Portia Rocks Alsup THDD owned by Kathleen Smiley-Aslup of Rockford, IL Portia was a stray, found wandering the streets, and was taken in by Bullmastiff rescue groups after her rescue. But even rescue did not know what to do with her after a foster home did not want her back and adoptive owners returned her. […]

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 […]

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 […]

AKC Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE), Chok Dee CD BN RAE THD and Laura Manchester of Hillsdale, NY Chok Dee is a 9-year-old dog who started his life as a street dog in Bangkok, Thailand. When he was about a year old, a volunteer veterinarian from Boston came across him while helping a local rescue organization […]

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 […]