Does it seem like your dog just doesn’t get it sometimes? Does one family member have a great relationship with him while another seems to be his doormat? Well, you’re not the only one who’s frustrated. Your dog really does want to know what he should be doing. Trainers often hear that Rover jumps on, […]

Some owners feel that when they leave their puppy or dog alone in a crate or enclosed area it would be best to give him a view outdoors so he will not become bored. Then they place the crate or exercise pen in front of a window or glass door so the dog can see out.  […]

Like young children, dogs often learn best when playing games and having fun.  Playing is not only fun for you both, but you can also use games for training and reinforcing important behaviors, like “Come.”  Remember to keep your recall command happy and light, not an authoritative tone.  Here are a few games to help […]

AKC GoodDog! Helpline trainer Hilarie Erb explains why it is important to teach your dog each skill separately and to not package them together. In dog training, a good phrase to remember is “one thing at a time.” This means that every behavior you teach should be practiced by itself, not following or preceding any […]

Jake, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, and Cobber, a mixed-breed dog, loved camping out in Mohican State Park with Kirsten Stewart of Columbus, OH. Summer is a great time to go camping, and sleeping out in a tent is a wonderful way to get close to nature. Dogs love to go with their owners and including […]

Deep in the AKC Gazette photo archive is a battered old Kodak film box. It contains several rare—and extremely fragile—glass negatives taken by Rudolph Tauskey. They date to the early 1920s. Canine photography buffs have assumed for years that all of Tauskey’s glass negatives were lost, but six survive. Using a sophisticated scanner, the AKC Publications […]

Adapted from a story originally published in the June 2011 AKC Gazette:After nearly a half-century in Borzoi, the best advice I can offer is to proceed slowly. When you begin to breed dogs, your first show dog will represent the ideal in your mind. That dog morphs in memory to near perfection in the years […]

Few U.S. dog owners would be surprised to hear that federal law prohibits bringing a dog into the United States from countries that are not rabies-free, unless it is fully immunized against the disease. But if you live near a border and travel across borders on a regular basis, it can be easy to forget […]

  This year’s national specialty for the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America (WSSCA) was held in late April during the Cherry Blossom Cluster in Maryland. We enjoyed four days of competition and camaraderie, and it only rained once! (In 2011 we held our national specialty in Pennsylvania during “The Great Harrisburg Flood.”) Welsh Springer […]

Never Stop Learning.One of my tips for being successful with your passion in the sport of purebred dogs is to never stop learning. Read the AKC standard for your breed and the other breeds in your group. Know what breed-specific characteristic are essential to define them. Know why they possess those traits and how they […]