AKC celebrates 140 years of promoting responsible dog breeding and sports! Join us at Meet the Breeds 2025 for a fun, educational experience.
The Weekly Brief
The best of SHOWSIGHT editorials, weekly wins, and breeder commentary — delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning.
On Tuesday, September 17th, we celebrated 140 years of promoting responsible dog breeding and ownership, and making 28 dog sports accessible. The AKC is the premier destination for everything dog and continues to promote canine health and well-being. Through public education programs, legislative and advocacy efforts, advancing canine health, and working to protect the rights of every dog owner, we provide the highest level of guidance to 5,037 clubs and affiliated organizations nationally.
We were honored to celebrate with both the Helmsley Building and the Empire State Building as they lit up blue on the eve of our anniversary. During these lightings we were joined by special canine guests. We were also thrilled to celebrate our anniversary on the day at the annual Canines at the Capitol event at the Cannon Caucus Room Building, Washington D.C., led by Shiela Goffe’s Government Relations Department. Among the many members of Congress in attendance were AKC Legislator of the Year Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania. It was a very special program with appearances from the 2023 AKC National Championship winners and breeds from the seven Groups.
To learn more about how we make a world better for dogs, visit: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/04162319/American-Kennel-Club-Not-Just-Champion-Dogs-We-are-the-Dogs-Champion_Dec-2023-update.pdf
We are happy to announce that AKC® Meet the Breeds®, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, returns to the Jacob K. Javits Center January 25-26, 2025! This is America’s largest educational dog extravaganza where dog-lovers can meet and play with hundreds of dogs while learning about responsible dog ownership, breeding, and understanding which breeds may fit their lifestyle from breed experts.
To buy tickets now, visit: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/27121/javits-center.
Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, including:
Last year, we had over 30,000 attendees come and learn about over 100 of our beloved breeds. This is a unique opportunity to engage with the public about purebred dogs. Make sure your breed is represented! Club representatives should contact: meetthebreeds@akc.org for sign-up information.
The AKC Agility League held its second live championship from August 29th through August 31st at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri. This event brought together league teams from around the country for fun, fellowship, and great competition. The Championship is a great opportunity for teams to meet in person and compete on the same playing field. This year’s entry more than doubled, with nearly 1,200 runs over the three days. The event featured classes for all levels of dogs from Novice through International. The trial also offered fun team contests, including Best Team Shirt and Best Decorated Crating Area.
The top three teams were honored in each division: Ph.D. (International-style courses), Senior (Masters courses), Sophomore (Open courses), and Freshman (Novice courses). The top dogs in each jump height class were also honored in each division. Judges were Gail Storm of Florida (Sophomore & Senior), Carol Mount of New Jersey (Freshman & Senior), and guest judge Ashley Deacon of California (Ph.D.).
Champion – Dare to Dream
Captain is Marissa Hansen, and they are based at Dream Acres Agility in Wisconsin. Team members are:
Captain is Marissa Hansen, and they are based at Dream Acres Agility in Wisconsin. Team members are:
Captain is Nikki Hall, and the team is based at Their Place in West Virginia. Team members are:
To see a full list of champions, visit: https://www.akc.org/press-releases/akc-agility-league-names-top-teams-second-national-championship/.
American Kennel Club (AKC)
