Fwd: Update to Clubs - July 2026
Watt Taggart
Begin forwarded message:
From: American Kennel Club <even...@news.akc.org>
Date: July 23, 2026 at 09:59:44 CDT
To: Watt Taggart <wa...@taggartrealty.com>
Subject: Update to Clubs - July 2026
July 2026 Update to Clubs
Dealing with Misconduct at American Kennel Club Event
At its July meeting, the AKC Board approved adding a new offense under the Inappropriate Treatment of Animals category for violations of the American Kennel Club’s Unattended Dogs in Vehicle Policy. The new offense and penalties take effect July 29, 2026.
The inclusion reads as follows:
Inappropriate Treatment of Animals
Violation of AKC’s Unattended Dogs in Vehicles Policy1
Mitigated: 1 yr/$1,000 Standard: 5 yr/$2,000 Aggravated: Up to life/up to $10,000
1 For purposes of this provision, dogs shall not be left unattended in a vehicle that is fully enclosed or sealed from outside airflow. A vehicle containing unattended dogs must provide continuous ventilation and conditions reasonably sufficient to protect the dogs from heat-related injury, illness, distress, or death. The use of electronic monitoring devices, remote alerts, fans, or climate-control systems shall not constitute a defense to a violation of this provision.
Additionally, the AKC Board approved a change to Section VII Preliminary Investigation to require Event Committees to conduct a hearing when a dog is seriously injured or dies in connection with their event. The is effective July 29, 2026.
Individual Examination of Dogs
The AKC Board voted to revise the examination policy for dogs a judge has already examined at the same event. Effective July 29, 2026, Group and Best in Show judges will no longer be required to re-examine those dogs for standard and rules disqualifications or to check males for two normally descended testicles. Judges must still individually gait all dogs.
AKC National Champion Title
At its July meeting, the AKC Board approved the creation of the AKC National Champion title (ANC), a prefix title awarded to the dog that wins Best in Show at the annual AKC National Championship. This new title is consistent with the 11 other Companion and Performance titles AKC currently offers for dogs that earn a national championship win.
Past Best in Show winners at the AKC National Championship will be grandfathered into the title.
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 even...@akc.org with any questions.
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