Posts tagged "mutts"

"After 125 years, American Kennel Club opens competitions to mutts," reports the Washington Post. Not all events of course -- your mixed-breed pooch won't be sharing the show ring during the beauty competitions, but your mutt can prove what he's made of in the skill contests.

The American Kennel Club, which has been celebrating the best of purebred canines since 1884, has relaxed its standards a bit, creating a new option for owners of mixed breed dogs called AKC Canine Partners. Paw Nation got the scoop on the new program which allows dogs, regardless of fancy pedigree (or lack thereof), to participate in AKC Rally, Agility and Obedience competitions. We talked with Pam Vojtas, the owner of a 4-year-old terrier mix named Charlie, who is a big reason why AKC Canine Partners exists.

Vojtas adopted Charlie from a local rescue group. He proved to be a handful, eating cell phones, a couch and more. Vojtas enrolled him in obedience classes. "He was a 'C' student," she tells Paw Nation, "but one night after class, there was an agility practice going on in the arena, and we were both mesmerized. I signed up the next day for an intro agility class, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Anna and I are in her hometown of Birmingham, Ala. this week, and we've been talking to her family about how they met their dogs. Anna's sister Emily, and her fiance, Dave, have a couple of rescue dogs -- Duke and Dash -- of whom they are enamored. Shortly after moving into his house in suburban Birmingham, Dave saw a picture of his eventual best friend, Duke, online. He fell for the 3-year-old mutt immediately, then trekked to Arab, Ala. and got to know him in person.

Duke was a little gruff at first, as he'd been abandoned by his original owners when they moved out of their trailer and left him tied up with a tight choke collar around his neck. When he was rescued three weeks later, he weighed only 65 pounds, and the collar had to be surgically removed. Duke maintained a fear of men and cars, but quickly fell for Dave, sleeping on his arm during the ride home. "When Duke looks at Dave, little cartoon hearts come out of his eyes," Emily says.

Dash, meanwhile, had the "sweetest little bug face you've ever seen in your whole life," Emily maintains. She discovered Dash from a PetFinder update. They procured the 2-year-old pup from a foster-dog service, and he got along swimmingly with Duke.

Dave says he picked shelter dogs for reasons financial (they're usually cheaper than pure breeds), ethical (Duke and Dash may have been put to sleep if they weren't adopted) and logistical (Dave wanted pooches who were already housebroken).

How about you? Do you have stories -- funny, heartwarming or tragic -- about your own rescue dogs? Share them in the comments section.