canine ambassador proGram The Canine Ambassador Program consists of nearly 400 volunteers from local AKC dog clubs who make pre- sentations about dogs to children at schools, after-school programs, scout meetings and other kid-friendly venues. The AKC site has an online directory of ambassadors, an introductory letter to schools, a dog bite presentation and other resources. Does your club have a Canine Ambassador?
own Meet the Breeds events, often as part of Responsible Dog Owners Days. But why limit it to once a year? Is there a pet show in town? We’ve held ours in the local mall, local flea market (a $15 table is a deal!) and in conjunction with local pet charity events like the Doxie Derby. We’ve found PetSmart ® won’t let us go there, but Tractor Supply ® would welcome us, especially on one of their pet days. If you have room, add some agility obstacles and let people try with their own dogs.
I hope their website will be easier to navigate than the “new and improved” main website. We’ll see come their launch date, which hasn’t been announced yet. psas The AKC’s Public Relations and Communications team is planning to create new and updated PSAs for digital and television sources. bark For liFe The American Kennel Club part- nered with the American Cancer Soci- ety’s Bark for Life campaign in March of 2016. Bark for Life is an event hon- oring the life-long contributions of our Canine Caregivers. The AKC will use the funds to edu- cate the public on dog health, micro- chipping, socialization and the link between canine and human health. Last month, Bark for Life Westchester raised $31,000. inFormación en español And the AKC has created a section on its website where brochures will be available in Spanish, reaching another large segment of our population. make it Happen It sounds doable. And it could be, if people would devote 1% of the energy they devote showing dogs to promoting them. “But I’m way too busy,” says the handler whose livelihood depends on dog shows being around the next few decades. He won’t be so busy awaiting his welfare check when they go away. “Too busy with this litter,” says the breeder who needs puppy buyers. She’ll be really busy keeping that litter of ten for the next ten years. Then she’ll be all alone because she won’t dare breed another. “I’m tired of nobody helping,” says the club member who keeps say- ing yes. One day she’ll get smart and won’t go back to a meeting. The others do the same. The club folds. The han- dler wonders why those lazy club mem- bers quit putting on a show for him to earn money at. The breeder wonders why they no longer promote her dogs for her. The club member wonders why nobody stepped up to save it all if it meant so much.
“IT SOUNDS DOABLE. and it could be, iF people would devote 1% oF the energy they devote showing dogs to promoting them.”
book donation In the last few months the AKC has donated more than 350 books nation- wide to schools and libraries. Titles include: The Complete Dog Book, Dogs: The First 125 Years of the Ameri- can Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book for Kids, Our Dogs: A Century of Images and Words from the AKC Gazette and The New Yorker Book of Dog Cartoons . What about your local kennel club? Several years ago our small club had a book drive from amongst our members, and we were able to donate almost 70 books to our local library. Not only are the books there to educate our community members, but each book has a book plate with our kennel club’s name. But note, before donating books make sure they are in good shape, and that the library will put them on their shelves rather than sell them. And really, they should be donating my Barron’s Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds ! meet tHe breeds The AKC Meet the Breeds events at the AKC National Championship in December and the Westminster Ken- nel Club Dog Show in February are the two largest such events in the country, introducing thousands of spectators to the AKC breeds in a relaxed and interac- tive way. Many local dog clubs do their
Girl scouts patcH proGram
The AKC offers a Responsible Pet Ownership Patch Program to Girl Scouts at the Meet the Breeds event in New York City, and plan to do the same at the Orlando MTB starting in 2016. A second program, Going to the Dog Show: Dog Show Fun and Facts is also planned. This is another area that local kennel clubs could participate in with minimum effort. Sample question sheets are available at the AKC site, though I confess I was still a little con- fused how this works. Maybe because I The AKC Public Education Adminis- trator and a team of consultants are cre- ating dog-themed lesson aimed to debut in September 2016. These plans, which are free and address the Common Core standards, will include a teacher’s guide and student worksheets students. kids’ corner microsite I’ve long suggested that dog websites need more kid’s content, and now AKC is doing it! They say they’ve created content and are in the process of inte- grating it on the website. was never a Girl Scout. lesson plans For teacHers
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