The AKC Puppy Pack tells the story of our puppies’ lives through engaging, educational and of course cute photos and videos on Instagram. This program covers the first year of 7 puppies’ lives as they attend veterinarian visits, participate in training, sports & events, and the day-to-day trials, tribulations and joys of raising a puppy. The goal of the program is to engage younger consumers in pure-bred dog ownership through exciting and engaging posts that include information on AKC programs and the mission of caring for all dogs.
Who Makes up the Puppy Pack?
Breeders of Merit play a significant role in the Puppy Pack as they are the source of all content, masters of breed knowledge and responsible dog owners. BOMs are the most conscientious and committed to preserving breed traits and breeding healthy dogs which is why they were our first choice to participate in this program with their puppy. The current Puppy Pack members are:
- Russell Terrier, Smidge
- English Setter, Hazel
- Ibizan Hound, Gideon
- French Bulldog, Marzipan
- Bernese Mountain Dog, Nymeria
- Australian Shepherd, Ryder
- Shih Tzu, Stryker
The Puppy Pack content lives on the American Kennel Club Instagram account (@americankennelclub). Each puppy has a persona which comes to life through fun and educating posts. Participating BOMs capture photos and videos depicting the good, the bad and the not so cute of their puppy’s daily life. Then, we create engaging and educational posts. Educational content such as potty training tips, sports & event information, how to travel with your dog, discussing shots with your veterinarian and more include a link to an article about the topic on our website for the reader to learn more. Here are some examples of posts:
This photo of Nymeria in the bathtub is linked to an article on akc.org about how often you should wash your dog. It generated 52 clicks and received close to 3,000 likes.
This photo of Hazel at a training facility linked to an article on getting started training for agility. It received 34 clicks to the article on akc.org and 2,200 likes.
This cute photo of Marzipan snuggling with her favorite pizza blanket has a caption that discusses what foods you can and cannot feed your dog. This post links to the nutrition page on akc.org for viewers to learn more about proper nutrition for their pup. It generated 42 clicks and 3,800 likes.
Our current 7 puppies will turn 1 this fall so we need to recruit our “Season 2” puppies! Puppy Pack 2.0 will launch Fall 2019 and if you are interested in participating, please reach out. The only requirement is for your litter to be 6-12 weeks of age September 1. Puppy Pack 2.0 will include more information on breeding and breeders. We would love to hear from you and have you be a member of the pack! Email puppacklife@akc.org for more information!