by Laurie Schlossnagle | Nov 18, 2015 | Events
It was an honor to be a part of the historic, first-ever Pet Professional Guild Summit in Tampa, Florida, November 11, 12, and 13, 2015. I attended as a presenter (Training and Maintaining Therapy and Crisis Response Dogs) and as an attendee. The Pet Professional Guild provided me with a one-day registration for presenting and provided a Media Pass for the other two days so that I could share information on the Modern Dog Trainer blog.
World Renowned Presenters at the PPG Summit
Pet Professional Guild assembled an impressive group of knowledgeable and skilled force-free animal trainers to share their expertise with other trainers from around the world – Niki Tudge, Dr. Karen Overall, Chirag Patel, Emily Larlham, Pat Miller, Ken McCort, Jacqueline Munera, Dr. Soraya Juarbe Diaz, Pamela Johnson, Mark Hines, Angleica Steinker, Janis Bradley, Theresa McKeon, Laurie Schlossnagle, Diane Garrod, Lisa Morrissey, Shari Sprague, Diana Pappert, Scott Baggett, Nancy Tucker, Linda Michaels, Debra Milliken, Lara Joseph, Maureen Backman, Dr. Michelle Duda, JJ Bachant Brown, and Emily Cassell.
With so many sessions to choose from, it was difficult to decide what to attend. I finally decided to attend:
- Dr. Overall’s keynote session with the opening by Niki Tudge
- Chirag Patel – Shaping the Perfect Patient
- Janis Bradley – That’s the Lab in Him. Breed Bias, a Distraction from the Dog in Front of You
- Diane Garrod – Solving the Aggression Puzzle and Multi-Dog Household Aggression,
- Pamela Johnson – Training Snake Aversion the Force-Free Way,
- Lara Joseph – Online Behavior and Training Consultations and How They are Successful,
- Linda Michaels – Understanding Research: Making the Case for Force-Free Training, and
- Theresa McKeon – TAG Don’t Nag: Techniques to be Force-Free with the Humans in Your Life.
There were also panel discussions on Wednesday and Friday, but I did not attend those (on Wednesday I needed to let my brain rest and on Friday I left to fly home).
For me, two sessions really struck a cord with me – Chirag Patel and Theresa McKeon. In both of those sessions, I learned practical information that I will be integrating into my training, both personally and professionally. They were both excellent, organized, engaging presenters. I will be adding both of them to my list of must-see speakers!
Theresa McKeon’s session was especially wonderful. She created a comfortable atmosphere and allowed personal interactions through which I learned a lot. Overall, the PPG Summit was well organized and the speakers were prepared. Scheduling is a challenge at any conference and can make it difficult to attend every speaker you want to see. The sheer variety of speakers and topics was impressive and valuable.
Most attendees were privileged to session notes before the conference. I missed out on those emails, but Niki Tudge, the Founder of PPG, went above and beyond to make sure I received the notes once I asked about them!
Tampa was a great city to hold the conference. The weather was beautiful and travel was relatively quick and easy. The conference was held in both a hotel and in a convention center which made moving in between sessions time-consuming. Distance played a factor in deciding which sessions I would attend. There were so many interesting speakers and topics to choose from!
Conference Accommodations
The Sheraton Riverwalk Hotel staff had amazing customer service which made my stay very enjoyable. I was able to easily access WiFi in my hotel room and in the conference rooms (at the hotel) which we all know can be difficult to get when traveling!
It looked like there were some very interesting meals to be had in great company, but I was not able to attend them due to a break down in communication. Hotel meals and restaurant meals added up financially, not to mention missing out on stimulating discussions on animal behavior.
Reflections
In the future, I hope to see more vendors attend the PPG Summit. There are a lot of opportunities to meet reputable people in the industry. The effort and planning that goes into an event, let alone a first-ever event, is enormous! Niki Tudge and her team put together a quality educational event for force-free trainers. Trainers came from all over the world to participate and to learn. The 2016 Summit is already being discussed and trainers are looking forward to attending.
It is often said that if you have two dog trainers the only thing they will agree on is that they disagree. The great thing about a conference of dog trainers is that while we still may disagree, we enjoy learning together and being able to be in the same place at the same time with other like-minded trainers. Thank you Pet Professional Guild for offering us this opportunity!!!
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![Volunteering as an APDT Conference Border Collie]()
by Lisa | Nov 17, 2015 | Events, Training Methods
No, not the dog. The Border Collies I’m talking about are people who volunteer to help at the Association of Professional Dog Trainers’ Annual Educational Conference & Trade Show. They are integral to the smooth and successful running of these Conferences.
2015 APDT Conference Border Collie Volunteers
They assist in rounding up and herding folks to the right sessions, assisting during demos, checking names tags at the door, answering questions, showing people to their seats, and helping during breaks.
The start of the BC Orientation Meeting with Carlos Betancourt, a co-host, on the far left standing, standing reading his notes
Being a member of the Border Collie Brigade provides you with the opportunity to meet new and interesting people, form new friendships, and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.
Bill Hatherley, the Border Collie Lead on the APDT Task Force says – “We like to say it is our privilege to help the attendees have a great conference experience. While it may not be noticeable, a lot of oversight and management was done in the months leading up to the Conference. Irma Bice, Neil Smith and I had been planning for and working on this conference since March of last year. We met every two weeks via conference call and coordinated our efforts.”
This year, there were 42 volunteers, with 19 of them being veterans who have been Border Collies for 10 years – now THAT is dedication! We even had some BCs take on 6 assignments. Wow!!!
Bill Hatherley, BC Lead, giving the Duties of the BCs
The rest were at their first conference and wanted the opportunity to help and to network. We worked hard at providing them opportunities to meet new folks and everyone I talked to was very happy with this.”
Bill is very much like a cheerleader, he and Carlos Betancourt hosted the Training Meeting of the Border Collie Brigade. Between the two of them, they got the BCs excited and enthusiastic about their role. This great attitude carried on throughout the conference, helping all attendees to enjoy it even more.
I so wanted to be a BC, but my duties of reporting and blogging for The Modern dog Trainer took precedence. I chatted with some Border Collies – Jolynn Payne, Theresa Hyatt Cahill and Ryan Lockard and asked them some questions about their experiences.
1. Was this your first time being a BC?
- Jolynn – “It was my first year.
- Theresa – “First time.”
- Ryan – “This was my first time as a BC.”
2. Why did you volunteer as a BC?
- Jolynn – “I was at the conference a day early so I wanted to help and get involved.”
- Theresa – “Thought I’d get a better understanding and learning from other trainers. I did.”
- Ryan – “I volunteered because I like being involved and helping.”
3. Will you volunteer to be a BC again?
- Jolynn – “Absolutely!”
- Theresa – “YES I would volunteer again.”
- Ryan – “I would volunteer again.”
4. What was your best experience of the Conference?
- Jolynn – “Meeting new friends!”
- Theresa – “Best I found was that there was a lot of help getting started. A lot of helpful info and useful info building my business”
- Ryan – “The best thing was the positive comments that I received from the conference staff and the people I got to meet.”
5. What was the worst experience you had being a BC?
- Jolynn – “Having to BC in a session where the speaker kept repeating “ok” after every sentence. Stopped counting after 35 in the first 30 minutes.”
- Theresa – “There wasn’t enough communication. I met a few trainers but other than that I was on my own to find info – who and how to contact someone if you were available for other things, where to go if I had a comment or complaint. The ones that have been there before welcomed me but I had so much free time and I didn’t know where to turn to offer any help if someone needed it. But everything worked out because now I know who to look for and where (for the most part) to go if I don’t.”
- Ryan – “The worst thing was the bag stuffing; it seemed to be very unorganized.”
6. What the duties did you volunteer to do?
- Jolynn – “I worked the check-in shirt table and 2 different sessions checking badges and watching doors.”
- Theresa – “I greeted and directed attendees”
- Ryan – “My duties were to verify attendees had paid for the day, that they were eligible to attend the workshop and to do the necessary head counts.”
Bill Hatherley, the BC Lead welcomes constructive comments and got lots of feedback from the volunteers, all to make things better and more efficient in the following years.
The BCs got special buttons, a BC ribbon on their lanyard, and a free APDT Conference shirt if they volunteered for 3 or more sessions. They also were invited to a yummy breakfast especially for them.
The next APDT Conference will be in 2016 Conference in Las Vegas. Consider sharing a few hours of your trip to help out as a volunteer Border Collie! Their contribution is invaluable and greatly appreciated.
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by Laurie Schlossnagle | Nov 14, 2015 | Events
The final day at any conference always has a little bit of a different feel to it; people are ready to go home to their families and pets, eager to put into practice all they have learned, but they are sad to be leaving their friends and colleagues. The 2015 Pet Professional Guild Summit was no different!
My day started with Linda Michaels presenting, “Understanding the Research – Making the Case for Force-Free Training.” She shared what publications are reliable and respected in the field as well as the history of psychology and its importance in animal behavior research.
Linda also shared with us her newly released Hierarchy of Dog Needs™. The new hierarchy is focused on wellness and force-free behavior modification. The complete hierarchy can be found here: http://www.dogpsychologistoncall.com/hierarchy-of-dog-needs-tm/
“There is never a justification to use pain, fear, dominance devices
or training methods with our pet dogs.”
For my late morning/early afternoon sessions, I attended Theresa McKeon’s lecture/lab, “TAG Don’t Nag: Techniques to Be ‘Force-Free’ with the Humans in Your Life.” This was a very interactive lecture/lab and we all had a chance to use TAGteaching to see how well it works in the animal training profession.
Teach without Nagging?
• Arrange goals to be met in steps (shaping)
• Arrange immediate feedback
• Arrange/identify immediate reinforcement
(I spent some time talking with Theresa McKeon after the lecture/lab, saying good-bye to friends, and getting checked out, so I did not attend any other sessions on Day Three.)
Overall, a good three days of continuing education in Tampa, Florida at the first-ever Pet Professional Guild Summit. Thank you to PPG for having me present about Therapy and Crisis Response Dogs and thank you for providing the Media Pass for the other two days at the Summit!!!
See the write ups from day 1 here and day 2 here!
(Coming soon – personal reflections on my experience at the Summit.)
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by Laurie Schlossnagle | Nov 13, 2015 | Events
With no keynote speaker on Day #2, we were able to listen to our choice of presentations for every session. There were five different choices in every time slot.
I started my day with Janis Bradley and her presentation, “That’s the Lab in Him. Breed Bias, a Distraction from the Dog in Front of Us.” In this presentation, she talked about the part genetics plays in behavior for dogs.
During the second time slot, I presented “Training and Maintaining Therapy and Crisis Response Dogs.” It was a small group, so we were able to have a great discussion and we all shared a great deal of information about liability, what skills and training therapy and crisis response dogs should have, and what kinds of exposure.
After lunch, I attended Diane Garrod’s presentation, “Solving the Aggression Puzzle and Multi-Dog Household Fighting.” Unfortunately, the aggression portion of the presentation took up most of the time and there was not much information shared about multi-dog household fighting. The aggression puzzle information was very visual and contained a lot of information.
For my second afternoon session, I went to learn from Pamela Johnson about “Training Snake Aversion the Force-Free Way.” This session was more general in scope because the skills necessary for training a dog to avoid snakes is many of the same behaviors we train in many dogs – for example, recall, leave-it, safe place, and heeling – just with a different emphasis and a particular focus.
At the end of the day, they offered “bite-size lecture sessions.” These sessions are only 30 minutes long. I attended Lara Joseph’s session “On-line Behavior and Training Consultations and How They Are Successful.” In this virtual, online world, this is a great way for trainers to meet the needs of even more clients.
I’m looking forward to Day #3, but my brain is full and I am ready to go home and start implementing some of the new things I have learned.
See Laurie’s thoughts from day 1 of the Pet Professional Guild Summit here!
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![Day One Summary At The Pet Professional Guild Summit]()
by Laurie Schlossnagle | Nov 12, 2015 | Events
Day one was rich with information!
The Summit opened with PPG President Niki Tudge sharing her vision for the future and thanking those who have helped get both Pet Professional Guild and the Summit itself to this point. “Let the results of force-free training and pet care stand up and be counted.”
Pet Professional Guild Summit – Keynote Speaker
The Keynote speaker was Dr. Karen Overall. She spoke for the rest of the morning; her presentation was split intofour sections:
From Leashes to Neurons: Humane Behavioral Care for Dogs
1. The brain in evolution and everyday life
2. Neurobiology of reactivity and stress
3. Assessing behavior: what do tests tell us?
4. No fear – redefining humane behavioral care
“Good relationships are not based on fear and restraint. We now have choices. We can do better and understand more. Forward…..”
For the afternoon sessions, I attended the lecture and the lab with Chirag Patel: Shaping the Co-Operative Patient. In an interesting metaphor, he said, “Husbandry is my agility.” His lab gave dog/handler teams the opportunity to try out stationing behaviors and The Bucket Game.
“Inspire. Empower. Change.”
Chirag Patel with Laurie and Ashley
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![Reflections On The APDT 2015 Conference]()
by Lisa | Nov 11, 2015 | Events, Training Methods
As a first time attendee of the 2015 APDT Annual Educational Conference & Trade Show, I was known as a “Conference Puppy” and I was thrilled to bits to travel all the way from Barbados to Dallas, Texas, USA to gain knowledge about dog training, behaviour and the business aspect of the dog industry.
Another important part of this conference, for me, was the networking. It was wonderful to meet my Facebook friends – Casey Lomonaco and Robin Bennett of the APDT’s Board of Trustees; guests I had on my Chat Time Interviews – Roger Abrantes, Michael Shikashio, Grisha Stewart and Josh Pitts; my Texan friends Abby Merlot, Jolynn Payne, Kevin Glowski, and my roommates Cheri Spaulding and Karen Reilly and so many others. Greater bonds of friendship have been made by spending our free time together and I truly value meeting them in real life.
Part of the gang networking at the Draft Lounge Catherine Steinke, Jolynn Payne, Carlos Betancourt in front, Cheri Spaulding, Kevin Glowski, Lisa White at the back.
The Sheraton Dallas Hotel, located in downtown Dallas, was huge, with lots of walking to get around. It was beautiful and the staff very friendly and helpful. The food was good and I ate from a variety – Peets was great to grab yummy Starbucks coffee (loved the Pumpkin Spice Latte) and a quick bite; I had the buffet breakfast at the Kitchen Table Restaurant, which had such a variety to choose. Most of the socialising was done at the Draft Media Sports Lounge. It was the perfect atmosphere with great music but you could still have a conversation, watch sports on their large screen TV’s, or play pool.
I found the schedule of things to do and see to be completely filled each day. The APDT even had an early meetup – AM Riser, Get to know your Neighbourhood Walk, from 7 – 7.45am. Errm I like my bed so that was too early for me and I didn’t make those meets. LOL.
Dr Stephen Ledoux and I
On Wednesday, day 1, the keynote speaker was Dr. Stephen Ledoux. He gave a talk about, “Helping Our Canine Friends By Helping Ourselves With Science.”
Each day from 8am to 5pm, there were the Live Animal Workshops. You could also choose the General Sessions which consisted of four Shorts to choose from, where speakers talked on a variety of topics for 45 minutes. They ran from 8 to 8.45, 9 to 10.30, and 10.45 to 12.15.
Lunch was an hour and a half, but even during lunch there were roundtable discussions and demos of freestyle, Hollywood dog or you could browse the vendors at the trade show.
The presentations started back from 1.30 to 3pm and again at 3.15 to 4.45pm. Thankfully there were breaks of 15 minutes to get to the other presentations and stretch your legs.
Even after the speakers presentations, there was still something to see and do from 5 to 9.30pm – Toy Making, Scientific Poster Session, more doggy demos and on Friday night was the APDT Foundation Reception and Auction which was great.
There were 3 tables full of mostly doggie items to bid on, ranging from dog toys, collars, personal sessions with Roger Abrantes and Sue Steinberg to name a few, as well as trips to the Caribbean. There were hors d’oeuvres and music, to which I danced a lot and managed to get the DJ to play some good modern pop music.
On the last day, Saturday, I was very sad, knowing this was the last day I would see my friends for another year and I was all teary eyed. Roger Abrantes gave a wonderful closing talk on, “Animal Training My Way,” which touched on our relationship with animals – bonds and respect.
“All we need do is control ourselves, our thoughts, our emotions and our behavior. If we do it correctly, we will produce the changes in others that exist, not against their will, not by force or manipulation of the truth, but because they want they want it.” – Roger Abrantes
If I had to choose who was the best speaker, it would be extremely difficult. A lot of interesting information was shared, some I already knew a bit about, so it was good to get it explained further and I also learnt new things.
However, where I think I truly benefited was in the business topics, since we dog trainers tend to want to learn everything we can about dogs, but neglect the business/marketing side of things.
Veronica Boutelle, myself and Gina Phairas of Dogtec. They are really nice folks.
My favourite speakers were the Dogtec duo – Veronica Boutelle and Gina Phairas, who had a variety of presentations – Newsletter Marketing, Start Your Business On the Right Paw, Put More $ In Your Pocket, and more. It was great to meet them and they are as nice in person as they were to deal with, when I was so fortunate to have won the APDT 2013 Business Makeover.
Overall, I found everyone to be friendly, even the Ph.D’s, those brainy folks, were nice and humble. They didn’t talk down to you at all and the “famous” folks, the big names who have written books or put out DVDs, were quite welcoming. I didn’t encounter any snobs there at all, no one thought they were better than others. It truly was a great atmosphere.
Oh, here are some tips for those attending conferences that I learnt the hard way –
1. Wear warm clothes, as it seems the powers that be like to keep you cold which apparently keeps you alert. I just shiver and quake.
2. Don’t overpack. Most people wear the same clothes from morning till night and it’s usually casual – jeans, shirt, sweater. Less clothes, means more room for dog books and toys. Oh and take a portable scale for your luggage; you don’t want to be overweight from all the goodies you buy and pay extra for your luggage.
3. Wear comfortable shoes since you will be walking all over the hotel, with warm thick socks. I made the mistake of wearing boots with heels the first day and my feet hurt from all the walking I was doing. Lesson learnt. I then wore my fluorescent orange sneakers everywhere. A friend said, “if you cannot find Lisa, just look down at the shoes.”
4. Have extra batteries and/or chargers. In one day my camera, cell and laptop died, grrrrrrr.
5. If allowed, take lots of pictures instead of writing notes from the Powerpoint Slides, you will always miss something. And put your camera on silent, so as to not disturb others.
6. Be organized. Know which speakers you want to see and print out the daily schedule in advance, so you are organized. Most hotel rooms don’t have free wifi, so you won’t be able to access the website.
7. If the Conference has an app, download it. This is very useful, since it has all the info about the Conference on it.
8. If you are traveling from another country, like me, phone calls and texts will be charged at an international rate, so it will be expensive. If possible, buy a SIM card with data. You can get one at the airport, but it would be cheaper from a local store.
9. Know where the Speakers will be located and how to get there. You will probably still get lost (I did, many times), but you can always ask others and follow them.
10. Get out there and talk to people; no sense in being a wallflower. Conferences are a great opportunity for networking, to meet new people, to exchange ideas, to make contacts with people in the industry. And DO remember to bring business cards and exchange them with other people.
With such a great experience at the APDT 2015 Conference, will I be attending future Conferences? HECK YEAH!! I am already planning on going to next year’s conference in Las Vegas.
Hope to see you there!
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