Development and Start of the APDT

The old APDT logo

Introduction

This article has been written using contributions from our alumni.

Background

The APDT was born out of a discussion at the APBC Annual Conference in 1992 where John Fisher mentioned there was a need for a dog training organisation that could work, both with and in support of, it's members. Such was the level of interest in this idea it was thought worthy of further discussion and development. 

At this time very few people had mobile phones and internet connections were ‘dial-up’ and expensive. Business communication was primarily conducted by landline telephone, which was also expensive if you were out of your immediate telephone region, by post, or in person. Those trainers who were forward-thinking and had moved away from ‘jerk and pull’ methods of training were isolated they were still surrounded, in the majority, by those who thought that correction and coercion based methods were the way to go.

It was so exciting to attend events like the APBC Conference and to have the rare opportunity to meet like-minded people who believed there was a better way to communicate with owners and their dogs. Most people wanted to have fun training their family pets and did not want to become bullies in the name of training. It was also in a time when many people had not grown up around pets, and as most couples worked full time, many began to see having a dog almost as a child substitute.

At this time, most trainers and clubs would not accept puppies under six months old for training.

There was a lot of work done in the background during 1992 and by September there had been 500 replies to a questionnaire (by post) hosted by Your Dog Magazine at the time asking trainers what they wanted. It was clear from the responses that regardless of background or qualification there was a strong desire for every member to be assessed before being invited to join the new Association of Pet Dog Trainers. The APDT was introduced as a concept at the APBC Conference in 1993 and there followed an outcry in the dog world mostly over who would complete the assessments and who would assess the assessors?

This led to the creation of the first Assessment process. Potential co-ordinators/assessors were selected on the recommendation of respected behaviourists who knew them well and had seen their work first hand. They were invited to complete an application form and in addition written references from one veterinary surgeon and three clients. This then became the benchmark for assessment and recruitment into the APDT.

The Assessment process resulted in sixty regional co-ordinators being appointed, who became the founder members. The sixty were then invited to an inaugural meeting at the Swallow Hotel, Grantham where the foundations of the APDT were to be initiated. Although at short notice and midweek fifty-three attended the meeting which really began to move things forward. One of the things agreed at that meeting was to use Kind, Fair, Effective as a policy statement, which continues to this day.

With workload increasing a steering committee was appointed, chaired by John Fisher, to hammer out finer details to present to the founder members for agreement. Those interested in becoming part of the steering committee put forward their CV’s and subsequently five people were duly appointed. They did an amazing job in a short time and their recommendations were fed back to the founder members.

The big media announcement in London on 4th February 1994 was supported by Pedigree Petfoods, who commissioned The Grayling Company to organise it on behalf of the APDT. It was a great success and garnered much interest from both detractors and supporters. However, no publicity is bad publicity and the more the detractors shouted, the more interest we attracted from the right quality of trainers. 

Further meetings ensued and a very firm stance on the type of equipment which could be used by APDT members was agreed. As the very first organisation ever to ban the use of choke chains we were prepared to put our heads above the parapet and go against the grain of the time.  

Once the application process and assessment procedure had been agreed the APDT membership began to grow. It was decided that the election of an Executive Committee and hand-over from the Steering Committee would take place at the first AGM on 16th September 1995. The APDT was formally born.

The original Steering Committee was chaired by John Fisher, and additional members were Pauline Wise, Charlie Clarricoats, Jo McLaggan, CC Guard and Roy Hunter. Elaine Rix was co-opted onto the Steering Committee for her specialist expertise in the legality of developing a robust Code of Practice.

CC Guard ran the APDT Office for some time, dealing with applications for membership, arrangements for assessments and complaints against members.

APDT EDUCATION

It became apparent as we grew that there was a need for an education course to encourage those who were interested in training using modern (at the time) kind, fair and effective techniques. The APDT’s first education programme was held at a college in Cirencester and was run by Sandra Fraser and Stella Bagshaw. Some time later an Education sub-Committee was formed and courses began at Moulton College in Northampton in the early 2000's.

CRUFTS

A decision was made to attend Crufts to promote membership and our education programme. It was a small stand in hall 1 selling mostly books and over the years the stand became larger moving to hall 5 our continued residency.

We continue to give information, promote members, advertise our courses, and now offer demonstrations by a variety of APDT members with their own dogs across all four days of Crufts.

RALLY 

A little know fact us that Rally was introduced to the UK by Stella Bagshaw and Pauline Wise as Rally'O. As Rally'O grew in popularity the APDT approached the Kennel Club about it becoming an official KC sport. The APDT felt it was essential to maintain the essence of the sport being fun and the focus being on the relationship between dog and handler. The APDT did not have the infrastructure to support and grow the sport and it became a formal KC administered sport in 2013. 

ABTC

The APDT has subsequently gone on to support the founding of the ABTC and are as such voluntary regulated by their oversight and heavily involved in the development of advances within the dog training industry in support of regulation.

The UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter

The APDT is also a founding signatory member of The Charter whose aim is to reassure dog owners that its signatory organisations and their members will adhere to the most modern, scientifically-proven, positive methodology.