Creek Ridge’s Found in a Pickle CAX2 RN owned by Terry & Suzanne Lane of Peachtree City, GA Pickle, once an abandoned puppy, is the first All-American Dog to earn both the AKC Coursing Ability Excellent title (for passing the Coursing Ability Test 25 times) and also earning the Coursing Ability Excellent 2 title for repeating […]

Face-licking dogs are sending a messageWhen a dog licks the face of another, the behavior probably can be traced to the puppy stage. A puppy’s display of licking signaled a desire to be fed. In adult dogs, it could be a sign of respect. Wild dog puppies lick their mother's lips when she returns from […]

By Sarah A. Ferrell "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ... it was the spring of hope ... We had everything before us." Charles Dickens could have had the joys and fears of raising the best possible […]

Dear AKC: I have a four month old Golden Retriever who, it seems, was born with a mouth full of razor sharp puppy teeth. A lot of people tell me the teeth will be replaced by permanent teeth at three and four months old. This hasn't happened. When does this normally take place? --Tooth Troubles in […]

When we did agility with our dog, we drove 2.5 hours one way to take lessons from a world-class trainer. I have a friend in Houston who starts a 2-hour drive across Houston in 5 o’clock traffic to get to the best training school she could find. So when we surveyed 3500 dog owners and discovered […]

New York, NY – Giving responsible owners a whole new level of achievement for their dogs, the American Kennel Club (AKC) announced today the launch of “AKC Urban CGC” to the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) training program. The new title focuses on city-dwelling dogs and the special skills they require. Since 1989, more than 700,000 […]

This article originally appeared in the summer 2013 issue of the AKC Canine Partners News. Since that time, Diesel, now 4 years old, has added many other achievements, including earning the top AKC Rally title of Rally Advanced Excellent. His full name is now Tennessee Diesel Smoke CD BN GN RAE CGCA. The pointers and […]

Sheila Dempsey of West Virginia, owner and trainer of multi-talented All-American Dog - He's A PatchWork Puppy CD BN GN RAE OAP OJP OFP (also known as Patches) tells us how to teach your dog to Back Up – one of the exercises required at the AKC Rally Excellent level and one that many Rally […]

Cleo overcame a serious medical condition as a puppy and has gone on to earn the top AKC Rally title of Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE) and also AKC Obedience titles. Meet Cleo The Miracle Dog CD BN RAE CGCA, owned, handled and trained by Rose Ann Reggiano of Sandy Hook, CT Cleo is a 10-year-old […]

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 […]