AKC Dog Show

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The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an annual event which predates the official forming of the AKC, the National Dog Show and the AKC National Championship. The AKC is a non-member partner with the Federation Cynologique Internationale. The AKC recognizes famously popular 200 dog breeds. Each breed of dog has to be in 8 major groups: Herding, Toy, Non-herding, Working, Terrier, Sporting, Non-sporting, and Hound. In AKC conformation shows dogs compete in different classes based on breed and sex, with breeds divided into hound, terrier, working, herding, sporting, non-sporting, toy and miscellaneous groups. The AKC's premier conformation shows are the Westminster Dog Show and the AKC National Championships.