The Gossip Column: March 7, 2025

The very deserving accolades written about PRESIDENT & CEO DENNIS SPRUNG by the BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB were well written, but they would have sounded more sincere had they been addressed the day they decided to fire him. Not weeks later, when the groundswell of support for DENNIS was overwhelmingly in his favor. As the saying goes, it was a day late and a dollar short. And speaking of a dollar, what’s it going to cost the American Kennel Club to buy DENNIS out? The embarrassingly long wait to address this issue of the firing of PRESIDENT & CEO DENNIS SPRUNG has cost the board respect from the fancy and will no doubt have a large financial cost. Whatever the plan was — and there is great speculation — that plan was allegedly scratched, and now GINA DINARDO will in fact be named PRESIDENT & CEO of the AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB. All of us at DOG NEWS congratulate GINA on this fabulous opportunity for her and the well-earned promotion. She has served the kennel club and especially DENNIS well, and has waited for a long time for this to happen. Even though in the immediate days after the firing, her name was anything but mentioned. One would only hope that her close affiliation with DENNIS, who served as her mentor, confidant and friend, won’t be held against her because of her alliance to DENNIS. After all, we still haven’t heard an explanation for his dismissal. And the statement by the board sounded more like a hiring than a firing. Kudos to those who publicly admonished the board for its action. One would hope the upcoming annual delegates meeting results in the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: Why was he fired in such haste, without a press release? The timing of the whispers around the WESTMINSTER dog show was embarrassing for DENNIS and more embarrassing for the board members. Couldn’t they have waited until after the weekend to make a proper statement that was befitting DENNIS? The whole affair was badly managed and handled, and as our representatives, the board is duty bound to give us sound reasons for this sudden and major change at the kennel club. Once again, we wish GINA the best of luck in her new, well-earned position, and we share the joy that her husband, son, parents, sisters and brother must have in this elevation to the most prestigious position in the sport of purebred dogs. For you out there, don’t worry if GINA can take care of herself: After all, she is a second-generation Doberman Pinscher breeder, and have you ever met SHEILA & TONY? … Then you know she’ll be fine. Now let’s try to put this behind us and get on with the business at hand.