To the Core: Updates from the American Kennel Club

Dear Friends,

It is my pleasure to share more updates on the many happenings at AKC. The goal is to provide you with timely, up-to-date information on the many initiatives that staff are focused on daily.

As we enter Fall, there is much good news to provide you from various departments. 2022 has been a banner year in many ways for our sports and I am very happy to share that information, and more with you.

AKC Meet the Breeds Tour
The AKC Meet the Breeds tour will make its final stop of 2022 in Columbus, OH on Saturday October 15th at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Meet the Breeds gives attendees the unique opportunity to meet and play with a variety of different dog breeds while learning about responsible pet ownership and how to find the best breed(s) for their lifestyle straight from the experts. From Affenpinschers to Yorkshire Terriers, this canine extravaganza is fun for the whole family.
We are deeply appreciative to every one of our Clubs and exhibitors who have volunteered their time, expertise, and their wonderful dogs to make these initiatives a success
The announcement of the 2023 AKC Meet the Breeds tour dates and sign-ups will be made available in November. Your breed deserves to be represented. The ability to educate the public and promote the greatness of purebred dogs is important to the long-term preservation of our breeds and creating responsible dog owners. We look forward to seeing you and working with you on the next tour.

AKC Digital Library
In honor of the 138th anniversary of the AKC, we launched our first ever digital library. It includes the entire run of the AKC Gazette from 1889 to the present day.  The AKC Gazette is the longest continuously published dog magazine in America and one of the oldest sporting publications in the country. Users can also search a collection of historic Show Catalogs from 1887 – 1983, including the very first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show catalog from 1877. New collections will be added to the digital library in 2023.
All content is made available without fees and is fully text-searchable thanks to Optical Character Recognition in PDF files, which makes the library user-friendly. Visitors to the digital library can download issues to save or print and share direct links to the issues or catalogs.
The digital library can be found at library.akc.org. We trust that you will enjoy delving into the history of the great American Kennel Club.

Public Education-Stewards
Ongoing education is key as more and more people enter our sports. Noticing a need, I requested AKC Canine College to develop three courses to educate stewards in the areas of Conformation, Rally and Obedience. The courses will cover stewarding basics, how to become a ring steward, stewarding eligibility, obligations and etiquette, check-in procedures, ring and table set-up, and ring procedures and management. All three courses will be complimentary and completed by the end of 2022.

Nominating Committee Selections
Per the Nominating Committee, the following individuals for nomination to fill the three vacancies for the Class of 2027 of the AKC Board of Directors:

Dr. Charles Garvin, Delegate, Dalmatian Club of America, Inc.
Steven Hamblin, Delegate, Pekingese Club of America
Dan Smyth, Esq., Delegate, Burlington County Kennel Club, Inc.

Additionally, Eduardo Toshio Fugiwara, Delegate, Two Cities Kennel Club is running by petition.

Nominations for the Class of 2027 close on November 15, 2022. Submissions should be sent to Executive Secretary Gina DiNardo.

Government Relations: 
Save the Date! The AKC Government Relations Department is having a legislative advocacy and training conference in Raleigh, NC, Jan 21-22, 2023. Learn from AKC Government Relations and other experts about the latest trends, strategies, and tips for community outreach and legislative success. Also, learn how you can get involved, improve outcomes and inspire others to join the cause.
Topics include: Updated Tips, Tools and Resources for Successful Legislative Advocacy; Advanced Advocacy For Dogs; Federation Building and Community Organizing; Media Engagement and Community Outreach for Purebred Dogs; 15 Actions Your AKC Club Can Begin Today; Understanding the Animal Rights Agenda in Everyday Life; National & International Trends, Legislative Overview and Strategy, Advancing Canine Health AND MORE!  To learn more, contact the AKC GR department at doglaw@akc.org.

Elections are important!
Election day is Tuesday, November 8. This year all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate, 36 governorships and many local seats will be contested. Although the media tends to cover mostly federal and state-level races, local elections may be among the most important for dog owners.  Most animal control laws and other rules that impact you as a dog owner on a day-today basis, are decided at the local level. The  AKC GR department has developed a 2022 elections guide with simple things you and your club can do to make a difference in the upcoming elections  — from ensuring all your club members are registered to vote to identifying dog friendly candidates in your community.  Plus, if you hurry, there’s still time for your club to send out a candidate survey to your local candidates. This survey helps you better understand your candidates’ perspective on canine issues and shows them that their local constituents and clubs care about these issues.

AKC Sports and Events:
Sports and Events is having a banner year in entries and participations.  Over 25,000 events will be held in 2022. This is up over 2,200 events from the previous high in 2019.
Our total entries are projected to top 3.4 million, exceeding the previous high set in 2019.
Scent Work and Fast CAT are experiencing significant growth and Conformation, Rally, and many of the traditional field events are also experiencing notable growth.
As a positive indicator for the future, entries in the Beginner Puppy conformation class are up 30% from 2019. All of this to say, collectively there are more unique dogs engaged in AKC Sports & Events than ever before.  Thank You to the dedicated club members, judges, AKC Board and staff that are making this happen.

Registration:
Although there are a number of indicators that overall demand for dogs has fallen back to more normal levels from the extreme peak during the pandemic.  The US still needs more than 8 million new dogs a year and AKC breeders can only produce about 20% of the total need.  So there are still plenty of homes for well-bred AKC purebred dogs.  Year-to-date, AKC Litters in 2022 are about equal to the number registered in 2021, and many of those litters can be found on AKC Marketplace, which is visited by more than 1 million people a month.

We have also been working on other ways to help breeders, including Breeder Toolkit; easier self-service options for ordering duplicate litter kits and certificates; and the ability for a breeder to get their litter kit immediately by email instead of waiting for it to delivered by USPS.  Later this year we will be rolling out a completely updated Online Litter Application process that is more mobile-friendly and has new features including the ability to register artificially inseminated litters online.

Another way that AKC is helping breeders is through the AKC DNA Program.  In fact, we recently hired Claire Wiley, VMD, DACVIM to oversee our program.  She will take the AKC forward in a manner consistent with the vision laid out by the AKC Board Ad Hoc Committee Regarding Canine Genetic Testing, providing genetic counseling to our clubs and our breeders, collaborating with canine health researchers, and enhancing AKC’s position at the center of efforts to improve the health of dogs.

We are very excited about this 4th Quarter, including the upcoming 22nd annual AKC National Championship presented by Royal Canin, the largest dog show in North America. I look forward to my next update on the important work being done on behalf of yourself, your dogs and clubs.

Please contact me with any thoughts or questions.

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Posted by Liz on Oct 13 2022. Filed under Current Articles, The Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.