Woof. What a year, right?
Let’s all take a deep breath and let out a well-deserved, long-suffering sigh. It feels like a thousand years have passed, but we made it through the first year of our recycled (and appropriately named) Roaring ‘20s decade.
A lot led us to the events that culminated in 2020 and there’s plenty more to come. For the sake of safety, a number of dog training conferences that the community regularly looked forward to got cancelled in 202. But the initial shock of it all has worn off and — as humans and dogs alike do — we’ve adapted! And that means that we as a community have some cherished events returning in cleverly redesigned ways.
NOTE: Only conferences that provide updated information online at the time of writing this article are included.
Top Dog Training Conferences of 2021
This year’s list of events may be different than past years’ (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017), but some fan favorites have come up with incredible virtual events. There are even potential in-person dog training conferences, depending on how things change over the coming months.
ClickerExpo LIVE!
Jan. 29 – 31 | REMOTE
The Karen Pryor Academy (KPA)’s annual ClickerExpo event has taken an innovative digital approach for 2021 in the form of ClickerExpo LIVE!
The popular conference offers over 70 courses available for you to explore freely during the three-day event. Attendees get access to all conference videos for a full year. This year’s topics include “This One, Not That One: Discrimination Tasks,” “Building Behavior: Shape the Future,” and many more!
CEUs available from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), KPA, and the American Association of Veterinary State Boards’ RACE program.
The Dog Behavior Conference
Apr. 16 – 18 | REMOTE
Previously held in the UK, 2021 will be the Dog Behavior Conference’s second online event. In 2020 they made the quick switch to a global virtual conference with the appearance of COVID-19 and decided to keep it online this upcoming year.
This science and research-focused conference by the Victoria Stilwell Academy (VSA) will feature presentations such as “Home Alone, Separation Without Anxiety,” and “Science Talk — Puppy Edition.” Registering for the conference also grants you access to downloadables, special promotions, and recordings of the presentations.
CEUs available from the CCPDT, IAABC, the Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB), and VSA.
The Lemonade Conference
May 7 – 9 | REMOTE
The Lemonade Conference is a collaboration brought to you by Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (FDSA) and the IAABC, both of which cancelled their annual dog training conferences in 2020. They created a digital conference with a little sprinkle of the hope and confidence that dog trainers need right now.
“When COVID-19 shut down […] in-person training conferences, we took those lemons, squeezed them, added some water, sugar, and a splash of attitude and we made … lemonade!”
The Lemonade Conference will be an international “online educational extravaganza” featuring classrooms open for 18 hours a day, 40-plus presenters, and access to the recording library after the event.
CEUs are pending, and more details about this event — including speakers and schedules — will be dropping on Jan. 15. Scholarships for this conference will be available for financial hardship, 4H leaders and volunteers, and junior handlers.
APDT 2021 Conference
Sep. 29 – Oct. 2
According to a recent and succinct tweet from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), you should mark the end of September on your calendars for the 2021 APDT Conference!
More details are presumably to come, but the illustration shared by APDT on Twitter listed Riverside, CA as a possible location.
The Aggression in Dogs Conference
Oct. 22 – 24 | CHICAGO, IL & REMOTE
The Loose Leash Academy’s second annual Aggression in Dogs Conference is planned for the tail-end (pun intended) of October. They’re currently aiming for both virtual and in-person events in Chicago, IL if COVID-19 allows for it.
The 2021 program details aren’t out yet, but speakers include Denise Fenzi of FDSA and Grisha Stewart, developer of the Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) technique. Tickets are going on pre-sale on Mar. 1 for those that get on the waitlist now, and on Mar. 15 for the general public.
CEUs are pending for this event. If the in-person event is cancelled, all those who registered for it are switched to the digital event automatically.
Do you know of other upcoming conferences we didn’t touch on here? Drop the info in the comments!
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