The American Kennel Club is opposed to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. In solidarity with Ukrainian people, effective immediately, judges from the Russian Federation will not be approved to judge at AKC sanctioned events. Additionally, requests for imported dog registrations (AKC Foreign Registration) for dogs born in Russia, will be denied effective immediately. For the […]

The AKC Museum of the Dog is pleased to announce the opening of their new exhibit “Fashionable Dogs”, which will run from September 7th, 2023, through December 31st, 2023. This exciting exhibition is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor […]

Marthina Greer First presented Pure Dog Talk Jan 2023 Bladder stones are the quintessential “which came first, the chicken or the egg” question. By this, we mean that a dog can have a bladder symptoms that are caused by a bladder stone, or the bladder infection can cause bladder stones to form. Which then becomes […]

When dogs sleep on their back with their paws in the air, is it healthy for them or not? They choose this odd position for comfort and safety.

The only breed to rank in the top ten breeds every decade since the founding of the American Kennel Club became the nation’s top breed in the 1950s—the Beagle. Not coincidentally, Charles Schultz’s pet Beagle, Snoopy, made his illustrious first appearance in national newspapers on October 4, 1950, and swiftly became a pop phenomenon. The […]

The Poodle, recognized by the AKC in 1887, did not make the top ten breeds until the 1950s, when it ranked number seven. This glamorous show dog and companion strutted into the number-one position in the 1960s and would become the first breed to hold the number-one crown for two consecutive decades. German Shepherd Dogs, […]

No doubt spurred on by the famous Best in Show wins of My Own Brucie in the early 1940s, accompanied by this handsome dog’s likeness appearing on the cover of Life, the Cocker Spaniel became the country’s number-one dog. The breed enjoyed the number-one ranking for sixteen years, from 1936 to 1952. Although the Pekingese […]

The American Kennel Club recognizes many breeds, and each possesses a purpose-bred set of physical and behavioral characteristics. Purebred dogs within each of the seven AKC breed groups are expected to conform to a particular breed standard. One of the more identifiable elements of a canine breed standard is temperament. Temperament has been defined as an animal’s […]

The Boston Terrier became the first breed to enjoy the number-one position for two decades, though the breed fell to the number-two position in the 1920s after its initial reign atop the list in the 1910s. The records of the Boston Terrier Club of America show that the breed was number-one or number-two for every […]

Accepted in 1908, the German Shepherd Dog overtook the Boston Terrier in 1925 and became the number-one dog of the 1920s. The breed then disappeared from the top ten until after World War II, when it reemerged as the number-six dog of the 1950s and has remained among the most popular breeds to the present […]