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 […]

  Nicole Sieling and her All-American Dog, Lillie, took first place in their division at the 2013 AKC Juniors Agility Competition held in December in Orlando, FL, in conjunction with the AKC Agility Invitational.  Nicole adopted Lillie from a shelter as a puppy, and the two have discovered dog sports together. This was their third […]

This article originally appeared in the March 2012 issue of the AKC Canine Partners News newsletter Cooper is an agility superstar. It barely took him a month to go from Novice to the most advanced level of AKC agility – Excellent. But then the then-8-year-old mixed-breed dog suffered a back spasm that took him out […]

PACH Beagle’s Josie MXP3 MXPB MJP3 MJPB PAX owned by Nancy Beagle of Midland, MI Josie is a 7 ½ year old “true All-American,” Nancy says.  “Her DNA results could only account for about 50% of her genetic makeup, but there is certainly a herding breed in there somewhere as demonstrated by her herding me […]

Ally spends her days like a typical suburban canine. She watches for the squirrels and birds that wander into her yard. She plays with her favorite toy – a squeaky football. Occasionally she breaks into a run and makes speedy loops around her house, just to show those pesky squirrels that she could catch them […]

When Aryn Hervel met Crush, her first thought was “this dog needs a job.” The petite cattle dog mix had gone through two owners who couldn’t live with her energy until dog trainer Hervel adopted her and put her to work. Hervel channels Crush’s exuberance into agility with great success. The former shelter dog has […]

KOKO HERZ ... JAN. 3, 2003 - FEB. 19, 2015 Steven Herz of New Jersey wrote this moving memorial for Koko Herz who was the first All-American Dog to earn the AKC Therapy Dog title and who passed away from cancer in February at age 12. We are honored to share it with you. "I […]

It didn’t sound that hard – Beginner Novice Obedience.  After all, we already had our AKC Canine Good Citizen and AKC Rally Novice titles!  And this is an optional title, meant to give dogs experience before the regular Novice Obedience class.  Our trainer walked us through the steps, saying, “I think Magic can do this, […]

If your dog has received the AKC Canine Good Citizen (and perhaps also the AKC CGCA) title, you may have asked “What’s next?”  One answer could be the AKC Beginner Novice obedience title. The Beginner Novice class is a great “next step” for CGC dogs since it works on advancing the skills your dog has […]

Congratulations to Sue Kotlarek and 13-year-old Jasmine Anne UD GO VER P-CDX RAE OA OAJ AXP AJP NF OFP CA FDCH on a major achievement. Jazz won her first-ever AKC Preferred High in Trial and High Combined honors at the Toledo Kennel Club trials on Nov. 26-27. The AKC Obedience Preferred program allows dogs to jump […]