12/13/21 update:  The Senate Environment and Energy Committee passed an amended version of Senate Bill 4058.  The committee amendment eliminated the provision that allowed courts to reduce the amount of costs assessed to only veterinary costs.  AKC believes this amendment further makes S.4058 untenable.  AKC Government Relations will continue to provide updates should S.4058 progress […]

Teddy is one of five 2021 AKC Awards for Canine Excellence recipients, winning the Therapy Dog category. This category recognizes certified therapy dogs working in hospitals, schools, disaster sites, war zones, and wherever else the affection of a good dog can provide comfort. Team Teddy is all about emotional acuity and familial commitment that elicits […]

Dyson is one of five 2021 AKC Awards for Canine Excellence recipients, winning the Service Dog category. This category recognizes task-trained service dogs that enrich the lives of physically or mentally disabled owners. Including but not limited to guide dogs for the blind, seizure alert dogs, hearing dogs, and balance dogs. From 1998 until 2012 […]

Have you ever wished you could teach your dog to talk? We know our dogs understand a tremendous amount of language, but what if they could speak directly to us? Can you teach your dog to talk? In short, the answer is yes. Christina Hunger MA, CCC-SLP, a San Diego based speech-language pathologist, has discovered […]

Magnus is one of five 2021 AKC Awards for Canine Excellence recipients. He won the Search and Rescue category. This category recognizes dogs certified to assist in wilderness and urban tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and locating missing people. In May 2014 Sinead Imbaro, of Miami, said goodbye to Marcus Aurelius, her endeared German Shepherd […]

Yesterday, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the final adoption of a rule, effective January 3, 2022, that requires licensees under the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA)—including breeder/dealers, research facilities, intermediate handlers, and carriers—to establish emergency/contingency plans in the event of a natural or manmade disaster […]

Benny is one of five 2021 AKC Awards for Canine Excellence recipients. He won the Exemplary Companion category. This category recognizes dogs without formal training or certification that have nonetheless distinguished themselves in some way and have made a meaningful contribution to their owners or communities. Apparently, when they handed out a job description to […]

The following list highlights some of the AKC Government Relations’ (AKC GR) legislative successes through July 12, 2024.  These and other victories have been won in cooperation with AKC federations, clubs, and responsible dog owners and breeders around the country who continue to work tirelessly to promote positive canine legislation in their state and community. […]

To perform in movies, musicals, and other live performances, dogs must be trainable, reliable, and predictable. One dog that comes to mind when many people think of dogs in theater is Sandy, the dog belonging to little orphan Annie. So what dog played Sandy? In the original 1977 Broadway production, Annie was played by an […]

"100 percent permanently and totally disabled." That's how 75-year-old Jack Cotter is classified by the Navy. The veteran served on submarines from 1965-1970 and over the years, he suffered multiple serious injuries. Once, another crew member opened a hatch and the pressure broke the vertebrae in his upper back. In a later accident, he fractured […]