The American Kennel Club is pleased to announce that the fourth annual AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day will be held on Saturday, September 16th. The goal of the initiative is to educate first-time dog owners about the responsibilities of dog ownership and help current owners enhance their relationships with their pets. This family and community friendly event is also a perfect opportunity to invite your local legislators to learn more about responsible dog ownership and the sport of purebred dogs.

These events are a win-win for legislative liaisons to use as an outreach tool. Responsible Dog Ownership day is a great chance to show legislators how dog clubs can give back to the community and it also allows the elected official a chance to interact casually with the people who elect him or her. Using events like these helps to build relationships and gives clubs a dog-friendly representative to call upon when animal related legislation is pending.

To find out if there is an event scheduled near you, check the Responsible Dog Ownership Day section of our website here. If you need assistance creating an AKC RDO Day account or entering/editing your event details, please contact AKC's Communications department at communications@akc.org or (212) 696-8343.

The AKC will hold flagship events in New York City on September 16th and Raleigh, North Carolina on September 9th, where their offices are located. Included will be activities such as AKC Canine Good Citizen® tests, Obedience/Agility/Rally demonstrations, ID clinics, breeder referral and rescue information, raffles, games and many more entertaining and educational events.

"Holding an AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day event is a great way for fanciers to reach out and demonstrate what dogs and the people who love them bring to a community. For clubs, it can help raise visibility with local legislators and news media as well as promote resources for the public to learn about training, locating reputable breeders, AKC dog shows and so much more," said AKC spokesperson Gail Miller. "We hope that our clubs will join us and help demonstrate all the ways that the purebred dog fancy positively impacts the public."