AKC Canine Good Citizen

Pita had a busy summer. Not only did she go to Maine, have her first birthday, and play in fountains, but she also passed two very important tests - her Good Manners class and her AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class!

The CGC test is the next step for Pita becoming a therapy dog and includes the following 10 mini-tests that her and I (Jenn) do together:

1. Accepting a friendly stranger - In this item, she has to sit still while a stranger says hello to me and passes. (This was difficult for Pita at first.)

2. Sitting politely for petting - Also difficult for Pita because she wanted to stand up.

3. Appearance and grooming - The evaluator touched various parts of Pita to show that she is okay with being moved and touched by a stranger.

4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead) - This was almost a fail for Pita because there were new people in the room and I could not use treats, so she was much more interested in all of the distractions, but we did pass!
5. Walking through a crowd - This one we had to do twice because she liked one of the people in the crowd and tried to go say hi. We did it again and she was fine.

6. Sit and down on command and Staying in place - PASS!

7. Coming when called - PASS!

8. Reaction to another dog - PASS!
9. Reaction to distraction - We had to work on this during the training, but she is much better with loud noises now.

10. Supervised separation - Both Alan and I left the room for 3 minutes while Pita was given on a leash to the evaluator. Pita had to be calm while we were gone and not show signs of separation anxiety. PASS!

This was very exciting when she passed and the following Sunday, we went to Spaulding Rehab Hospital where I work for the dog therapy team to evaluate Pita. They loved her playfulness as Pita made a mess in the room with the water bowl. So, one more test (Dog B.O.N.E.S. therapy dog test) to pass and she can go to the hospital with me.

Bad news as of today (November 28) is that the next classes and test aren't until late January or February 2011...we're training in the meantime and Pita is enjoying the cool weather!