APDT Trainers Win National Train Your Dog Month Award

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers’ campaign to promote awareness of the benefits of training features essays about every day dog owners overcoming challenges with their dogs through training.

January 19, 2010: The Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) declared January  “National Train Your Dog Month” in order to bring awareness to the importance of socialization and training, and most of all, to inform the public that training your dog can be both simple and fun! January is the month of choice to promote this message because so many dogs and puppies are adopted and brought home during the winter holidays. With proper socialization and an emphasis on training, new pet dogs can develop positive, lasting relationships with their human families and stem the tide of dogs being turned in to shelters for behavioral problems.

A number of APDT members entered a contest to give some positive reinforcement to one of their exemplary clients.  The purpose was to promote the every day dog owners who have discovered that training should be a crucial part of their life with their dog, as well as being much more fun and easy than many people may think.  APDT believes the more dog owners see how successful other dog owners are using positive reinforcement training, the more they will be encouraged to do the same. The winners of our contest, both dog trainers and the owners they wrote about, are now featured on the web site, www.trainyourdogmonth.com.

Our winners are:

Trainer Julie Fudge Smith from Granville, OH (www.apositiveconnection.com) wrote the winning entry about an adopted dog entitled, "What About Bob?"

Trainer Sue Conklin from Greenville, SC (http://www.thepuppynanny.net/) wrote the winning entry about a client who learned about new, positive methods, "Old Dogs (and Owners) Can Learn New Tricks."

Trainer Shannon Finch from Stanwood, WA wrote the winning entry about involving a family’s children in the training process, "Ruby's Story: Growls, Barks and Stolen Hearts."

Trainer Barbara Shumannfang from Durham, NC (http://www.topnotchdog.com), wrote the winning entry about working with a puppy or adolescent dog, "Callie."

Trainer Tina Ward, from St. Louis, MO wrote the winning entry in our “Best in Show” category, exemplifying the powerful results of pairing positive training with a dedicated owner and her dog, "Winston - The "Untrainable" Setter."

The APDT encourages the public to visit the www.trainyourdogmonth.com web site to review the winning essays, as well as helpful training tips and information on working with our canine companions. And if you decide to work with a trainer, the APDT has more than 5000 members who are willing and able to help! Simply visit our home web page www.apdt.com and click on the trainer’s search engine button.

Please join the APDT in celebrating National Train Your Dog Month!

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The APDT is a professional educational organization of trainers who are committed to becoming better trainers through using positive, dog friendly methods based on sound scientific principles. With over 5,000 members worldwide, the APDT provides professional dog trainers with a respected and concerted voice. The APDT promotes caring relationships between dogs and people and works to increase public awareness of dog-friendly training techniques. For more information, visit the Web site at www.apdt.com.