Description
What is the Canine Good Citizen Program?
The AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program is recognized as the gold standard for dog behavior. The Canine Good Citizen Program teaches good manners to dogs and responsible dog ownership to their owners.
Started in 1989, The American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen Program is designed to reward dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. The CGC Program is a two-part program that stresses responsible pet ownership for owners and basic good manners for dogs. All dogs who pass the 10-step CGC test will receive a certificate of title from the American Kennel Club.
Benefits of the CGC Program
Working with your dog to teach the CGC skills offers a variety of benefits for you and your pet. In addition to improving your dog’s manners, training also helps enhance the bond between you and your pet. Dogs with solid obedience education are more fun to live with and better behaved around people and other dogs.
The CGC certification can also be helpful when renting an apartment or condo, and may even save you some money on your homeowner’s insurance, as many companies now offer discounts for CGC-certified dogs.
The CGC Program lays the foundation for other AKC activities such as obedience, agility, tracking, and performance events, and many therapy and service organizations use the CGC as a screening tool or prerequisite for participants.
Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluation
The 10-step CGC test is a non-competitive test for all dogs, including purebreds and mixed breeds.
The CGC test includes:
- Accepting a friendly stranger
- Sitting Politely for Petting
- Appearance and Grooming
- Out for a Walk (walking on a loose lead)
- Walking Through a Crowd
- Sit and Down on Command and Staying in Place
- Coming When Called
- Reaction to Another Dog
- Reaction to Distraction
- Supervised Separation
Prerequisite: Basic Obedience – Level 1 or equivalent
Why we don’t conduct the test as part of class: Each test takes approximately 20 minutes, in a 1 hour class we would barely get 3 tests conducted. Our class usually coaches 6 students in class.
