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CANIS Conference: Undermining Dog Training and Owners’ Right to Choose

CANIS Conference: Undermining Dog Training and Owners’ Right to Choose

The CANIS Conference (Canine Advocacy, Networking, Innovation, and Science) is presented as a major event for trainers, veterinarians, shelter workers, and other animal professionals scheduled for October 7-10, 2026 in Schaumburg, IL.

Canis Conference promotes itself as “powered by passion, driven by science” and claims to unite the dog training and animal care fields through collaboration, education, and innovation. The program highlights multiple tracks across training, behavior, veterinary care, sheltering, and canine sports.

On the surface, CANIS is branded as inclusive, science-based, and forward thinking. In reality, dog trainers should take caution. This event is organized by APDT International and AggressiveDog.com, groups with a long record of advocating for bans on training tools and attempting to discredit professionals who do not conform to their restrictive ideology.

The conference presents itself as a place where all voices are welcomed, yet it is not truly inclusive. Ethical dog trainers, those who have learned full skill sets and apply all tools supported by real evidence and humane standards, are intentionally excluded. Instead, the platform is given to those who promote restrictive philosophies, advance political agendas, or benefit from reshaping the industry to fit their own interests.

A particularly concerning example is the inclusion of Daniel Mills, connected to one of the most criticized scientific papers in the history of dog training. That study has been widely discredited for serious flaws and for appearing to produce predetermined results that supported anti-tool campaigns. Rather than addressing these problems, Mills and others now profit from the influence of those results. This is emblematic of the broader issue: individuals and organizations ignoring real science when it conflicts with their ideology, while using selective narratives to justify restrictions and legislation that undermine the profession.

The repeated use of phrases like “science-based” and “humane” is not about advancing knowledge, but about marketing an agenda to control the profession, marginalize skilled trainers, and profit from limiting options for dog owners.

Key Individuals and Groups Involved

CANIS is supported by a coalition of organizations and presenters who either actively campaign against training freedoms or remain complacent for the sake of publicity and professional advantage. This includes:

APDT International
AggressiveDog.com (Known advocate of tool bans Michael Shikasio)
Daniel Mills (criticized for biased and predetermined scientific work used to create tool bans)
Additional individuals and organizations that align with or tolerate restrictive agendas rather than defending professional diversity and evidence-based practice

Call to Action

CANIS is not simply a conference. It is a coordinated effort to exclude ethically educated trainers, misrepresent science, and profit from reshaping the dog training industry for political and financial gain.

Trainers and dog owners are strongly encouraged to boycott the event and those involved. Beyond individual action, it is critical that other professional organizations actively speak out, take a public stance, and show intolerance for the continued support of individuals who remain complacent while their colleagues are restricted, discredited, or lobbied against. Silence and cooperation in the name of professional standing only strengthen these harmful agendas.