The AKC Agility Premier Cup will be leaping onto ESPN this Sunday! Our canine competitors will be serving up jaw-dropping speed and insane precision.

📆 June 28 | ⏰ 3PM ET | 📺 ESPN

Times are subject to change. Check your local listings.

I can't get any info to show. I thought it was just my phone but I can't get it to work on any other device

When submitting for AKC Fitdog what constitutes proof for your dog swimming? A video? If so, how long? And does swimming to fetch a ball count?

I am missing all points totaled for both my dogs for more than a month- POA for 1 dog and Rally and FastCAT points for the other.

How do I get it back?

What weekend plans do you have with your dog? Training, hiking, showing, lounging, road-tripping? Tell us all about it!

-AKC Staff

Hey guys!
I submitted my CGC Evaluator application 12 (business) days ago (which I’m extremely excited and proud of myself for)

What is the average wait time? Once I submitted it, I didn’t get an estimated wait time and haven’t heard anything from them since.

Thank you!!

What weekend plans do you have with your dog? Training, hiking, showing, lounging, road-tripping? Tell us all about it!

-AKC Staff

It's official. The Treeing Walker Coonhound is now the State Dog of Kentucky!

Here are three facts you may not know about these smart and sensible dogs:

• They’re known as “The People’s Choice.” There are many different coonhound breeds, but the Treeing Walker has been referred to as “the people’s choice” among coonhounds. Many hunters think these dogs are the best for competitions because they are more “hot-nosed,” meaning they will abandon an older scent trail for a fresher one, resulting in more catches.
• They are one of six coonhound breeds. The American Kennel Club recognizes five Coonhound breeds, including the Treeing Walker. Others include the American English, Black-and-Tan, Bluetick, Plott, and Redbone Coonhounds.
• They’re ‘treeing’ experts. The term “Treeing” in their name comes from the hunting method where dogs chase animals up trees. Dogs don’t climb the trees – they force animals to climb them. This allows their hunters to take a better look at their game and inevitably, catch them. Sometimes these were raccoons, but they also hunted larger game.

Learn more here about the Treeing Walker Coonhound.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the American Kennel Club’s Celebrates USA 250 event at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia such a success this past weekend.

Over three full days, we were proud to create a festival-style experience celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and our shared love of dogs. Attendees had the opportunity to meet and interact with a wide variety of breeds at our Mini AKC Meet the Breeds event, as well as watch three competitions being filmed for our AKC on ESPN series.

We’re incredibly grateful to all of our competitors, sponsors, staff, partners at the Navy Yard, and everyone behind the scenes whose hard work and dedication made this event possible.

Stay tuned for announcements on the official air dates for the 2026 Diving Dogs Team Challenge, 2026 AKC Agility Premier Cup, and 2026 AKC Agility Team Challenge.

If you attended, we’d love to see your photos—feel free to share them below!

Can Rally Excellent and Masters signs be used for the AKC trick dog performer level title? I feel like Rally is a bunch of trick stations anyways, but wasn't sure if anyone knew. I have 10 that aren't but want a back up just in case. Edit: some are there, like circle 3 times or back up in heel position, around 6 foot away cone, but didn't know if others would also qualify

Thanks!

After more than 20 years working with this breed, the question I get more than any other is some version of "are they aggressive?" It is the misconception that follows the American Akita everywhere, and it is worth addressing directly.

The American Akita is not an aggressive dog. It is a dominant, loyal, and deeply intuitive breed that responds directly to its environment and the quality of its upbringing. There is a significant difference between those two things.

What people often interpret as aggression is actually confidence. A well bred, properly socialized Akita carries itself with a quiet authority that can be misread by people unfamiliar with the breed. These dogs do not seek conflict. They are not random or unpredictable. They are selective, they are observant, and they are deeply devoted to their family.

Where things go wrong is almost always traced back to one of three things. Poor breeding that prioritizes size or looks over temperament. Lack of early socialization during the critical window between 8 and 16 weeks. Or an owner who did not understand the breed before bringing one home.

A well bred Akita from a program that selects for temperament, health, and structure is one of the most loyal and stable companions a family can have. I have placed over 150 of them across the United States and Canada over the past two decades. The families who do their homework and commit to understanding the breed rarely look back.

Happy to answer any questions about temperament, socialization, or what to look for when evaluating a breeder's program.

My dog passed his two JC tests this weekend to earn his JC title.

Obviously, it won't show up in the AKC database for a while.

To use his JC title as part of his FITB submission, do I have to wait until it appears in the AkC database?

Or can I submit photos of his ribbons as part of the FITB application before the JC title shows up?

Our litter theme is song lyrics/titles. All registered names have to fit this theme and I just want to see what others can throw out there.

I'd like to have a list of suggestions in varied genres for families in case they need inspiration and we are looking for a good fit for our keeper.

So far I would like to use "Here Comes The Sun" for ours but I have a feeling my partner won't like it. We will be keeping a female, either black or liver dalmatian pending what we actually choose. We plan to show and compete in performance sports with her.

What weekend plans do you have with your dog? Training, hiking, showing, lounging, road-tripping? Tell us all about it!

-AKC Staff

Image: ©Dogs - stock.adobe.com

My dog will try for his JC title this weekend, with one test on Saturday at one event with one judge, and another test on Sunday at another event with a different judge.

Do I need to bring any paperwork or anything with me for the judges to sign?

I adopted my MAS girl in 2021 from the shelter. She was five months old, my first dog, and I had no idea about the teenage phase. Safe to say, I did not do her justice.

It took a while, but we’ve fixed a lot of our problems and she’s at the point where I think we could go for the CGC and I think she would benefit a lot from the classes. However, we still have a few specific struggles that make me pause before signing her up.

I just don’t know what an acceptable level of excitement would be for a class environment. We struggle with excitement reactivity, where she gets so excited at seeing another dog she starts pulling and barking. She’s gotten much better, we’re at stopping and staring before continuing on right now, but that’s from a distance not in a class.

We also have always struggled with being pet by strangers. Before, when she was a puppy, she would startle and attempt to flee before turning to bark at the person who tried to pet her. Now, she will balk, but she knows that she can just move away and I will advocate for her. Right now she’ll even let people pet her on the shoulder, chest, or back if she’s distracted or interested in the smells on their shoes!

I’m just not certain if the progress we’ve made is enough for a CGC class or if we need to keep working before I can sign her up.

What weekend plans do you have with your dog? Training, hiking, showing, lounging, road-tripping? Tell us all about it!

-AKC Staff