APDT Awards 2017 Member of the Year
The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) will present Irith Bloom with the 2017 Member of the Year Award at the 24th Annual APDT Educational Conference and Trade Show in Richmond, Virginia, Oct. 18-21.
The Member of the Year Award honors APDT members who have demonstrated outstanding commitment, passion and professionalism, and dedication for advancing the APDT as it advances the dog training profession and advocates for the pet industry profession. As a main purpose of the organization, APDT is committed to providing education to dog trainers and to the public, which requires much coordination with volunteers and staff on the APDT Education Committee. Bloom is serving a second year as the chair of the APDT Education Committee.
“I am honored and humbled to receive the APDT Member of the Year Award,” Bloom said. “I have enjoyed volunteering for the APDT, and look forward to continuing to serve the association in the future. I also want to express my gratitude to everyone associated with the APDT, especially all the other volunteers who put in so much time to make the APDT the great organization that it is.”
In her role as chair, Bloom has worked with the volunteers and staff on several initiatives: review and update educational content via live and recorded webinars and multi-week courses; review of conference topics and shorts in relation to the Body of Knowledge; and the development of criteria for organizations that provide a certification or certificate program to complete, to better educate trainers and consumers on these programs and designations.
Robin Bennett APDT chair said providing such certification and programs has allowed APDT to become an Approved Education Provider (AEP) through CCPDT, which provides assurances to the membership that APDT courses or webinars are guaranteed for CEUs for CCPDT certifications.
“Through her leadership, Irith has not only managed these tasks with the volunteers and staff, she has also delivered results,” Bennett said.
Bloom has been training animals since the 1980s, and has worked with everything from chickens, rabbits, parrots, and cats to dogs and horses – not to mention humans.
She is a member of the faculty at the Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy. She is also a Certified Professional Dog Trainer — Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA), a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC), a Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Trainer (VSPDT), a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP), and a Certified Behavior Adjustment Training Instructor (CBATI), as well as being certified in TAGteach, a positive reinforcement method for coaching humans.
Bloom also donates her time as an animal care and programs volunteer at Wallis Annenberg PetSpace in Playa Vista, California. She is an adoption coordinator with National English Shepherd Rescue, and is on the Steering Committee of the Los Angeles County 2020 Healthy Pets Healthy Families Coalition, a One Health initiative aimed at improving the health and well-being of people and their pets throughout Los Angeles County.
Bloom is the owner of The Sophisticated Dog, LLC, a pet training company based in Los Angeles. She shares her home with a rescued English Shepherd named Franklin and her husband Aaron (not a rescue).
The Association of Professional Dog Trainers, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1993 to be an inclusive forum for trainers to network with each other, provide educational opportunities, and grow the profession. Currently, the APDT reaches more than 5,200 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, business management, research, and continuing education in the professional dog training profession and pet industry.
CONTACT:
Mandy Roberts, (859) 545-0483
mandy.roberts@apdt.com
2365 Harrodsburg Road, Suite A325
Lexington, KY 40504
(800) PET-DOGS