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 […]

In 1962 when Marybeth Hearn was 10 years old, she convinced her parents to let her volunteer to raise a puppy for the California-based nonprofit Guide Dogs for the Blind. She wasn’t sure what to expect when they brought home a black Labrador Retriever named Lepta, but she knew one thing for certain. “I do […]

The American Kennel Club is pleased to announce the launch of its exciting new Virtual Home Manners (VHM) Program. The program is designed to help teach dogs proper manners at home. Teaching their dogs to behave at home is important for owners, mentally stimulating for dogs, and home-based training can take place any time that […]

With their delicate appearance and small size, Shih Tzu now fulfill their ancient role as canine comforters in ways their Imperial breeders never imagined.

One day in 1938, soon after Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Adolf Hitler sent a car to his hometown of Linz to pick up Rudolphina and Rudolph Menzel. The Jewish couple – a psychologist and physician, respectively, who were also internationally known dog trainers – knew what their destination would be if they complied. It would […]

Dr. Renee Lara is that rare gem – a veterinarian who understands dog breeders. And that’s because she is one herself. Owning her own veterinary clinic in Bryan, Texas, since 1990, where she offers a full array of reproductive services, Lara is Platinum Breeder of Merit with her Ehrenvogel German Shorthaired Pointers. She purchased her […]

The Berger Picard hit the big screen in "Because of Winn-Dixie" but this French herding dog's history goes back way further.

Friendly, active, and outgoing, Labrador Retrievers regularly rank among the most popular dog breeds. There's a lot to love, and for first-time Lab owners, there's a lot to get to know — especially over the course of the initial months of your puppy's first year of life. So what are the key milestones and firsts […]

Though we share the same mother tongue, Americans have plenty of linguistic differences with our friends across the pond. In Great Britain, you live in a flat, not an apartment. You go on holiday, not vacation. And you cuddle your King Charles Spaniel, not your English Toy Spaniel. In a nod to these verbal variances, […]

For more than twenty years the American Kennel Club has harnessed the power of genotyping technology to ensure the integrity of its registry and to assist breeders with the accuracy of their breeding records by determining whether a recorded sire or dam could be genetically excluded from the parentage of its recorded progeny. History and […]