BREED 2015 2014 2013 Retrievers (Labrador) 1 1 1 German Shepherd Dogs 2 2 2 Retrievers (Golden) 3 3 3 Bulldogs 4 4 5 Beagles 5 5 4 French Bulldogs 6 9 11 Yorkshire Terriers 7 6 6 Poodles 8 7 8 Rottweilers 9 10 9 Boxers 10 8 7 Pointers (German Shorthaired) 11 12 […]

It was an exciting first night of the 2016 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show presented by Purina® Pro Plan® on Monday, Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York, as winners of the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding groups were named. CH Belisarius Jp My Sassy Girl, aka "Lucy," a 3-year old Borzoi won the […]

The American Kennel Club® (AKC®) and Royal Canin are pleased to announce the judging panel for the 2016 National Championship to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, 2016. The 2016 event will showcase the top national and international dogs and will also […]

The American Kennel Club® (AKC®) and Royal Canin are pleased to announce the judging panel for the 2016 National Championship to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, 2016. The 2016 event will showcase the top national and international dogs and will also […]

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is known for the unique "ridge" on its back, but why is it there? How does their fur get this way?

By: Debra Lampert Rudman and Arliss Paddock   “It becomes one of those events about which people ask, ‘Did you go? Were you there?’ M&E has it all – atmosphere, ambiance, ladies and gents in their finery, and the world’s best dogs all together at the same time in a glorious outdoor setting. Everybody in the […]

Dragon Run’s Little Lion THDD, CGC owned by Beth & Paul Peterson of Dover, DE Beth shared this special story of Taco, who just earned the AKC Therapy Dog Distinguished honor for making more than 400 visits to help others. Dragon Run’s Little Lion THDD CGC, known as Taco, is a Pekingese / Pembroke Welsh […]

Each of the AKC registered breeds are assigned to one of seven groups representing characteristics and functions the breeds were originally bred for. Current as of June 1, 2023 [accordion] [accordion_panel title="Herding Group"] HERDING GROUP The Herding Group, created in 1983, is the newest AKC classification; its members were formerly members of the Working Group. […]

Deep in the AKC Gazette photo archive is a battered old Kodak film box. It contains several rare—and extremely fragile—glass negatives taken by Rudolph Tauskey. They date to the early 1920s. Canine photography buffs have assumed for years that all of Tauskey’s glass negatives were lost, but six survive. Using a sophisticated scanner, the AKC Publications […]

  Finishing touches are being applied to Monroe County Fairgrounds; Monroe, Michigan for the annual dog show, hosted this July holiday weekend by Ann Arbor Kennel Club. From Friday July 3rd through Sunday 5th more than two thousand dogs will compete in Conformation, Rally, Obedience and Barn Hunt. For the first time ever, Dock Diving […]

If you are a judge, do you find it harder to go from judging Great Danes to judging Yorkshire Terriers, or to go from judging English Cocker Spaniels to judging American Cocker Spaniels? In other words, is it harder to turn the page in your mind and adjust for the vast differences between two breeds […]

As you look down at the Best in Show judging from your seat in the nosebleed section at Madison Square Garden (or from your own couch), you might be inclined to offer your own take on which dog is worthy of the top honor at Westminster.“That pug is the cutest dog in the ring,” you […]

The Poodle, recognized by the AKC in 1887, did not make the top ten breeds until the 1950s, when it ranked number seven. This glamorous show dog and companion strutted into the number-one position in the 1960s and would become the first breed to hold the number-one crown for two consecutive decades. German Shepherd Dogs, […]

The only breed to rank in the top ten breeds every decade since the founding of the American Kennel Club became the nation’s top breed in the 1950s—the Beagle. Not coincidentally, Charles Schultz’s pet Beagle, Snoopy, made his illustrious first appearance in national newspapers on October 4, 1950, and swiftly became a pop phenomenon. The […]

No doubt spurred on by the famous Best in Show wins of My Own Brucie in the early 1940s, accompanied by this handsome dog’s likeness appearing on the cover of Life, the Cocker Spaniel became the country’s number-one dog. The breed enjoyed the number-one ranking for sixteen years, from 1936 to 1952. Although the Pekingese […]

The Boston Terrier became the first breed to enjoy the number-one position for two decades, though the breed fell to the number-two position in the 1920s after its initial reign atop the list in the 1910s. The records of the Boston Terrier Club of America show that the breed was number-one or number-two for every […]

Accepted in 1908, the German Shepherd Dog overtook the Boston Terrier in 1925 and became the number-one dog of the 1920s. The breed then disappeared from the top ten until after World War II, when it reemerged as the number-six dog of the 1950s and has remained among the most popular breeds to the present […]

The Boston Terrier, a top-ten breed for six decades of the 20th century, has reached the number-one position twice, including in the 1910s. The Airedale Terrier reached the number-two position, the highest the breed would ever claim, appearing in the top ten for three consecutive decades and then never regaining its national popularity. The decade […]

The AKC Archives is arranged into four major groups: Clubs, including AKC Member Clubs and Parent Clubs People AKC Administrative Visual Materials In addition to the library book and periodical collection, there is also an assortment of photographs, pamphlets, clippings, pedigrees, and more in the Library & Archives vertical files. Contact the Archivist for further information on undescribed […]

1918-1936 3.0 Cubic ft. AKC 7.1 Prepared by Norma Rosado-Blake 2006 An inventory will be completed by December 2006. For further information on access, refer to the AKC Archives' Mission Statement and Procedures. Provenance The files of the Club Relations Department have been transferred to the Archives through a series of collections starting in May […]