I guess I’d better make it a GOOD ONE
Wow!!! I cannot believe how fast this year went by. I have thoroughly enjoyed my role with the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia Inc.) and all the wonderful people that have crossed my path on our journey of “Building Better Trainers through Education”.
It is one of my core beliefs that “Knowledge is Power” and with that in mind here are some of the highlights of this fantastic year.
First and foremost, our amazing conference in the beautiful Hunter Valley at the Cypress Lakes Resort was absolutely awesome. All of our speakers gave fantastic presentations including for the very first time, APDT Shorts which gave some of our delegates the opportunity to speak publicly and they did great. We got a glimpse of some possible homegrown speakers of the future.
Our international speakers Ken Ramerez and Michael Shikashio were informative, entertaining and an absolute pleasure to work with. I think they enjoyed our Aussie hospitality and I for one would love to hear them speak again. Let us not forget our very own Dr Vanessa Rolf and Dr Kate Mornment who travelled up from Melbourne to help us with compassion fatigue (Vanessa) and integrating multi species (including baby humans) into the home (Kate). Our effervescent Peta Clark was up to her usual tricks and shared some excellent footage of her beautiful hard working animals for film and television. I could watch that woman work until the cows come home!
Two days before the event we were listening to the reports of catastrophic fire warnings and the possibility of no conference at all. However, the weather gods smiled upon us, not to mention the valiant efforts of the RFS and all the men and women who serve as volunteers in the rural fire brigades around the affected areas. They are truly amazing individuals am my hat is off to them all.
We had a record number of delegates and thanks to the hard work of our committee, Lynda of Key Conference Works and Barbara and Lou from PPGA, I feel it was a resounding success. A special mention goes out to Kathy Romer our Susan Wilkins lifetime achievement award winner, who did an awesome job stuffing our delegates goodie bags, which were overflowing from all our incredible sponsors and trade stall holders. Kathy generously donated her cheque for $500 to Dr Chris Weir for his cancer research in dogs. She is truely an inspiration and one of our “quiet achievers”.
I was invited to take part in a 5 day TTouch workshop hosted by Andy Robertson featuring Robyn Hood and I learned some very valuable lessons in how to handle the animals I come into contact with. I will be forever in their debt for opening my eyes to the world of TTouch and it’s immeasurable benefits.
The other highlight was the association I created with the hardworking folks of Dogs in the Park NSW. I visited and reported on their shows all the way from Sutherland to Newcastle and many points in between. Their goal is to promote responsible dog ownership while creating an atmosphere of fun, education and retail therapy for people and their companions. I am looking forward to joining them again next year and wish them well during their well earned summer break.
I had the pleasure of heading down to our Nations Capital (Canberra for any overseas readers who are not familiar with Oz) for “A Pooch Affair” which was a brilliant show with over 3000 attendees and met our hardworking secretary Anne Roberts in person. After the show, she graciously put me up and showed me around her dog training club and took me to beautiful artist market, where I found a lovely gift for my parents 60th wedding anniversary. My previous post is about our 30th wedding anniversary which feels like a lifetime ago.
The Sydney Dog Lovers Show was held at Homebush Bay because it was so large and had approximately 30,000 people in attendance. What a whirlwind of activity, the organisational skills of these promoters should be applauded and I learned about logistics and what a “Bump in Bump out” is all about! It was great fun and a wonderful opportunity to spread our message of education.
All in All, I’d say this has been a very busy, prosperous year and a great way to end another decade. I wish everyone reading this a very happy holiday season and I am looking forward to 2020 being just as full of promise and hope for a bright future.
May your lives be filled with Joy and may your heart’s be filled with Happiness.