Recent nasty cold/cough aside, I had a great time at the APDTNZ conference this year. The conference delegates ranged from all over New Zealand and included many dog trainers (of course) but there were also quite a few Veterinarians, Vet Techs, kennel workers, shelter and SPCA staff, all looking to brush up on their understanding of dog behavior and training. The subjects covered were engaging, current and even a little controversial!

Dr Gabrielle Carter started the conference with a great overview of the four quadrants of learning theory and why Positive Punishment is the least useful of quadrants for dog training. Basically Punishment works, but the fallout is so high and scientifically, the results so unpredictable that it is far better to stick with Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment.

Next Teresa Crich, director of DogPlay in Australia, discussed “The Role of Trust in Training”. This covered some great examples of dog communication through body language and how much of this communication is missed by their human caretakers, leading to distrust on both sides with usually bad results for the dog…

Nicki Cross, a Technical Advisor for MAF Animal Welfare Directorate, gave us all an overview of the recent changes in the animal welfare act that involves dog training nest practices, and the recent change to the status of prong or pinch collars. It is now a prosecutable offense to use these collars on your dogs, (about time).

In “What’s New Puppy Dog?” Teresa Crich walked us through a bunch of new dog toys on the market as well as many new items used for training.

Dr Gabrielle then returned to talk about Aggression in dogs. What is aggression, what is it used for, how is it affected by genetics and early learning experiences? She also discussed how brain chemistry and nutrition affect aggression and she covered different types of aggression such as; possessive, learned, predatory, fear, and on-leash aggression.

The second day of the conference was introduced by Jean Donaldson via Skype in the US. Donaldson discussed dog-dog bullying, how to identify it and how to address it.

Dr Carter came back to talk to us about fears and phobia. She discussed how to avoid your puppy becoming a fearful dog through early socialization to their environment and how genetics and later learning experiences can also affect a dog’s fear based behaviors. She specifically discussed Noise phobias and Separation Anxiety in dogs. Then covered many ways to prevent and treat these issues.

Teresa Crich talked more about play behaviors and how to avoid your dog becoming a bully while playing with other dogs. Also how important it is for YOU to play with your own dog to help with training, bonding and polite behaviors!

Dr Carter then finished off the second day of the conference with the most controversial subject of all. “Questioning Leadership”. This topic has been on my mind for some time, so I was very interested in hearing her thoughts. The new research with wolves and dogs has shown us that dogs are not in fact pack animals, their dog-dog relationships are actually much more fluid and independent. She talked about the original information that lead to  Dominance Theory and how it has now been shown to be based on flawed research. Carter also questioned if the term ‘leadership’ was very necessary (it isn’t) and how it means many different things depending on your training methods. Finally and most importantly, she went over what is necessary to teach dogs to make the right decisions when it comes to how they interact with their environment.

These subjects were all so interesting and enlightening! I am already looking forward to next year! And I will be sure to follow up this blog with deeper looks into each of these discussions.