AKC Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Congratulations are in order for the The American Kennel Club (AKC) who is proud to be celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2009. First founded in 1884, only nine breeds where registered at the time compared to the 161 recognized today.

Check out what breeds made the cut in 1884 -

Pointer

Chesapeake Bay Retriever

English Setter

Gordon Setter

Irish Setter

Clumber Spaniel

Cocker Spaniel

Irish Water Spaniel

Sussex Spaniel

Interesting AKC tidbits:

• In 1884 the English Cocker Spaniel and the Cocker Spaniel were registered as the same breed. They were separated in 1946.


• The original breeds are all current members of the Sporting Group - dogs bred to help man find and retrieve game.


• None of the original nine are in today's AKC Top 10 Most Popular Dogs in the US, but the qualities that made them effective hunters, trainability and desire to please, make them ideal family dogs today.

For more information, visit http://www.akc.org/.

PUPS ON THE WEB - Upside Down Dogs

If you spend as much time on the web as we do, your bound to run across some pretty funny pet sites. If your looking for some mindless entertainment, there is everything from funny pet pics to celebrity pet gossip. One of Polka Dot Pup's favorites, Upside Down Dogs.

If your not familiar with the site, its definitely worth taking a peek. If you couldn't tell by the name, the site consists of pictures of dogs upside down. One can spend hours browsing these adorable mugs, even submit your own pups picture!

Have a favorite pet site that you can't get enough of? Submit your links here!

Irish Dog Breeds 101

The day of green is upon us. Time to celebrate St. Patrick by decking ourselves out in green attire (to keep from getting pinched of course!) and gathering with friends at the local pub for a pint or two.

There are many things that I love about St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general. The tales of leprechauns and the dream of finding that big pot of gold, delicious dishes passed down from generation to generation like corn beef hash and cabbage (yum!), lovely lucky clovers and of course who can forget all of the amazing varieties of canines that come from this land of rolling green hills.

Below is a quick reference guide to some of Ireland's finest breeds -

Irish Terrier
Irish Setter
Irish Red and White Setter
Irish Wolfhound
Irish Water Spaniel
Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier
Kerry Blue Terrier
Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier
Kerry Beagle


For more information on the dog breeds listed above (history / characteristics / breeder information), please check out the following sites -

AKC.org, The American Kennel Club Celebrates These Irish Dog Breeds

Petplace.com, Irish Dog Breeds