What is a Therapy Dog? Therapy dogs are dogs who go with their owners to volunteer in settings such as schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. From working with a child who is learning to read to visiting a senior in assisted living, therapy dogs and their owners work together as a team to improve the […]

(Originally edited and written by A. Hamilton Rowan, Jr.; updated by M. Sue Richey from material submitted by Evelyn Monte Van Horn and Lisa Brown as cited in the Poughkeepsie Journal.) American sportsmen used Spaniels for hunting game birds and waterfowl long before there were Spaniel field trials. The Cocker Spaniel, recognized by The Kennel […]

by Elissa Kirkegard Ch. Realta's Galileo CD TD SH MHU QAA CGC (IWSCA ALL AROUND RETRIEVER AND IWSCA WCX) Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? Nine year old veteran retriever and hunting dog, Gali, owned and handled by Elissa Kirkegard, took to the spaniel hunt test game with gusto. This is the […]

What is Scent Work? AKC Scent Work is a sport that mimics the task of working detection dogs to locate a scent and communicate to the handler that the scent has been found. Real-life detection dogs are trained to search for a variety of things--drugs, explosives, human remains, currency, other contraband, living humans (such as […]

By Milton S. Holcombe On the weekend of April 18-19, 2009, the first revised edition of the AKC Advanced Judges and Handlers Seminar was held at Forest Lake, Minnesota. This seminar was sponsored by the Northern Flight Hunting Retriever Association and the Lake Country Retriever Club. Chuck Stokes was the lead person for Northern Flight […]

By Jerry D. Mann, Field Director -- Sporting Breeds As I entered the grounds for the Mid-South Hunting Retriever Club fall hunt test near Bruce, Mississippi I hurriedly approached the contestants' sign-up area to obtain a copy of the event catalog and locate the running site of the Master test. It was with anxious anticipation […]

Retrievers are one of the most versatile breeds around. Their natural instinct to retrieve (anything) but specifically birds make up their drive to please. They are not only useful for hunters but for families and professionals in many ways. Retrievers can be hunting dogs, great family dogs, arson dogs, bomb detection dogs, drug detection dogs, […]

You’ve played ball with your Retriever about a million times in your backyard or at the park, but do his fetching abilities automatically mean he’d make a good hunting companion? Not necessarily. The only way to really know is to participate in a Retriever Hunting Test. Ever since the first AKC retriever hunting tests were […]

  2017 AKC Gun Dog Championship & AKC Gun Dog Walking Championship Camp Robinson - Conway, AR 2016 - (click on link and scroll down for placements) Ames Plantation - Grand Junction, TN 2015 - (click on link and scroll down for placements) Sportsman's Association Field Trial Grounds - Grovespring, MO 2014 Location: Red Rock […]

By Lyle Johnson, AKC Executive Field Representative In Pointing Breed Field Trials, the gun dog stake is probably one of the most fun stakes for the judges to choose the winners. While the Open All-Age dog might be the prototypical "big running dog," the Gun Dog should be more in tune with the handler and […]