Most of us can remember a special school teacher who had a profound influence on our lives during those formative years. In our lives breeding and showing dogs, a great mentor can have an equally powerful influence: teaching us, guiding us, and inspiring us. Talk to the iconic figures in our sport and they will […]

As we continue to breed, show, and finish generations of our dogs over the years, it’s important that we never function on autopilot, participating in the sport mindlessly just because “it’s what we do every weekend.” The cancellation of shows over many months this year gave us a new appreciation of our passion. We learned […]

Around the country, dogs and their humans are gearing up for the event of the year: the AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin. This means rigorous training as dogs nail those jumps, weave poles, and tire jumps—all while following a diet carefully designed for peak performance. We spoke to Dr. Catherine Lenox (DVM, DACVN), […]

Most weekends you can find 15-year-old Sicily Coniglio from Roscoe, Illinois, at dog shows. Sicily comes from a family involved in the dog world and has been involved with dogs since she was a young child. “I was practically born in a grooming salon watching My mother groom and do seminars" Sicily explained. Her passion […]

At only 18 years old, Madison Schlagel of Magnolia, Texas, has already made a name for herself in the dog world and is active in the Conformation ring. Madison owns and competes with three dogs: a Pointer named Daykene I Just Can't Help Myself ("Vice"), a Newfoundland named GCHB Bear N Mind's I'm Meant For […]

In the fall, our thoughts naturally turn to education. This year, with so much downtime, it’s especially important to get back to basics. There are always bright and shiny distractions to tempt us… that state-of-the-art tack box, the hydraulic grooming table, the sparkly new St. John suit. Newcomers in particular might think these expensive trappings […]

Facing COVID-19, cancellations, and a torrential rainstorm, two Washington state all-breed clubs more than 200 miles apart worked together to put on a safe, five-day cluster. In 1995, the Seattle Mariners fashioned an incredible late-season run that catapulted them into the American League playoffs. In the process came the slogan, Refuse to Lose! On August 24, […]

It all started about seven years ago, when Jim Moritz, a mailman from Somerdale, New Jersey, was browsing Craigslist. “It was 11:30 at night, and I saw him there,” Jim recalls. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh. He’s so cute.’ ” The face that caught his eye—and captured his heart—was Buddy, an 8-year-old Cocker Spaniel whose […]

Like many of you in the sport, I haven’t been to a dog show since early March. The cancellation of shows nationwide began a little later that month, as we sheltered in place to deal with the pandemic. Of course, our lives in dogs continued during that forced hiatus; we whelped litters, groomed, kept up […]

Angel Warren already had two rescue dogs when she got started in her local 4-H dog program at age nine: Durango, a Miniature American Shepherd, and Aspen, a Border Collie mix. "It was my first introduction to dogdom and I was immediately intrigued," Angel remembers. This intrigue is what led Angel to get her first […]