-- New Performance and Agility Opportunities Available to Competitors -- The American Kennel Club has recently launched several new competitive opportunities for exhibitors in Performance Events and Agility, and I’m pleased to update you about the success and progress of these programs. The Blue Grass Coursing Club and Greyhound Association of Northern Georgia hosted the […]

This story originally appeared in a 2011 issue of the AKC Canine Partners News newsletter. Since the story was published, Harley, now 9 years old, has earned the AKC’s highest honor in agility – the Master Agility Championship (MACH) and is now pursuing her Preferred Agility Championship (PACH). Most puppies spend their early months being […]

Being that my wife Sandy and I have Boxers as our breed of choice, we were asked by a friend to take in a Boxer dog as a foster. She turned out not to be a boxer, but a boxer-lab mix – a Boxador. The young girl seeking the temporary foster home was going through […]

Meet Vera the Dragon Slayer CAX2 Vera is a 3 year old Boxer mix that Norman Price of Kennewick, WA, adopted from a rescue group in July 2011. “But the truth is she rescued me. She is my best friend and I love her very much,” he said. Norman was told that a family found […]

Canine Care Tip Brought to You by the AKC GoodDog! Helpline Team School will be out soon and summer vacation is coming up! Planning to bring Fido on your family road trip? A little planning ahead will make your trip smoother. Here are a few tips to keep your dog cool and comfortable! Before your trip: […]

Vera has on her riding “doggles,” cap and scarf, ready to hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday – one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Her owner, Norman Price of Pasco, WA, says the Boxer-Lab mix loves to go on car rides because Vera, a member of the AKC Canine Partners community, […]

Meet Officer Sammy of the Walnut Cove Police Department, Walnut Cove, NC Did you think all police dogs were German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois? Not so! A mixed-breed dog who was abandoned by his owner is a valued member of a police department in North Carolina. Officer Sammy was not always deemed law enforcement material. […]

-- AKC Celebrates 125th Anniversary with a Look Back at First AKC Registered Breeds in History -- For the 18th consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever is the most popular purebred dog in America, according to 2008 registration statistics released today by the American Kennel Club® (AKC) But, while more than twice as many Labs were […]

Finding your first family dog is a daunting process—one that's up there with dating and house-hunting. And like parenting, when it comes to raising a dog to be perfectly well-behaved, successful, and sociable, well, let's just say practice makes perfect. But, these breeds, while they appeal to different interests, are easily trained and friendly (especially with children), […]

We often hear dog shows accused of being nothing but “beauty contests.” In reality, they’re organized more like job fairs. At AKC shows, dogs are exhibited in seven groups organized by the original work the breeds were created to do. The dog judged best in each group becomes one of the final seven to vie […]

AKC GoodDog! Helpline trainer Hilarie Erb provides tips for starting a jogging program with your dog. It is important to do this safely and provide the proper training before you take off running! If you are a runner and think that your dog would be the ideal running partner, you may be right. However, there […]

We all know that exercising is good for humans and dogs, but so much of it is so repetitive and boring that it becomes a chore. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here some alternatives to help you and your four-footed pal reach your fitness goals. Follow the Bouncing Paws Trampolines are not just […]

If You Want a Friend in Politics, Get a Dog, an exhibition on loan from the AKC art collection, has been installed at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence, in Harrisburg. “The governor and I are thrilled to partner with the American Kennel Club to offer this rare art exhibition featuring man’s best friend,” says Pennsylvania first […]

The Westminster Kennel Club recently announced that Mr. Thomas H. Bradley III is scheduled to judge Best in Show at the club’s 141st dog show Feb. 13–14, 2017. A lifetime participant in the dog sport, Mr. Bradley competed in his first dog show as a teenager in 1955, showing his German Shorthaired Pointer at the […]

The 2015 Obedience and AKC Rally National Champions were crowned this weekend at the American Kennel Club's National Obedience Championship and the AKC Rally National Championship, held at Purina Farms just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The Championships drew more than 500 of the most highly trained dogs in the nation. Pamela Manaton, AKC Director […]

Jane Kamp Forsyth—breeder, handler, all-breed judge, AKC Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and towering figure on the international dog-show scene—died on July 3. She was 86 years old. “The entire American Kennel Club mourns the loss of Jane Forsyth, and we send our condolences to Bob and Sioux,” AKC President/CEO Dennis Sprung says. “Janie was an inspiration […]

The Labrador Retriever has done it again. The intelligent, family friendly breed held onto the number one spot on the most popular list for the 24th consecutive year, continuing the longest reign as the nation’s top dog in American Kennel Club history. For the full list of breed rankings, click here. While the Lab holds strong, […]

There’s a story that nicely sums up the Boxer breed. One morning at the dog park, a group of neighborhood dogs were playing as their owners looked on. The life of the party was a male Boxer. With all the boisterous enthusiasm of a pup, the big fawn-coated bruiser was cavorting and careening, bouncing and […]

No velvet pillows, hair ribbons, or French pedicures for these big bruisers. These are the no-nonsense, punch-the-clock-and-get-it-done dogs of the AKC Working Group, the Ford pickups of the canine kingdom. Many factors go into breeding dogs that work hard for their feed. Let’s consider a few, and then watch some well-bred workers in action. Physical […]

The AKC Canine Health Foundation announced Jan. 6 the funding of a grant that is focused on further understanding hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer in dogs. The project, titled "A Novel Approach For Prevention Of Canine Hemangiosarcoma," is funded by three groups whose breeds have been affected by this cancer, the American Boxer Charitable […]