At their October 2021 meeting the AKC Board voted on the following Regulations:

The Board voted to terminate the following Regulation modifications at year-end:

Obedience – The modified distance of eight (8) between dogs in the Novice obedience group exercises will return to a distance of six feet between dogs, for all events held after December 30, 2021.
Tracking – The modified 36-month tracking test certifications will return to a 24-month certification certificate, for all certifications issued on or after January 1, 2022. Certifications issued in 2020 and 2021 will continue to be valid for 36-months.

Obedience/Rally/Agility – Two-Judge Requirement to Title – The Board extended the temporary modification for obedience, rally, and agility lower level classes and will allow titles to be earned under a single judge through June 30, 2022.
Obedience/Rally/Agility – The waiver of date and mileage restrictions for judges – The Board extended the temporary modification for obedience, rally and agility judges and waived the date/location restrictions of 30 days and 100 miles for obedience/rally judges; and 30 days and 200 miles for agility judges, allowing them to accept assignments without a conflict through June 30, 2022.
Obedience/Rally – The judge’s assignment limitation to judge the same classes – The Board extended the temporary modification for obedience and rally trials and will allow a judge to judge the same classes at more than two trials over the course of a cluster of no more than five days through June 30, 2022.

The Board approved a permanent change to the Regulations for Agility Trials effective for agility trials occurring on and after January 1, 2022:

Agility – Exhibitors will continue to be allowed to carry their leashes during their agility runs, i.e., place leashes in their pockets when running the course or wear on themselves (i.e., clip like a belt around the waist) effective for all trials. This temporary modification will be made a permanent part of the Regulations effective January 1, 2022.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Companion Events Department at obedience@akc.org.