On a balmy Saturday in June, three Leonbergers and two Samoyeds completed one of the first group AKC Urban Canine Good Citizen (CGC) tests in the nation. The new test assesses a dog's ability to manage tasks that city-dwellers may face every day, such as using public transportation, navigating crowded streets, and waiting calmly in […]

Some owners think it's funny to watch their dog play with a laser pointer, but this game can be very frustrating for a dog. Here's other activities to try.

Many puppies and young dogs go through a period of submissive urination – releasing a small amount of urine when they are greeted by their owners or visitors. AKC GoodDog! Helpline Trainer Christie Canfield gives some great tips on dealing with this behavior. Submissive urination is a normal canine communications behavior.  Dogs squat and urinate […]

Seeming to float around the dog show ring, with a silky, lustrous coat waving, some long-coated breeds may inspire envy in their human admirers: As a silver Afghan Hound glided past, a spectator turned to her companion and said, “I’d kill to have hair like that!” But even dogs who’ve never stepped foot in a […]

We all know the cliché of the starving stray, wandering around the streets raiding the trash and begging for scraps. A Brazilian homeless dog named Bolinha (one English translation means "ball") has turned that image on its ear by becoming so fat that he could barely waddle. It all started about 13 years ago when […]

You've likely seen the beautiful Australian Shepherd, but have you ever wondered if this breed would be a good fit for you?

Then a hero, clad in a life jacket, appears, rips open the car door and --- licks the driver all over his face as the crowd goes wild. Meet Radar the Weather Dog, star of Tray’s Wild Weather Camp – a fun show with a very serious message – teaching children how to be safe […]

It is a lot more fun to take a road trip with your dog when they are quiet, happy and safe. Many dogs stress about riding in vehicles, and other are overstimulated and bark and pace. AKC GoodDog! Helpline Trainer Breanne Long gives us some great tips for making car riding a joy for you […]

AKC GoodDog! Helpline trainer Christie Canfield CPDT-KA is an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator and teaches CGC prep classes. Here, she gives some helpful hints for skills that will help your dog with the CGC evaluation and also for everyday manners. The AKC Canine Good Citizen title is a benchmark achievement in training your dog. […]

Photographs capture one second in time. And time is fleeting. It rushes forward without bias, emotion, or care. Perhaps that’s why photos mean so much to the dog fancy: They preserve the moment when a champion was at his best. Without them, such paragons would be lost to those who study the past before charting […]