AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT

Club Development is here to help your club!

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

https://t.co/fb67UZaeOS

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

Emerging Issue: New World Screwworm—Impacts on Health, Interstate Travel with Dogs

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

Today isn’t about the BBQ. It’s about the brave.

Remembering the heroes in uniform — both two-legged and four-legged — who gave everything for our freedom.

Because of you, we are home. Because of you, we are free.
We honor you this Memorial Day and every day. 🐾🇺🇸
#MemorialDay #FallenHeroes #MWD

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

#akcclubdevelopment

[AKC Pet Insurance @AKCPetInsurance]

The lint roller is non-negotiable. Everything else is a personality trait.

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

#akcclubdevelopment

[Steve Stewart @StewartABC11]

A warm afternoon in the 80s. Mainly cloudy tomorrow, still warm and breezy. I can't rule out a spotty shower during the day, but rain chances will be higher after sunset. Rain Wednesday night into Thursday. Amounts could range from .50" - 1.0" with locally heavier amounts.

[AKC Reunite @akcreunite]

This might be the happiest dog you'll see today 😂🐶

Thank you, Cheryl P. for sharing the photo of your sweet doggy!

Now it's your turn...drop your pet's best tongue-out photo below 👇

#TongueOutTuesday #AKCReunite

[AKC Reunite @akcreunite]

We'll start 😂👇

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

#akcclubdevelopment

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

The Public Education Award (PEA) recognizes AKC clubs making a meaningful impact through community outreach and education. Presented annually in July by AKC Public Education, the award honors a club that demonstrates exceptional commitment to educating the public about responsible dog ownership, dog safety, purebred dogs, and AKC sports and events.

The selected club will receive a $500 award, a commemorative plaque, and recognition across AKC Education channels. To apply, clubs must submit documentation of outreach efforts from the past year, supporting photos, and a brief essay describing their impact.

Applications are due by July 1, 2026, and clubs are eligible to win once every two years. A committee of AKC employees will review submissions and select the recipient based on established criteria. For more information, visit the PEA website by clicking here or contact [email protected].

[AKC Pet Insurance @AKCPetInsurance]

Golden Retrievers don't do "casual" spring walks. It's full send or nothing 🌸

[Steve Stewart @StewartABC11]

Some low clouds around this morning, otherwise a sun cloud mix and low 80s this afternoon. A summer preview this week with multiple days around 90 degrees...the good news is dew points will be in the 50s so at least if won't feel like typical summer 90s with the high humidity.

[AKC Reunite @akcreunite]

Happy National Pet Day! Help your BestPetEver celebrate by making them this Pet-Safe treat for their special day! Check out our other Pet-Safe recipes here: https://t.co/kkyiRQQZIX #petday #pets

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

#akcclubdevelopment

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

📷

https://t.co/7cMSKhSbd5
March 31, 2026
Please share this important information with your club members, family and friends.
An amendment to the House Farm Bill (HR 7567) proposed by animal rights groups threatens the future of AKC performance events and recognized hunt training techniques.
Please join AKC and leading sportsmen’s organizations in defending responsible dog enthusiasts, sportsmen and trainers. Please contact your member of the U.S. Congress and respectfully ask Congress to remove language derived from the “Greyhound Protection Act of 2025” (HR 5017) from the Farm Bill before final passage.
Scroll down for easy ways to make a difference.
Why This Matters
While the stated intent of the Greyhound Protection Act is to address concerns related to commercial greyhound racing, the provision attached to the Farm Bill is overly broad and risks eliminating or banning standard training and event practices for certain field trials, performance events, lawful hunting with dogs, and other widely accepted training methods used by responsible dog owners and handlers.
In fact, the amendment goes well beyond “commercial” greyhound racing – which currently only exists in one state; it also bans live lure training, use of live lures, and open field coursing events involving live animals.
Because these terms lack clear statutory definitions, they could be interpreted in ways that affect lawful hunting activities and traditional dog training methods. For example, controlled exposure to live birds, or other game animals, is a widely accepted and essential component of preserving unique breed characteristics and training bird dogs, retrievers, hounds, and other working dogs. Dog trainers and hunters commonly use farm‑raised birds such as pigeons, ducks, or pheasants to teach scent recognition, steadiness, retrieval skills, and humane handling of game. These practices help ensure that hunting dogs perform their work effectively and minimize harm to wildlife during hunts.
Without clear exemptions, prohibiting the use of live animals in canine events that showcase breed characteristics, responsible hunting, or dog training could effectively eliminate long-standing, responsible training methods.
These restrictions could easily be interpreted or amended to severely impact or eliminate:
Field trials,
Hunt tests,
Earthdog competition,
Barn Hunt,
Nite Hunts, and
Other organized dog sports/events that are conducted under carefully controlled conditions.
It could also easily be interpreted or amended to impact other popular and responsible running / racing events that do not use live lures, including:
Lure Coursing,
Coursing Ability Tests (CAT); or
Fast CAT events.
Two Ways You Can Make a Meaningful Impact
Click here to send a message directly to your member of Congress
Better yet …
Click here to find out who your member of Congress is.
Tell them:
You are a voting constituent (including city/town you live in) and a responsible dog enthusiast.
Respectfully ask them to oppose overly broad language from the Greyhound Protection Act (HR 5017) that has been added to the Farm Bill.
Explain that it does nothing to improve the wellbeing of dogs, and as written could ban or lead to bans on responsible dog training practices that are essential to developing well trained working and performance dogs, as well as popular responsible dog events in the community. Share your positive experiences with these events, if appropriate.
Note that the Farm Bill is one of the most important and broadly supported pieces of legislation considered by Congress. It should not become the vehicle for language that disrupts lawful hunting traditions, events that showcase breed characteristics, responsible dog ownership, and established canine training practices nationwide.
Learn more about AKC Events that could be affected:
Fast Cat
Barn Hunt
Earthdog 101
Thank you.
The time you take today to fight animal extremism and protect your dogs really does make a difference!
📷
📷

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

Necessary Changes to Approved Events
Clubs that need to make changes to events that have previously been approved by the American Kennel Club should submit those changes via email to the applicable department. If any individual other than an AKC employee enters the club section of the event, the event will be pushed back into a pend status until AKC reviews and approves the event changes. For events that do not have a premium list published or are not planning to immediately publish due to event date, entering would not be an issue. Entering or altering the judging panel will not change the status of the event. If the judge panel submissions are not approved or require AKC assistance, the judging panel status only will display a pending status. However, any judge changes after the posting of the premium list should be submitted to the applicable department for processing or through the superintendent for conformation events.

Online Event Management – Package Shows (Shows with a Secretary and Superintendent)

In November 2024, as part of AKC’s ongoing commitment to advance and modernize the Competition Management System (CMS) and invest in the future of AKC, we shared with the fancy an improvement that aids in the management of events for clubs that have engaged in an onsite show secretary while using a superintendent to complete the preshow requirements, commonly referred to as a Package Show (or Show in a Box). This enhancement allows for more transparency, as the Event Secretary and Superintendent for package shows will both be displayed to the fancy throughout the AKC website.
This enhancement enables both the club and the assigned Superintendent to service the event, allowing clubs to work in concert with the superintendent. This enhancement enables event information to be efficiently updated and communicated, ensuring accurate and current event information is available to our constituents.
It is essential for a club completing the application process using Online Event Management (OEM) to set the event up as a package show in our system for the process to be effective. This can be accomplished by following the steps below.
Step 1: After logging into Online Event Management, select Manage in Event Management.
📷

Step 2: Select the event you would like to modify.

📷
Step 3: Select the Secretary or Event Superintendent link to enter the relevant information.

📷
Step 4: After answering yes to the Event Package Show question, select the appropriate Superintendent from the dropdown menu. Then enter the complete information for the Event Secretary. Please be sure to save the information prior to exiting.

📷
The data you entered will be retained provided you select save and continue, should you exit and return. However, no changes will be visible, or notices produced until you process the event.

Should you need assistance, please contact [email protected].
If submitting a paper application please be sure to provide the proper information on application.
2026 Conformation Point Schedule

The 2026 Conformation Point Schedule was published to the AKC website on Monday, March 16, 2026, and can be found here.

AKC Event Operations Blog
The AKC Event Operations team maintains a blog that contains these, as well as other, updates to clubs. The blog is a useful resource of information and can be found here.

Please contact the Event Operations department at [email protected] with any questions.

[Roberts Centre @RobertsCentre]

Welcome to Roberts Centre, Bracco Italiano Club of America! 🐾✨

We’re honored to host the 2026 National Specialty and kick off an exciting weekend celebrating this incredible breed. 🐶🏆

Let the competition — and the fun — begin!

[AKC Reunite @akcreunite]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We would love to see your #LuckyDog #LuckyCat, please tag #AKCReunite!

[AKC CLUB DEVELOPMENT @CLUBSAKC]

Maryland Breeders and Exhibitors – A bill is being considered on Wednesday (March 11) that would require annual registration for all dog breeders, and $50 birth certificates for every puppy whelped. The costs would be put into an account to support shelters and spay/neuter programs, as well as to help fund the administration of this new registration program. Check out AKC’s Legislative Alert for more information on how you can help us fight this proposal. https://t.co/QQjrI27qzT