Tag Archives: dog breeds

AKC National Championship to Air on ABC January 17th

Nat Champ 2021

The AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin® will air on its new network, ABC, as a three-hour special this Sunday January 17, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. The show features thousands of dogs from around the country and the world competing for the coveted title of National Champion.

Hosting the 20th Anniversary broadcast is veteran sportscaster Mary Carillo, with AKC Executive Secretary Gina DiNardo, and noted sportscaster Carolyn Manno handling the paw-by-paw duties. This year’s AKC National Championship was the largest dog show in North America with 4,008 dogs entered in Conformation from 49 states and Washington, DC and 7 countries combined with competitions in Agility, Obedience, Rally, Diving Dogs and AKC Fastest Dog, bringing the total entries to over 8,000. Dogs competed for multiple titles across various events and more than $150,000 in prize money, the largest in the world of dog shows. Continue reading AKC National Championship to Air on ABC January 17th

Tuesday Top Ten: Breeds That Love to Work

shutterstock_79923091As compiled by the American Kennel Club:

Australian Shepherd
The Australian Shepherd lives for his job, which still involves herding livestock and working as an all-purpose farm and ranch dog. He needs a lot of activity and a sense of purpose to be truly content. Due to the breed’s intelligence and versatility, “Aussies” also excel in AKC events such as agility, obedience and herding.
Continue reading Tuesday Top Ten: Breeds That Love to Work

Tuesday Top Ten: Most popular breeds registered in 2014

shutterstock_127264724The Labrador Retriever has done it again. The American Kennel Club (AKC®) recently announced that the intelligent, family friendly breed holds tight to the number one spot on the most popular list for the 24th consecutive year, continuing the longest reign as the nation’s top dog in AKC history.

While the Lab holds strong, the Bulldog has quietly crept up the list, landing this year at number four for the first time – its highest ranking in breed history. This gentle breed makes an excellent family companion with a natural tendency to form strong bonds with kids, an easy-to-care-for coat and minimal exercise needs.
Continue reading Tuesday Top Ten: Most popular breeds registered in 2014

Slate.com’s Big Graph of Dog Data

from Slate.com
from Slate.com
Earlier this month, Slate.com ran a graphic excerpted from David McCandless’ book Knowledge Is Beautiful: Impossible Ideas, Invisible Patterns, Hidden Connections–Visualized.

Each dog breed is pictured to indicate size, and color-coded by breed group. Dogs facing the left side of the graph are supposed to be less intelligent than those shown facing the right.

Dogs closer to the top of the graph are more popular than those at the bottom, while those closer to the right side scored highest on a cost-benefit analysis performed by the author than those on the left side.

The analysis was performed by adding together a score on intelligence, longevity, common ailments, and cost, then subtracting out the grooming and appetite scores.

The dogs whose public hype most closely matched their high cost-benefit scores include Labs, Poodles, Dachshunds, Mini Schnauzers, Cockers, and Brittanies. And if you look closely, you’ll see a cat in there as well.) Dogs who showed as overlooked treasures include Affenpinschers, Welsh Springer Spaniels, and Border Terriers, while Great Danes, Boxers, St. Bernards, Mastiffs, and especially Bulldogs were depicted as inexplicably over-rated.

An interesting graphic, and a lot of information to digest. If all of the info in the book is this in-depth, I think my head might explode if I attempted to read it!

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!

Can You Guess the Breed?

VetStreet today ran an article on the importance of correctly identifying the breeds that make up a mutt. It can have drastic implications for insurance and for the application of breed-specific bans or other legislation. Studies have found that even experts are often wrong when trying to identify the breeds that make up a mixed-breed dog. Aside from my interest in the article, I thought it was fun to make a guess about the pictured dogs. I have to say I was wrong on most of them. How many can you get right at this link?

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!