Canine Good Citizen

The Infamous Julie’s owner sent an email the other day saying that AKC Canine Good Citizen will soon be an actual title. The official news from the AKC is:

As of January 1, 2013, Canine Good Citizen will become an official AKC title that can appear on the title records of dogs registered or listed with AKC. Dog owners who complete the CGC as a Title process may list the suffix “CGC” after the dog’s name. Since the program began in 1989, CGC has been considered an “award,” meaning that it has not been listed on a dog’s title record.

 

The Canine Good Citizen test is comprised of ten exercises. They’re not hard (Logan passed) but not overly easy either (Roxy didn’t even take the test). The dog must be able to:

1. Accept a friendly stranger
2. Sit politely for petting by a stranger
3. Allow a stranger to groom and examine it
4. Walk on a loose lead
5. Walk through a crowd 
6. Sit, lie down and stay on command
7. Come when called
8. Behave politely around other dogs
9. Tolerate distractions and loud noises
10. Remain calm during a supervised three minute separation from owner

The AKC has a brochure online with more information. There’s also an entire book about it called Citizen Canine. You know I have it!

The great thing about this news -- for me -- is now I feel confident that I’ll be able to put at least one title on the puppy. Even better, we have a club member who is an AKC CGC Approved Evaluator. She’s semi-retired, but maybe we can coax her into teaching/testing a class or two. I’m excited!