American Kennel Club

On September 17, 1884, a meeting of a group of representatives of 12 different clubs took place in Philadelphia, which, in fact, became the starting point in the creation of the American Kennel Club. At the next meeting of the group, held on October 22, 1884 in Madison Square Garden in New York , the Charter of the organization was adopted and the main provisions developed, and James M. Taylor became its first president ^[2] .

In January 1889, the first issue of the newspaper published by the AKC was published, which became one of the oldest cynological publications ^[2] .

On January 5, 1909, a new Charter and provisions were approved ^[2] .

In 1911, the rule regarding territorial protection came into force. In large cities, there was a tendency to develop several clubs, often formed by dissident groups. The new rule gave exclusive privilege to the member club, which held the first show in this area ^[2] .

In accordance with the new rules for evaluating the exterior, adopted in 1924, all breeds were divided into five groups: hunting, service, terriers, indoor and decorative and reluctant. The best dogs of different breeds in each group were evaluated together to determine the winner in this group, after which the best dog of the exhibition was chosen from the five winners. A little later, the hounds and greyhounds began to form a separate group, and in 1983 a group of shepherds was allocated from a large group of service dogs ^[2] .

According to the classification of the American Kennel Club, all dog breeds recognized by this organization are divided into seven main groups:

• Hunting girlfriends . It includes 30 breeds, including pointers , retriever , setters and spaniels , many of which continue to actively participate in hunting and other relevant events. Most of them require regular exercise ^[4] .
• Hunting . It includes 30 breeds of hounds and greyhounds , such as the Pharaoh hound , the Norwegian Elkhund , the Afghan hound , and the beagle ^[5] .
• Utility . It covers 30 breeds (for example, Doberman , Siberian Husky , Great Dane ), including security, sledding and rescue dogs, many of which, due to their considerable size and strength, are not suitable for use as pets ^[6] .
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  Ring Border Collie at Westminster Kennel Club
  Terriers . It includes 31 breeds of various terriers , the sizes of which vary from rather small ( Norfolk Terrier , Cairn Terrier or West Highland White Terrier ) to large ( Airedale ). Their ancestors were bred for hunting and killing pests, which is why terriers are usually not very tolerant of other animals, including dogs ^[7] .
• Indoor and decorative . Basically, these are small companion dogs, popular among citizens and people living in relatively small apartments, only 21 breeds ^[8] .
• Reluctant . It is a group of 20 breeds of strong dogs of various appearance and temperament ( Chow Chow , Dalmatian , French Bulldog , Keeskhond ). Some of them are quite rare ( schipperke , Tibetan spaniel ), others are widely known and popular ( poodle , lhasa apso ) ^[9] .
• Shepherds . Includes 30 dog breeds with the ability to control the movement of other animals. A striking example is the undersized Welsh Corgi , which can control a herd of cows several times its size. Although the vast majority of shepherd dogs never encounter farm animals, an innate instinct sometimes encourages them to "graze" their owners, especially children ^[10] .

There is also a reserve registry in which rare breed breeders can record litters and pedigrees for future recognition. But before the breed falls into a special class of conditionally recognized breeds. Upon reaching a certain level of selection that provides sufficient gene pool for further development, a breed from this class is classified into one of seven main groups ^{[11] [12]} .

The largest and most prestigious exhibition in the system of the American Kennel Club. It is carried out for 141 years.

Established in 1847, Westminster Kennel Club is the oldest cynological organization in the United States dedicated to purebred dogs. For almost a century and a half, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has grown to Westminster Week, which now, in addition to the exhibition itself, also includes national agility and obedience championships. In Westminster Week at Madison Square Garden , more than three thousand dogs participate annually. ^[13]

• English Kennel Club
• International Kennel Federation
• Russian Canine Federation