Joseph and Brenna Carlisle are AKC Breeders of Merit Bronze and AKC Bred with HEART breeders. Their kennel, Heritage Hounds, is located on about 80 acres just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Brenna has bred and shown Standard Longhaired Dachshunds her whole life, and Joseph has bred Treeing Walker Coonhounds and competed in competition hunts with […]

Originally published in the AKC Gazette Almost all the spaniels and setters were developed in the British Isles—but of the AKC pointing breeds, only the Pointer has its roots in England. The rest come from all over Europe. European breeds are less specialized than those of the British Isles. None of the retrievers—developed as the […]

In the early days of organized dog shows, many breeders were also horse people. You can still feel the tug of their reins in almost all the breed standards, which use equine terms to describe dog anatomy, such as “withers” instead of “shoulders” and “hock” rather than “ankle.” Perhaps predictably, some of those early “doggy” […]

Anyone foolhardy enough to be outdoors in Le Harve, France, on a stormy, windswept evening in October 1789 would have beheld a curious sight: a conspicuously tall, ginger-haired gentleman striding through a soaking rain, urgently searching for something he apparently held quite precious. Onlookers in the old port city might have wondered if he was […]

Each year, we are proud to recognize and celebrate the men and women who dedicate their lives to improving the health, temperament, and quality of purebred dogs. These breeders are the heart of our organizations and they deserve to be recognized for their incredible work. One breeder is chosen from each of the seven groups […]

Working members are every club’s greatest asset. Yet most clubs haven’t changed their style of recruiting new members in decades. That’s a problem when longtime members are getting older and many newbies in the sport mistakenly think they can learn all they need to know by chatting on Facebook. Thankfully, we have smart dog people […]

Through the years, many different breeds have won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show, including the 2024 winner, "Sage" the Miniature Poodle.

There was a time not long ago that nearly every advertisement featuring a child with a dog seemed to include a Lab or a Golden Retriever, consistently among the most popular dog breeds in America. Today, there’s a bit more variety in the breeds being photographed with children for commercial advertising. Perhaps the public perception […]

The Smooth Fox Terrier, called the “gentleman of the terrier world,” is a lively, gregarious terrier with a devil-may-care attitude, originally developed for Britain’s traditional foxhunts. They are close relatives to Wire Fox Terriers.

Upbeat, lively, inquisitive, and friendly, the jaunty Russell Terrier was developed by England's "Sporting Parson" for use in foxhunts. The adorable Russell Terrier looks like a plush toy come to life but is an eager, tireless working terrier.