Local dog trainer Abby Hill, CPDT, of Newtown has earned certification through the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers (CCPDT), the first national certification for dog trainers. The CCPDT has set up this exam to test dog trainers on Learning/Theory, Instruction Skills, Husbandry, Ethology, and Equipment.

Up until the creation of the CCPDT in 2001, there was no true certification process for dog trainers. Many schools teach dog trainers and offer certification for their specific programs and so these certificates, therefore, reflect the teachings and quality of a specific school.

Ms Hill has also gone through two of those certification processes.

The first dog training school that Hill went through was in Virginia, at the American K-9 Academy, where she took a six-week course on dog training. She had hands on experience with obedience, agility, personal protection and aggression rehabilitation. After graduating from there she went on to be one of their head trainers.

“I left there with a tremendous amount of knowledge about aggression and rehabilitating dogs with behavior problems,” she said. “I just felt as though there was another way to deal with the dogs, particularly in obedience that was less stressful on the dog.”

Hill left there after a year and went to another school that trained the dogs using positive reinforcement.

“They used a clicker and lots of treats,” she said. “I saw so many dogs there that were very well trained and so happy to be working for their owners. The problem there was that since they never believed in correcting a dog, some dogs were a bit unruly.”

Ms Hill went into business for herself a year later and started The Exceptional Pet, LLC. In 2004, she teamed up with WAGS Doggie Daycamp and Boarding in Danbury, which is where she does her group lessons.

Hill is also a member of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers which is an organization of dog trainers who are committed to constantly becoming better at training through education.

“I wish that all dogs were trained with respect and mutual trust. Positive-reinforcement is not the traditional way of dog training,” said Hill. “Ten years ago, when I first started training dogs, the only way to teach a dog was with a choke chain, using force. Now, I could think of countless ways to train any given command without ever forcing the dog to do anything.”

Besides training other dogs, Hill has also competed with her own two dogs.  She was one of the first people ever to compete and win the highest title possible at the very first Rally competition. Rally was invented by the Association for Pet Dog Trainers in 2001, which is where Ms Hill earned a Magnum Cum Laude 1 Title with her dog Mo.

“I look at dog training and life as something that I will never completely understand,” said Ms Hill. “I look forward to learning new ways of dealing with different problems and finding the best possible solution for the situation. I am constantly trying to learn whether it is going to a conference or just reading a book.”

Reach Abby Hill and The Exceptional Pet, LLC at 203-364-0411 or 203-994-7678.