Ginger was a shelter puppy, on the red-list alert for euthanasia, before Laurene adopted her. Ginger, now 4 years old, and Laurene love to hike, run, and train for obedience. In only three years of competing, Ginger has earned the AKC Canine Good Citizen award, AKC Rally Excellent (RE) title, and gone through the highest […]

Rowdy Cuz E Iz CD BN RAE owned by Mary Patterson of St. Michael, MN Mary brought Rowdy home when he was an 8-week-old puppy and started training soon after. The now 6-year-old Shih-tzu – Poodle mix is “extremely smart and a wonderful performance dog,” Mary said. “I've never really cared for obedience until I […]

MACH Dewey MXB MJS OF T2B owned by Elise Strauss of Anchorage, AK Dewey is a 7-year-old Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua mix and is Elise’s first agility dog. She never would have discovered the fun sport if it was not for trying desperately to find a way to keep Dewey busy! “I got him when he […]

This story originally appeared in a 2011 issue of the AKC Canine Partners News newsletter. Since the story was published, Harley, now 9 years old, has earned the AKC’s highest honor in agility – the Master Agility Championship (MACH) and is now pursuing her Preferred Agility Championship (PACH). Most puppies spend their early months being […]

Deborah Tung is a Virginia teenager who does it all with her dogs. Deborah competes in Agility and the fun new sport of Barn Hunt with her All-American Dog, Nigel. Barn Hunt tests all dogs’ hunting ability in finding vermin, which many breeds were developed to perform. Rats are placed in heavy, safe PVC tubes […]

Andretti is a rescue dog whose early life is unknown. A recent X-ray revealed that he has two microchips. “You can only speculate on the chaotic nature of his puppyhood,” Inez said. “We know that he went from the Kansas Humane Society to Beagles-And-More Rescue and had at least one failed adoption before finding his […]

AKC Utility Dog (UD), Wonderful Wilbur UD and Sheila O’Brien of Richfield, MN Long-time obedience competitor Sheila O’Brien was looking for a German Shepherd Dog when she spotted a photo of a terrier-mix puppy on PetFinder.com. “He and his brother were from a kill shelter in Missouri. I wasn’t looking for a little dog but […]

Debbie first saw Lexi as a puppy at an adoption event in front of a pet store. “We had just lost our previous dog to cancer and did not plan to get another one for a while. But Lexi captured our hearts with her happy face, easy-going attitude, and obvious intelligence.” Debbie started training Lexi […]

If your dog loves the water and loves to retrieve, then the fun sport of dock diving should be a natural. The AKC began recognizing titles of the new North America Diving Dogs (NADD) organization in June 2014 so now you can also add a dock jumping title to your dog’s AKC records. The sport […]

A visiting dog did her best, but she could not raise the 10-year-old’s spirits. “He looked at Kacey and was just lying there and petting her head a bit while she had her head on the bedside,” Kacey’s owner John Smead recalled. Then the boy’s mother began reading Kacey’s “bio” card that shows her picture […]