The APDT Chronicle of the Dog Summer 2018 | Page 21

FEATURE | DR. IAN DUNBAR
 Dr. Ian Dunbar with Hugo
Dunbar was happy to start up associations, less interested in running
them. “Right from the start I was adamant that I didn’t run it,” he
said. “I didn’t want it to be like this is Ian’s way.” He even forgot to
join his own association that first year. “That’s why my membership
number is 130. “We had a board incorporated properly and the
board would run it. It was fun, and they got things done. I love to
come up with an idea and make it happen so it runs itself.”
Dunbar said even now the APDT conferences “just can’t be beat”
in terms of the numbers of speakers one will be exposed to and the
number of people one will meet. “You can’t get better value anywhere
in the doggy world than to listen to all of these speakers on all of
these topics. It is the very best conference there is for beginning dog
trainers.”
Memphis is one of the best places in the world for relaxing your
brain with social activities in the evening, Dunbar said. “It’s easily
walkable, there are horse carriages, Beale Street, and music clubs
and restaurants.”
Another favorite memory for Dunbar was the 1999 conference
in San Diego. Dunbar was taking a walk around the hotel when
he saw large numbers of Marines, who were also there for a
conference. Dunbar pointed out his conference of 1,500 had 1,400
women. He invited the Marines to join APDT’s conference for
music and dancing. “It was just a riot,” Dunbar said. “Back then,
it was an annual event, a party. It wasn’t just for education, but
a chance to meet with colleagues you only see once a year at the
APDT conference.”
When Dunbar started APDT, it stood for the Association of
Pet Dog Trainers. In the United States, the Pet was changed to
Professional in 2013 to reflect the association’s commitment to
developing dog training into a profession. Thanks to his leadership,
other countries would form their own versions of APDT: Canada
(the first one) in 1993, Australia in 1997, followed by the French
Movement of Pet Dogs Educators (MFEC); Ireland; Japan, New
Zealand, founded in 2009 and APDT Chile. APDT UK and
APDT Belgium/Netherlands, were founded by John Fischer in
1995 and 1997, respectively.
Photo: Margo Moritz
As more and more dog trainers make efforts to keep up with new
training methods, Dunbar believes the APDT conferences should
offer an advanced level track for those with years of experience and
a few conferences under their belts. “We need to provide things
for people who have been three or four times, so they know who is
going,” he explained. “That way they can have a really meaningful
talk with people of their caliber, whether their caliber is low, medium
or high.”
He recalled group gatherings at some conferences where 20-30
trainers would have “tremendous conversations about dog training,
very stimulating, and that’s much better done in a more relaxed
atmosphere.” Having a standard base of knowledge delivered in a
degree format with “oodles and oodles and oodles and oodles of
practical learning” will enhance future conferences “because now it’s
worth it for trainers coming together to talk about it.”
Dunbar will be a keynote speaker at the 25th anniversary conference
in Memphis, one of a very few work commitments he’s making this
year. He is cutting back on his travel to spend more time at home
with his family and dogs and cultivate new interests, like gardening,
skiing and helping people with construction projects. “APDT was
my puppy and I loved it,” he said. “It was so much a part of my life
for such a long time and it brought me so much joy.”
The founder of APDT and puppy training still has plenty to say about
the future both of dog training and APDT. The second part of this
reflection on APDT and dog training will be addressed in the Fall issue.
The APDT Chronicle of the Dog | Summer 2018
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