Ask AKC  Dear AKC: I brought home a 7-year-old spayed Whippet/Pit Bull mix. She is a beauty and very strong willed. Her biggest problem that my vet and trainer haven't been able to help me with is eating. She doesn't like to eat. I can't use food to train, etc. I haven't been able to find […]

This training tip is brought to us by Karen Profenna of New City, NY. Karen is a Certified Trick Dog Trainer, and owner of AKC Canine Partner enrollee, Hailey, who is a Trick Dog Champion and AKC Master Agility Champion. Karen tells us tips on teaching tricks and goes into detail on how to teach […]

Capturing Your Dog's AttentionYou might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, as the cliché says, but you can teach almost any dog to obey basic commands, trainers and handlers agree. It's best to begin training a dog at the puppy stage. Start when the puppy is about seven weeks old and […]

He's been your loving companion for a long time. He's still by your side, but he's not as frolicsome or attentive as he once was. It's inevitable -- your beloved pet is growing old. His needs are changing, and he will depend on you more than ever to keep him healthy and comfortable. Most dogs […]

Hailey Has Plenty of Tricks Up Her Paws Baseballs, basketballs, skateboards and Frisbees – most parents invest in plenty of these items for their kids. And in Karen Profenna’s case, that includes her four-legged family member. Hailey – a little black-and-white fireball – can swing a bat, dunk a basketball, ride a skateboard and soar […]

with Family's Devotion   While her daughter took a tennis lesson, jogger Vicky Kaseorg put her wait time to good use with a run around the neighborhood. A lifelong animal lover, Vicky forced herself to look away when she spotted a skinny mud-covered dog lying in a parking lot. Surely some kind-hearted person would help, […]

Caution is Recommended with the Use of Any Diet Pill There is a diet pill that was developed specifically for dogs and it has been the only drug shown to be safe and effective. As with humans, various diet pills have been evaluated for their ability to decrease appetite or caloric absorption. These include herbal […]

Debbie first saw Lexi as a puppy at an adoption event in front of a pet store. “We had just lost our previous dog to cancer and did not plan to get another one for a while. But Lexi captured our hearts with her happy face, easy-going attitude, and obvious intelligence.” Debbie started training Lexi […]

A bill to regulate pet breeders is scheduled to be voted on by the House Business and Labor Committee on March 24. House Bill 608 seeks to establish licensing, inspections, regulations, fees, and penalties for dog and cat breeders.  It would define a “commercial breeder” as: A person or entity who owns, keeps, or harbors […]

AKC Gazette breed column, Chihuahuas—Don’t be in a hurry for that great one. It is far better for a breeder to move slowly toward an eventual goal by tackling one problem at a time, collecting virtues into the genotype and breeding away from faults through careful selection.We all start at the same place, but it […]