AKC Museum of the Dog — Attraction in New York

First and foremost, we would like to thank the AKC, its supporters, benefactors and all those who helped to make the Dog Museum a reality. For us, dog lovers, the opening of the AKC Dog Museum was a big thing, and at the prized Manhattan location at that, even with visitors in mind (it is located within 2 minutes' walk from the Grand Central). The museum is situated on three levels, accessed by a staircase, and, we believe, an elevator as well. Most of the collection is distributed between the ground floor, where also a good museum store is located, and the third floor; with the intermediate level serving as a vantage point to observe the ground floor from above and see the glass-enclosed installation filled with figurines of every canine breed under the sun. The collection consists of dozens and dozens of paintings dedicated to dogs, from the quite old ones (dating back to the early XIXth century) to the contemporary pieces (think 2005 Barney and Miss Beasley, the famous Scottish terriers that belonged to GWB). The style, genre, manner, historical periods, and, of course, the breeds showcased vary drastically, and there is something for every dog lover, or any visitor for that matter. In addition to paintings, there are figurines, statues, and artifacts representing the past and present of the canine race. Noteworthy are interactive exhibits, from the humorous display taking your own photo and matching it to a specific dog breed (supposedly looking like you) to the 'Meet Molly" interactive play aimed at training a virtual dog. The 3rd floor also houses the museum's library that stores hundreds of volumes dedicated to dogs. The library features a spacious seating area allowing to browse through the reading material. Admission tickets can be purchased online, on the museum's website and printed at home. Highly...

Very heavily art-based so if that is not your thing, you may not enjoy this. We paid $15 per adult and spent maybe two hours inside. I’m very devoted to dogs and love learning about them so that may be why it took that long for me, and not for others. This was also a spur of the moment attraction for us to fill our time in NYC, but I am so glad we chose to do this and wish we could have set time aside for it sooner. This museum is easily on my top 3 things I experienced in NYC.

Lots of art in this with a stacked area of merch and items that actually had educational value to it like the dog breed posters. They didn’t push down your throats the souvenirs and gift section which was appreciated. Aside from just soaking in all of the artifacts and paintings, my favorite was the library upstairs that had hundreds of books about specific dog breeds, breeding and training, genealogy, and more. There was a coloring station for children to occupy themselves while the adults traversed the museum, and my favorite, a children’s book about the internet famous Pug named Noodle. Sadly, Noodle has now passed away but his spirit lives in an illustrated book telling his tale and in our minds.

also, the bathroom was extremely clean and a nice reprieve from other NYC bathrooms I had been in...

Very disappointing museum, displaying only a narrow slice of what one could have included in a museum dedicated to dogs. This museum mostly consisted of paintings of dogs, with a few sculptures and collars. The overwhelming majority of items in the collection were British, American, French, or Dutch, and were very recent in nature, thus leaving out the majority of dogs both in geography and in history.

In fact, this museum was less the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, and more the American Kennel Club Museum of the American Kennel Club, as it appeared to be interested in dogs only so much as they possessed pure-bred attributes and could be distinguished into modern breeds. Paintings showing dogs from before modern breeds crystalizes were discussed dismissively in their accompanying plaques, and almost no mention was given to any dog outside of post-Renaissance western Europe.

This museum might be a nice experience for those who enjoy dog shows, but it falls very flat as a true...