Standardizing AKC Rules – Cindy Stansell Is Up For The Task

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138 – August, 2026

By Amy Fernandez

Since its founding, AKC has enacted an impressive collection of rules and guidelines. They’re never in short supply. The problem is trying to read them and hopefully apply the appropriate reasoning to any given situation. And that is truly a nightmare, mainly because, like every legal code, many sections of the AKC rules are vague, others are contradictory, and more frequently than anyone cares to admit it becomes very hard to decide whether something is permitted or prohibited. Formal regulations are designed to inform, educate, and rein in chaos. So, yes, the current system needs a bit of sprucing up.

Well, that’s good news–kind of. Cindy Stansell, Chair of the AKC Rules Committee, is attempting to introduce a semblance of uniformity to our ancient rulebook. Cindy comes from a valuable perspective for this job. She started in Siberians back in the 1970s, exhibiting in both conformation and obedience. Since then, she has become best known for her wide-ranging judging career. She has plenty of experience deciphering the rules from both sides of the situation.

She says, “My primary goal is to introduce consistency by grouping like items together, using gender neutral terminology, simplifying the language and making it consistent across all AKC sports. I want everyone to read and understand the rules, but this becomes a challenge when you have read through multiple chapters and sections trying to comprehend a particular regulation.”

It seems like this would be a welcome change. But as we know, whenever and wherever, people automatically resist change. And the dog world being what it is, speculation and rumors often overtake truth. Disregard the misinformation and the noise. These changes are urgently needed and long overdue.

Click here to read the complete article
138 – August, 2026

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Posted by AnthonyA on Aug 13 2026. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.