The American Kennel Club’s Eddy Award recognizes national breed clubs for their exemplary breeder education efforts. The Basset Hound Club of America was honored in December at the AKC National Championship as one of the recipients of the 2023 AKC Eddy Award.

The AKC Eddy Award is designed to encourage and reward clubs whose breeder education efforts — website, workshop, mentoring and the like — provide information beyond the expected in an interesting and unique manner. This year’s Eddy Award committee consisted of Ashley Jacot (AKC Director of Education), Mari-Beth O’Neill (VP, AKC Sports Services), and Alan Kalter (former Chairman of the AKC Board of Directors and 2016 Breeder of the Year).

“We are extremely excited to recognize these clubs for their continuous efforts towards furthering breeder education,” said Gina DiNardo, Executive Secretary, AKC. “Their work is an important addition for breeders that are passionate about preserving their breed and doing so responsibly.”

BHCA was recognized for establishing Basset Hound University, an online resource with information useful to breeders, judges and owners. Basset Hound University was developed by Dr. Claudia Orlandi, and is a model that has been adopted by a number of other parent clubs for organizing their breeder education.

The Basset Hound University website, which contains reference guides, quizzes and videos to provide useful and authoritative information about the breed.Basset Hound University is available at https://bassethounduniversity.com. And you can click here to learn more about all of BHCA’s Breeder and Member Education initiatives.