Each year, the AKC Humane Fund pays tribute to five dedicated, hardworking dogs for making significant contributions to an individual or entire community. One award is given in each of the following categories: Uniformed Service K-9, Service, Therapy, Search and Rescue, and Exemplary Companion Dog. No matter the environment, just about everyone who meets Stella thinks she’s “scentsational.” From lifesaver […]

The giant Scottish Deerhound coursing joyfully through a field is a glorious sight. This majestic and ancient breed has been prized since at least the 16th century for its endurance, courage, speed, and great skill at bringing down deer. In fact, the 'Royal Dog of Scotland' was so highly esteemed that, in early days, ownership […]

Dogs can teach us a nation’s history as surely as any textbook. Trace the history of the coonhound, for example, and you’ll find a master class on how our fledgling nation flourished. The very first Americans were British, and so too were their dogs. But as America’s hounds evolved, they changed dramatically, just like the […]

Mr. Sprung was also awarded a PET AGE ICON Award for 2020 The American Kennel Club would like to congratulate its President and CEO Dennis Sprung on being named a Lifetime Member of the Afghan Hound Club of America, Inc. and for earlier this month being awarded the Pet Age 2020 ICON Award. “It is […]

There is such a thing as being too good at your job. Just ask the Irish Wolfhound. As far back as Roman times, there were accounts of large Greyhound-like dogs in Ireland – called cú faoil in ancient Gaelic – revered for their size and ferocity. Some Irish chieftains and warriors even grafted the word […]

Joseph and Brenna Carlisle are AKC Breeders of Merit Bronze and AKC Bred with HEART breeders. Their kennel, Heritage Hounds, is located on about 80 acres just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Brenna has bred and shown Standard Longhaired Dachshunds her whole life, and Joseph has bred Treeing Walker Coonhounds and competed in competition hunts with […]

Radar is a “decomposition dog" who is trained to pick up the scent of death. He can also find missing people, suspects of crimes, and track evidence. Now eight years old, Radar has been training for this since he was just 10 weeks old. Since then, he's helped put away about 24 murders and has […]

The Irish Wolfhound is an ancient and giant breed. These tall, muscular dogs can weigh as much as 180 pounds and can stand as tall as seven feet when up on their hind legs. They have a strong instinct to hunt, which makes them a wonderful candidate for AKC sports like tracking, agility, and lure coursing. […]

Though we often don’t think about them in this way, dogs are really about people — those long-ago (or, sometimes, not so long-ago) figures who developed particular breeds for particular tasks. Some breeds — like the Doberman Pinscher, Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, and Cesky Terrier — owe their existence to just one visionary person. Other breeds were brought into being […]

No doubt you've seen a Whippet or Italian Greyhound. These absolutely adorable dogs look like Greyhounds that have been blasted with a shrink ray. Thanks to their size, it's easy to see that they are not actually Greyhounds, but the trickier question is, how do you tell these two breeds apart? The larger Whippet is […]