The AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) provides educational resources and tools for dog breeders as part of its mission to advance the health of all dogs. To help responsible breeders utilize the latest canine health information in their breeding and rearing plans and share that information with their puppy buyers, CHF provides infectious disease facts […]

If you combine dogs with Disneyland, what do you get? Literally the happiest place on Earth. Four puppies from the non-profit Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) recently took a trip to the California-based theme park as part of their training. "It’s great socialization for the dogs since they get to be around all the different […]

  AKC Breeder Spotlight: Jennifer Young-Hopkins of Y-Farms Kennels Each month, the American Kennel Club (AKC) profiles breeders to hear about how they got started, their breeding program, and their experience with AKC Marketplace. We recently spoke with AKC Breeder of Merit Jennifer Young-Hopkins of Y-Farms Kennels in Zachary, La. Here, she answers questions about […]

As her Golden Retriever entered the last week of pregnancy, Melody Lyons had made all the checks on her list. Like most breeders, she wanted to be ready for anything. Whelping box set up; heat lamps installed; milk replacer on the shelf. The veterinarian gave Carly a check-up and thought delivery would happen in about […]

This article originally appeared in AKC Family Dog magazine. Subscribe now! “Eat your fish—it’s brain food.” That’s what I was taught growing up. “Because, you know, fish are so smart,” I used to scoff. But it turns out that mother knew best. That magic component is a type of polyunsaturated fat, particularly the long-chain omega-3 […]

How did you start breeding Old English Sheepdogs? Michaelanne: The OES was my dream dog as a young girl. When Doug and I got married, I was looking at ads for houses and there was an ad for Old English Sheepdog puppies for sale. We went to see them—just to look—and Doug purchased my first […]

Resource guarding is a challenging behavior to combat for new and experienced owners. Guarding possessions or food can occur between dogs in a household and/or between dogs and humans.  Early training is the best method to preventing resource guarding. It is important for puppies to learn at an early age that people touching their food […]

Introduction to Autosomal Recessive Conditions Dogs have 78 chromosomes, or 39 pairs in each cell. Genes are located on these chromosomes, and they can have different genetic variants related to genes, known as alleles. Each gene typically has 2 copies, one from the dam and one from the sire. The dam and sire randomly contribute […]

  Somewhere above us is a Mount Olympus of dog-show gods—“god” is, after all, “dog” spelled backward—whose favorite form of entertainment is lobbing disappointment and defeat to the leash-clutching mortals below. Instead of thunderbolts, these diabolical divinities rain down all the vagaries that test the soul of the purebred dog fancier: That once-in-a-lifetime sire that […]

Florida legislators met beautiful dogs, chatted with dedicated dog owners, and shared the excitement of the 2015 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship this month in Orlando, Florida. U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-9) and Orange County Commissioners S. Scott Boyd and Pete Clarke were among the lawmakers who visited the event on Dec. 13-14.Congressman Grayson and Dr. Dena Minning got […]