The Joy of APDT

By Jamie Damato Migdal, CEO and Pet Industry Entrepreneur

Last week I make the trek to Hartford, Connecticut for the annual APDT Conference and Trade Show. No matter what else I’ve got happening on the personal or business fronts, I always make a concerted effort to go to the conference because it reminds me, viscerally and intellectually, why I have made dogs and their people my life’s work.

Going to the conference also reminds me that I’ll always be a fan girl at heart, because even after twenty years in the business I still get a big thrill hanging out with some of the people I consider my heroes and role models: Patricia McConnell, Sue Sternberg, Ian Dunbar, and Ray Coppinger, among others. (Ray is in the picture, above, giving me a smooch to pass along to Lynn Brezina.)

If you’ve never been to APDT before, put it at the top of your to-do list. You can take seminars, workshops, and certificate courses. You can mingle with old colleagues and make new friends. If you have your own business, or want to find out what’s new and exciting in the pet industry, you can hop on over to the trade show and network with potential clients and investors.

When you look at the agenda for the show, it can be a bit overwhelming – as a newbie, how do you decide where to spend your time and money? This year was CanineLink Executive Director Nancy Paolucci’s first visit to the conference, and it was fun to experience it with her. I’ll let her give you her impressions of the conference:

“This was my first year and I can’t wait to go back next year! I now know how to better take advantage of the seminars and the networking; in fact, in 2015 I plan on joining the Border Collie Team. They did a wonderful job of identifying other first time attendees - “puppies” - and making sure that we were placed together. I went this year for the trade show (lots of amazing new products, kong discounts and free treats) and the lectures. One piece of advice they gave the “puppies” at orientation was to leave our comfort zone and go to a seminar that you might not choose first, because you might learn something new. I did this by attending a seminar on Canine Sports Medicine, where I learned some great physiological information that I can apply to both the dogs that I train as well as my own dogs as they dock dive and participate in agility.”

So there you have it – whether you’re a wide-eyed puppy or a grizzled old pooch, APDT is the place to be! And at the end of a long day of learning and schmoozing, you can all cram into the back seat of a taxi and enjoy an evening out with some of your favorite people.

I’ll see you in Dallas next year!

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