North Shore Kennel Club, Inc.

The North Shore Kennel Club is an all breed dog club. Our purpose is to promote pure bred dogs by hosting club events and American Kennel Club (“AKC”) competitions. We enjoy our dogs and develop friendships with other dog enthusiasts at these events. The Club values and encourages responsible dog ownership, training, and responsible pure bred dog breeding.

The first meeting was held March 5, 1934 and its first All-Breed Show on August 25, 1934. In 1935, the North Shore Kennel Club was one of the first of six clubs to hold an Obedience Test with their All-Breed Show. In 1937, the North Shore Kennel Club was elected to membership to the American Kennel Club. The Club has held an All-Breed Show every year since 1934 except for two years: 1943 when the show was postponed due to World War II and 2020 when the show was postponed due to the COVID pandemic.

The Strawberry Classic in June each year is a 3 days cluster of dog shows hosted by the North Shore Kennel Club and the Middlesex County Kennel Club. This incudes several traditional conformation “point shows” where winners can earn points toward their AKC Championship titles and some years it has included Rally and Obedience trials as well. In the most recent years, the weekend’s excitement level jumped up with the addition of Dock Diving and Fast Cat.

Periodically we host other events such as Temperament Test Events and Canine Good Citizen tests.

Membership is open to all persons eighteen years of age and older who are in good standing with the AKC and who subscribe to the purposes of the Club. While membership is unrestricted as to residence, the Club’s primary focus is to serve the exhibitors and breeders of the North Shore of Massachusetts. We value new members who can bring their friendship, enthusiasm and expertise to the Club. You are welcome to ‘contact us’ about any of our events and about applying for membership.