All Things Dog Blog

Showing posts with label CGC. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

Canine Good Citizen Testing:
A Few Final Resources

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

This week we're wrapping up our series on preparation for the Canine Good Citizen examination. Below I'm sharing a video they produced as an example of an ideal test. Just between us I'd like you to know that the environment in your test may not be as controlled as what you see in the video. Neither will the examiner be as accommodating. That said, things happen! Keep the AKC's words in mind:

"If you and your dog do not pass it is not a failure

but an indication of where you and your dog need more work"

~AKC

Further Resources from the AKC:

Wondering what's coming up with Weekly Wag? Moving with fido, Fulfilling your dog's Bucket List, and Selecting the right companion for your lonely fido. If you're looking to catch up on any of the CGC posts you missed, check the list here.

Join us each week for the Weekly Wag bonding series, held during the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. The hop is hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume. You are welcome to link up here, or check any of their sites for their rules of participation. Happy hopping!

Friday, August 17, 2012

CGC Test 10: A Supervised Separation

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

How's Fido's confidence when left alone or handed off to another human for a walk or other activity? This is the question Test 10 will answer. Today we're nearing completion of our Weekly Wag series of tips on how to pass each of the tests in the Canine Good Citizen exam, an AKC test for well-behaved dogs in public.

Test number 10 is where the men and the boys are separated. Separation anxiety, a common problem among dogs, will never make it through. Developing a confidence in your dog that will allow him to happily hang with a stranger for a few minutes when you suddenly hand him off is a skill many owners find challenging. Here's what to expect during this test:

You'll be asked to walk up to a specific stranger, chosen by the evaluator, hand off the leash and walk away from your dog without a lot of 'explanation' or a long goodbye. You'll be required to remain out of sight and silent for 3 long minutes, while your dog's reaction to this separation is monitored. Your dog may not exhibit stress, whine, bark, pull away or otherwise appear anxious about your departure.

Three minutes sounds like a short time, but when it is spent with a stranger who is not to interact or soothe the dog's apparent nervousness, it sometimes turns into a very long wait. Once again, we're back to the only real fix--practice!

A friend of mine who recently switched vets received an interesting invitation from her new veterinarian to practice separation by dropping her dog off for a brief bonding visit once or twice a week. My friend brings her dog by and the receptionist takes her dog to the vet to spend a few minutes by his side just hanging out. In this way, the vet hopes to help the dog past her nerves about a new person and a new place. What a great thing this doctor is doing for his patient!

Opportunities such as this help to build your dog's confidence in situations that do not include you. This is imperative as anytime you leave your dog in another's care, you're out of the picture: grooming, doggie daycare, boarding, pet sitter care, and the vet to name just a few. It's healthy for your pup to see these experiences as pleasant, so choose your providers carefully to build a good response to spending time with other humans.

Another angle of this interesting test is that you won't know whether the human will be a man or a woman, so gambling on this if your dog has issues with one or the other, is basically sabotaging your test result. If you know your dog is nervous around people that display any particular characteristics: hats, beards, boots, etc., these and the common issues of men vs. women must all be explored and worked through. Your dog will need to accept anyone he is passed off to in the test, so start working now to help your Fido associate all of these people with positive feedback--treats, praise, and belly rubs work wonders.

Next week I'll return with a few overall tips for preparing for test day, followed by a video of the actual exam the following week. That will wrap up this series and we'll move back to less taxing bonding activities. I'd like to talk about food and toy aggression. Are you interested in some strategies for working on this? See you soon!

Here's the whole series so far:

Introductory Tips to Getting the Canine Citizen Certification
CGC Test 1: Accepting a Friendly Stranger
CGC Test 2: Sit Politely for Petting
CGC Test 3: Appearance and Grooming
CGC Test 4: Walking on a Loose Leash
CGC Test 5: Walking Your Dog Through a Crowd
CGC Test 6: Sit/Stay or Down/Stay
CGC Test 7: Come When Called
CGC Test 8: Reaction to Another DogCGC Test 9: Your Dog's Reaction to Distraction

Friday, August 10, 2012

Your Dog's Reaction to Distraction:
CGC Test 9 Tips & Troubles

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Imagine a Man-Made Noise Like This

Bang! Bonk! Wham! Clunk! This is one of the most chalenging tests for many dogs whose owners seek to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. Why? Unexpected noises that are loud and sudden often startle or frighten our dogs. The goal of this test is to determine if your dog is able to settle after an initial startle, without bolting, barking, cowering, whimpering, or otherwise showing fear beyond noticing the sudden noise.

Acceptable startle behavior includes turning, backing up a step or two (no more), sitting, moving slightly away without pulling you, or looking to you for feedback. Anything beyond these types of reactions may be considered too much fear. Each evaluator will have a different take on the guidelines here, and may not agree with you on how to score your dog's reaction. While you can discuss the decision with the evaluator, his decision will ultimately be final.

I've seen some quite varying examples of this test and will warn you that you need to prepare your pup for most every kind of noise. What's worse is many of the examiners will have the noise occur behind or out of sight of you and your dog, meaning that neither of you are expecting it. So much for mental preparation. If you respond with fear, your dog will too. So preparation includes quelling your own response to sudden noise.

Here are some of the noises CGC evaluators have used at tests I have been present for:

Drop a metal folding chair on a cement floor from about 4 feet high--very startling!
Ask the handler and the dog to walk on a sidewalk along a busy roadway, without significant issue over semi-trucks and fire engine noise.
Release the lifting mechanism of a pallet jack and allow it to drop to a cement floor--this one made me jump!
While facing away from a doorway, a door was slammed hard by a third party assistant.
A large bell with a deep and continuous bong was rung.
A 2 x 4 board was broken over a firm, narrow surface. Funny, I can't remember what they broke the board on???
Two heavy pots banged together at their bottoms.
Pushing a grocery cart, walker or wheelchair directly past the test takers is a very popular approach to one of the attempts to frighten your dog.

You get the idea, right? The CGC examiner will be out to trip you and your dog up big time. It's their job to make sure your dog can take a brief startle and then settle himself without any further ado. Most test evaluators will attempt to frighten your dog twice during this part of the test, so be prepared for the second try. It will likely be a different method :)

Here are my suggestions for preparing:

Walk along busy roadways frequently and get your pup used to traffic, firetrucks and semi-trailers. They are unpredicable, bouncy, and noisy.
When your dog is playing in the yard, practice hitting your car horn often to get him used to hearing the noise.
Obviously, you can make some noise in the kitchen. Those cooking pots are great for startling Fido. Start small and gradually build up the intensity of the "bang". Your goal is to get him to the point where he tells himself, "Oh well, it's just mom or dad being noisy again".
Slamming doors (unbreakable ones, hopefully) is another excellent test that will likely be used.
If your dog has shown uncertainty around any particular object, that's your cue to train with that item. You could get unlucky and have that very object used in the test, so be prepared. Start practicing by having your dog sit at the end of a room, while the object lies on the floor. Tap it gently and watch Fido's reaction. Gradually increase the movement and noise. Roll it, set it down, drop it, bang it. He needs to be ready for them all.
Make use of your driveway or other cement surface by testing your dog's ability to tolerate heavy metal objects dropped on them. Start with your dog well away when it occurs. Allow him to watch so he understands that the noise is harmless. Remember that your reaction needs to be negligible also. He will begin to follow your lead. Eventually you'll want to be able to drop a really loud item right behind him and get nothing more than a head turn. Then he's ready for the test.
Find a grocery cart in a parking lot and walk your dog around with it. If you do this often enough he will become comfortable with the presense of this big object. You can also practice that at pet superstores where carts are available.

All this practice will take time. Although your prep class may only last a few weeks, these sessions of readiness should begin by 6 months and continue until you take the exam. If you discover a new noise, go toward it and see how Fido responds. Watch for everything that could trip him up and help him learn to accept it as safe, based on your calm reaction and lack of response. Remember, do not soothe or coo over your dog if he shows fear. You'll only be encouraging it. Ignore him and walk to the object showing no fear. Show him by example that this object is harmless. Time will embed this lessen and he'll get the idea. You've got his back!

Catch up on the earlier parts of this series here:

Introductory Tips to Getting the Canine Citizen Certification

CGC Test 1: Accepting a Friendly Stranger
CGC Test 2: Sit Politely for Petting
CGC Test 3: Appearance and Grooming
CGC Test 4: Walking on a Loose Leash
CGC Test 5: Walking Your Dog Through a Crowd
CGC Test 6: Sit/Stay or Down/Stay
CGC Test 7: Come When Called
CGC Test 8: Reaction to Another Dog

Friday, July 27, 2012

Come When Called: CGC Test 7

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Welcome back to the Weekly Wag, where I try to share tips that will help you build a long term bond with your dog. Training is one of the most important things you can do to establish and maintain a strong bond between you and Fido. Our latest series includes tips on passing each of the 10 tests that are included in the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) exam. Today we'll continue with Test 7: Come When Called.

I referred to this week's test as one of the most important skills your dog can learn. It could save his life. Take for example a simple walk down a busy road. Your dog is on leash and you're both enjoying the scents, scenes and exercise of the day. Suddenly a tractor trailer lurches to a halt beside you and frightens your dog. His collar or harness buckle snaps under the pressure from his excitement, and off he runs toward the road. How can you save him from an encounter with a front end? "Come Tanner!" That's how.

Teaching your dog to Come When Called in puppy class is not terribly difficult. Most dogs will be eager to run toward their most familiar and affectionate human in a group, especially if you are encouraging him with sweet talk, clapping, and perhaps even a yummy treat. In the traffic scenario I posed above, that sweet talk will have evaporated along with the treat. All you'll have left is clapping and an "I mean business" voice.

As your dog matures, this is a skill you'll want to practice in multiple venues. Anywhere you can put him out on a long leash (at least 20 feet), or even off-leash, you should give him a few chances to strut his stuff. And don't forget the treats. When training, these babies will keep Fido coming back for more, and that's the attitude you'll want if ever you experience a similar danger such as the traffic example above.

Throughout his life, this is a skill you need to continue to practice pretty much forever. If you have a highly social dog like my Tanner and Oliver, practice in places where there are lots of social opportunities. I rotate dog parks to give the boys new smells, new friends, and new experiences. When they get a good stretch away from me, I clap my hands and shout a firm (not mean, just all-business) "Oliver! Come!" Same thing for Tanner, and let me tell you, these years of practice have resulted in a continuing improvement in the response time.

I've stepped up their challenge by waiting till they are busy in a tag game, enjoying a neck rub from a park guest, or waiting eagerly at the water fountain. Then I shout my command and expect their response to always be a hearty, delightful jaunt back to see what Mom has for them.

At the dog park they get praise, affection and lots of petting and rubs. I need this response to be ever present, as we have had a few run ins with less than social dogs. Tanner, being the ultra dog's dog that he is, doesn't always understand the body language of another dog that appears to be saying "Back off buster; I like my space." That's when I sometimes step in and use the Come command to keep Tanner from incurring the wrath of this Fido who's not there to be the life of the party. I like the way our All Things Dog Blog's Ask the Dog Trainer columnist, Michael Baugh, phrases this action. He calls it "watching your dog's back". Very appropriate.

Oliver's favored socialization approach is to greet each and every human as though they are there only to tell him how cute he is and pet him with generous abandon. Honestly, he's not eager in these circumstances to come running back to me, but he IS highly food motivated. That has been the most important part of establishing a reliable Come When Called with Oliver.

The point of all these examples is to help you realize that you'll need to determine what your dog's motivators are, as well as understanding the distractions that will most likely trip him up. These are the areas you'll need to put the most training effort into. Pick your venues accordingly and practice frequently.

And never, no never, scold your dog when he does not come. That will completely defeat your purpose. Just keep practicing and always keep it highly positive when you get any effort on your dog's part. Once he gets the hang of it, you'll still have an occasional slip up. Ignore it and practice again later. Offer a higher value treat and more affection for his positive response this time.

Now, on to the test. This Come When Called test is not so big a deal as it should be, in my humble opinion. What you'll generally find is that the evaluator will ask you to Stay your dog, turn and walk away about 10-20 feet (the rules state 10). That's not far, but every dog has his limits on how much distance he's comfortable with between he and his handler.

Start the test by assuring your dog's stay is in the position he is most successful with. Use verbal and hand commands to emphasize your intention. If your dog has a tentative Stay, walk slowly away. A brisk walk may encourage Fido to follow. You likely won't be given a second chance, so make it count.

When the evaluator tells you to stop (it's supposed to be about 10 feet, but I have seen much longer distances), stop on your back foot, rotate and use every ounce of enthusiasm you can muster to encourage your dog to Come immediately. What works best? Kissy noises, clapping, sweet talk or all-business talk, make sure you're using the most-successful approach to get the results that you want. No treats are allowed during the test, so you've got to get Fido's attention on you and get him moving fast. The evaluator will only give him a brief time to get moving toward you, and will frequently expect the dog to complete his journey allowing contact between you and Fido. Follow through with a hearty reaction.

Finally, if your dog is slow to get moving, has hip issues or other mobility challenges, I'd give him a chance to learn his Stay in the standing position. Less effort to get the motor running may work in your favor. Make eye contact when you offer the Come command and keep your eyes on your dog all the way to meet you.

Even if you're not planning to train for the CGC, I highly recommend you work on this command. If it saves one dog, it's worth all of our efforts. Join me next Saturday for another tough session: Reaction to another dog, which simulates meeting a dog and its handler while out on a walk--approaching face to face.

Comments? Click the Weekly Wag button to leave your thoughts, ideas or questions. This will also enter you in a quarterly drawing for September 30. Best wishes in your training.

Catch up on the earlier parts of this series here:
Introductory Tips to Getting the Canine Citizen Certification
CGC Test 1: Accepting a Friendly Stranger
CGC Test 2: Sit Politely for Petting
CGC Test 3: Appearance and Grooming
CGC Test 4: Walking on a Loose Leash
CGC Test 5: Walking Your Dog Through a Crowd
CGC Test 6: Sit/Stay or Down/Stay

Join us each week for the Weekly Wag bonding series, held during the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. The hop is hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume. You are welcome to link up here, or check any of their sites for their rules of participation. Happy hopping!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Canine Good Citizen Tips for Test 6

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

We're back again with the Weekly Wag, still working on our CGC preparation tips. This week's test discussion is one that can't wait until the last minute to be addressed. The only way to make it is by practicing these skills since your earliest days of training to assure success.

Test 6 requires your dog to respond to a Sit and Down command. Following this you will be asked to require a Stay in either position that you, the handler, may choose. The test evaluator will watch as your dog remains in place, and will tell you when you may release your pup from his required position.

Is there a short cut or a sure-thing to make this test go smoothly? Not on your life! Fido will have to remain focused on you to avoid being distracted by other classmates, owners, testing assistants and anyone else that is around, including wildlife. If you're taking your test inside a pet superstore (I have, and believe me, it's distracting!) your pup will need a terrific power of concentration on the task at hand.

If your dog has a thing for critters, birds or anything that moves, you better hope this test is offered indoors. An outdoor test could sink you. On the other hand, an outdoor test may be less claustrophobic, which could be a good thing for some dogs. Crowds, as we discussed last week, are not always enjoyed by all dogs. It takes practice and adjustment. Getting to know your dog's strengths and weaknesses will help you select a test location that is best for your dog's temperament.

I found that holding a stay was best managed with the "Watch Me" command having been practiced and become a habit. Once your dog learns to keep his eyes on you when you are working together, you'll find that most every behavior is easier to learn and smoother in action.

Never used the "Watch Me" command? It's simple. With a treat pouch at your hip, hold up a high value treat (trainers often suggest cheese or hotdogs; we choose organic to avoid the garbage in a typical grocer's frankfurter) in front of your nose and command "Watch Me"! When your dog looks at the food, he's looking at you also. Praise him and offer the food immediately, repeating often and using this technique regularly until he habitually watches you while working with you. Now you're ready to perform.

Obviously, Fido must learn the Sit and Down command as well. These were taught back in basic training, so I won't bore you with those steps now. I will, however, suggest you practice these skills in places where people and dogs are present. Try the dog park, dog-friendly areas, outdoor dining spots and the patio of your Starbucks. Anywhere you can find people and/or dogs will work, and the more you practice the better Fido will get.

Join us next week for some straight talk on the most important command you can teach your dog. Anybody know what that is? See you next week!

Catch up on the earlier parts of this series here:
Introductory Tips to Getting the Canine Citizen Certification
CGC Test 1: Accepting a Friendly Stranger
CGC Test 2: Sit Politely for Petting
CGC Test 3: Appearance and Grooming
CGC Test 4: Walking on a Loose Leash
CGC Test 5: Walking Your Dog Through a Crowd

Join us each week for the Weekly Wag bonding series, held during the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. The hop is hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume. You are welcome to link up here, or check any of their sites for their rules of participation. Happy hopping!

All Things Dog Blog

Friday, August 31, 2012

Canine Good Citizen Testing:
A Few Final Resources