The North Carolina House of Representatives has passed House Bill 159, which would define certain dog owners as “large commercial dog breeders” based solely on the number of intact female dogs they own.  Read AKC’s previous Legislative Alert for details on this legislation. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it has been assigned […]

Monday, April 27, 2015 On Wednesday, April 29, the Rhode Island House’s Health, Education, and Welfare Committee will consider numerous bills that may impact dogs and their owners.  Of specific concern, House Bill 5800 would reinstate localities’ breed-specific ordinances that were enacted prior to the state’s 2013 ban on such local laws. House Bill 5573 […]

A bill to protect the rights of responsible dog owners in Kentucky passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee and has advanced to the Senate Rules Committee.  Senate Bill 124 seeks to prohibit local governments from passing any ordinance, regulation, or policy that is specific to a breed of dog.  For this bill to become law […]

A bill has once again been introduced in the North Carolina House of Representatives that would define a “commercial breeder” based solely on the number of intact female dogs someone owns. The measure also would transfer state animal welfare regulation and oversight from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Public Safety. The AKC […]

Dear AKC Delegates, Judges, Club Officers and Breeders, Please immediately forward this information to your club members in Nevada. The AKC Government Relations team has just become aware of proposed changes to the Clark County, NV animal control code which will negatively impact breeders, fanciers and dog owners. Comments must be received by 5pm PST […]

March 30, 2015 Committees will vote TOMORROW, March 31, 2015, on two bills of grave concern to all dog owners in Tennessee.  The committees will vote to accept and approve amendments to House Bill 1142 and Senate Bill 1020.  These amendments would delete the current language in the two bills and insert new language that […]

Monday, March 30, 2015 Connecticut House Bill 6187, which will be considered by the Connecticut Joint Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, April 1, seeks to permit courts to order that a separate, independent advocate be assigned to represent the interests of an animal in a criminal proceeding in which the welfare or custody of the animal […]

On February 16, 2015, the Montana Senate Local Government Committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 239, a bill that seeks to protect the rights of responsible dog owners in Montana.  SB 239 would prohibit local governments from enacting or enforcing an ordinance, policy, resolution or other regulation that is specific to the breed or […]

UPDATE: The proposed mandatory spay/neuter ordinance has been removed from today’s agenda and tentatively rescheduled for March 10th. AKC will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates. If you have not yet written a letter or email, please do so. On Tuesday, March 3rd, the Long Beach City Council will hear and vote on […]

From the AKC GoodDog! Helpline Sitting Pretty is a cute trick also often referred to as “beg.” The dog starts in a sit and then raises his front legs up so he is sitting on just his back legs with front feet legs curled and held in front of him. It is helpful if your […]