standing. Casey Lomonaco, KPA CTP, the Secretary advised of the two new Board Members – Nick Hof and Megan Armstrong CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA.
The 2015 Award Members are as follows –
Members of the Year – for the first time that Casey knows of there were two winners – Sandy Crosby, CPDT-KA and Dae Grodin, CPDT-KA.
APDT Scholarship Winners – Mary Fish Arango, MA, Med, Dawn Gardner, CPDT-KA, Samantha Schinder, MA.
Dogwise Shelter – Scholarship Winner – Kim Imel, LVT, CPDT-KA.
Casey & Amber were both presented with a gift for their dedication and hard work.
Amber issued a Challenge to the attendees – Make an Impact – find 3 things from the Conference and take them home to make a difference.
2015 APDT Conference – Keynote Speaker
The keynote speaker was Stephen Ledoux, PhD whose topic – Helping our Canine Friends by Helping Ourselves with Science. His talk highlighted some characteristics of behaviorology, the natural science of behaviour, that enable us to apply it in ways to benefit our canine friends.
He talked about how to keep magical approaches to behaviour separate from scientific approaches and how to avoid a variety of unhelpful, fictional explanations of behaviour.
Scientific approaches:
Genetics – about the structural foundation of behavior
Physiology – about HOW behaviour happens or occurs
Behaviorology – about WHY behaviour happens or occurs
a. Sample – Recombination of repertoires
i. “Self-Concept”
ii. “Insight”
b. Sample – Concept formation
c. Sample – Complex behaviour
i. Multiple stimuli – affect multiple responses
ii. Coincidental reinforcers and superstitious behaviour
iii. The Law of Cumulative Complexity
The general relation of brain structures to behaviors of consciousness in humans and canine species.
Linda P Case, MS – Beware The Straw Man: Fact, Fiction & Science in the Dog Training World
1. Understand the way in which the scientific method is applied in canine science. Identify important components of a well-designed study.
2. Identify and assess various sources of information, including the “evidence pyramid” of science.
3. Appreciate and assess a research study example case – the effectiveness of “Touch then Treat” training.
Scientific Evidence Pyramid
Systematic Review
Randomized Controlled Studies with Dogs
Case Studies & Case Reports with Dogs
In vitro studies, research in other species
Linda Case then went into an example of a recently published study which examined a technique called “Touch then Treat”, a popular training and behaviour modification technique. This study was evaluated along with the results, the relevance of the results and the how further studies were needed to help -trainers, pet professionals and dog owner make well-informed, evidence-based decisions for their dogs.
Roger Abrantes, PhD – The Evolution of Canine Social Behavior
This very interesting talk covered the differences between aggressive, fearful, dominant and submissive behaviour, the variety of expressions in wolves, jackals, foxes and the domestic dog, the greeting, bonding, friendliness parental behaviour, mating strategies. Attendees learnt about dog body language, how to distinguish between closely related but different behaviors, and how to interpret dog behavior based on science rather than popular myths.
Day 1 is now over and my brain is already fried. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
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In less than one week, I will be traveling all the way from Barbados (a tiny island in the Caribbean) to attend the Association of Professional Dog Trainers’ Annual Educational Conference and Trade Show, which will be held from Wednesday, October 14 to Saturday, October 17, 2015, in Dallas, Texas, USA.
The Association of Professional Dog Trainers goal is to promote better trainers through education, and they welcome all trainers in their pursuit of learning modern, scientifically-based training methods.
It was through the APDT that I met positive reinforcement trainers, which started me on my journey to crossing over and I am most grateful to them for this.
Can I say how excited I am??? It will be my first APDT Conference and I have the honor of blogging for The Modern Dog Trainers Website. I get to attend some fantastic presentations by well known and reputable Speakers –
There will be live animal workshops where people get to actually work with guinea pigs in Dr. Roger Abrantes’ Scent Detection Workshop; Dr. Lore Haug’s IAABC Workshop – Advanced Behavior Techniques & Practices; working with dogs at the Dallas SPCA to learn new skills or hone their current skills in Teoti Anderson’s Desensitization & Counter Conditioning; Lisa McCluskey’s Troubleshooting Aggression/Anxiety; Sue Sternberg’s On Leash Dog-Dog Encounters. These Live Animal Workshops have a separate registration fee.
There are also short presentations throughout the day called APDT Shorts. Speakers will be talking about a wide variety of subjects from Aggression, Behaviorology, Business & Marketing, Dog Body Language, Euthanasia, Food, Stress, Science and so much more.
I’m suffering from “too much choice dilemma” since I don’t know who I want to see as yet. So I have to sit down, take a look at all the presentations and see which ones to attend that I can learn and benefit from the most. I really wish I could see ALL the speakers live.
When you arrive at the conference hotel, the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, you need to check in at the Registration Desk to pick up your packet and you can ask them any questions.
Not only are the educational benefits diverse, but there are lots of opportunities to network, too:
Scavenger Hunt
Puppy Bingo
Click-it With a Ticket
Brochure and Business Card Contests
There is also the Trade Show and Exhibit Hall and I am going to enjoy browsing through and buying the books, DVDs, dog toys and other products which will be on show. Hope I don’t go over my 50 lb limit for my suitcase.
I know I am certainly looking forward to learning new things and meeting Facebook friends and people I have interviewed. Have I mentioned before that I am soooooooooo excited? LOL.
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National Train Your Dog Month was started by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers in 2010. Their inspiration was to get owners aware of the benefits of training their dogs using scientifically sound techniques. Since many people adopt animals for the holidays, January seemed the perfect month to dub “National Train Your Dog” Month.
“The APDT thought it was long overdue to dedicate a month to bringing awareness to the importance of socialization and training, and most of all, to inform the public that training your dog can be easy and fun!”
In order to encourage participation in this awareness project, the APDT sponsors a contest and prizes every January.
APDT Conference and Prize Giveaway
Hurry! You only have until February 2nd at 5:00PM Pacific to win. “Win what”, you say? The APDT is giving away four great prizes, just for promoting Train Your Dog Month on social media:
1st
A FREE APDT 5-day Registration for the 21st Annual Educational Conference Oct 14-17, 2015 in Dallas, TX https://apdt.com/conference/
2nd
A FREE APDT Full student registration for a multi-week online course of your choice, like their course “Aggression and the Law: What Trainers Need to Know.” More courses found here: https://apdt.com/education/courses/
3rd
A FREE APDT Membership for one year, at the level of your choice.
4th
Five free APDT Webinars and a copy of “Dog Trainer’s Resource 3.” Presenters of webinars include, but are not limited to: Pat Miller, Veronica Boutelle & Gina Phairas, Robin Bennett & Susan Briggs, Teoti Anderson, Linda Case, Janis Bradley, Monty Sloan and Jacqueline Muñera.
How To Enter
Ok, I bet by now you are asking how you can get your hands on one of these great prizes? It just happens to be super easy.
Share on any of your social media outlets that January is National Train Your Dog Month (visit http://www.TrainYourDogMonth.com for inspiration). Then, once you’ve shared about Train Your Dog Month, get two or more shares or re-tweets and BAM you are on your way. Send a screenshot of the social media image along with your contact information and APDT member number to: trainyourdogmonth@apdt.com.
For official instructions and rules for entering the APDT’s National Train Your Dog Month Social Media Contest go to their website.
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The APDT offers a fun and challenging CLASS curriculum for new pet owners.
The Association of Professional Dog Trainers is the leading organization for professional dog trainers in North America. They offer a wonderful program for trainers to get involved with local rescues as well as increase their income by teaching a specific kind of class. Canine Life and Social Skills (CLASS) is targeted towards shelter dogs who need to build their life skills and social skills to successfully get adopted or stay adopted. Becoming a CLASS Instructor & Evaluator is a great way to set yourself apart from your competition.
Becoming an Instructor
To become a CLASS instructor simply sign up for an account. Once you’ve registered, you have access to the CLASS curriculum so that you can easily begin teaching. The APDT also supplies advertising materials so you can help clients or potential clients learn about the CLASS program. CLASS for shelter dogs is a great program to use if you want to begin a relationship with your local rescue or shelter.
Certification for Evaluators
To become certified as a CLASS Evaluator you’ll need to pass a video exam, be the minimum age of 21, have at least 60 hours of training experience, and maintain liability insurance either through the company you work for or through your own business. The cost is only $40 to become certified. Once your students complete the CLASS curriculum in class, being certified allows you the possibility to graduate your clients and help them become certified as well! Getting their dog certified is a fun way to encourage excellence in pet ownership and responsibility.
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