What I Learned from Failing Our Canine Good Citizen Test
/Knowing that I'm managing Doodle enthusiasm, I spent most of February and March in 2018 focused on the Canine Good Citizen test tasks that I thought Bernie would have the most trouble with.
During the five weeks of preparatory classes, Bernie made huge strides. Even after we failed the CGC test, our trainer Crystal Blaker from Ruff House Dog Training & Behavior Modification said that Bernie and I have come a long way since she first met us in September 2016!
Below I outline how Bernie and I performed on each of the ten skill tests required for Canine Good Citizen, share my outline for moving forward, and update you with our training progress through March 2020.
Accepting a Friendly Stranger, Sitting Politely for Petting, and Appearance and Grooming
During the test, Bernie sat by my side while the friendly stranger approached me to say hello, he let her pet him, and he even seemed to enjoy the brushing that she gave him. He was fine with his ears being checked and his front paws being handled. Six weeks ago, he would not have been 100% reliable for these exercises.
Walking on a Loose Leash
Bernie loves his walks, and we chat all the time while we're out. Walking around cones to demonstrate a left turn, a right turn, a sit midway, several long strides in between, and a sit at the end are all activities that we practice regularly. He did well paying attention to my cues.
Bernie McSquare practices his loose-leash walking skills during our Canine Good Citizen class. See that black dog on the right? That's Lola. She rocked not only her CGC test, but also her Community Canine (CGCA) test! Photo Courtesy of Crystal Blaker, Ruff House Dog Training & Behavior Modification.
Walking through a Crowd
As Bernie and I walked into the crowd of three people, he almost immediately pulled away from me to try to sniff and jump on one of the friendly strangers. I knew that we had failed this task, but I was hoping it might be the only one, which would mean we could get another shot at walking through a crowd.
Sit and Down on Command / Stay
We practice down-stays frequently. Before we went into the CGC test, we were practicing down-stays in the parking lot, so he listened when I gave him the down cue. For demonstrating stay, he's allowed to be in either position, so I placed him back into a sit. I place him in sit-stays when we're out on walks for pictures, so he's pretty solid with his sit-stay. I walked away from him, paused, and walked back to my guy.
Coming When Called
I moved Bernie to another location within the testing area and placed him in another sit-stay. I walked to the designated cone and recalled him. The two friendly strangers were sitting and watching at this point. When Bernie burst into a full-blown run toward me, I heard both women making "Awww!" sounds. Yep, my guy's recall is pretty adorable. You'd think we had been separated for years!
Reaction to Another Dog
One of the friendly strangers went to get her dog and Crystal, the CGC test administrator, verified that we had not met this pup before. We each walked toward one another to meet and greet. Bernie sat by my side while I shook the friendly stranger's hand. Just as I was ready to move on, he darted behind me, pulling on the leash, to try to meet the neutral dog. We had just failed the test, and my heart sank.
Bernie McSquare practices ignoring the other dog during Canine Good Citizen Class. He's sitting so far away from me, he must think I have the Plague! Photo Courtesy of Crystal Blaker, Ruff House Dog Training & Behavior Modification.
Reaction to Distractions
One of the friendly strangers walked by Bernie with a walker. He sat and watched. The other friendly stranger dropped something. I don't know what the noise was, but it was loud and behind us. Bernie snapped his head to look, but he didn't move toward the object or even bark. I was confident that Bernie could handle both the moving and auditory distractions. We take him to so many places, he's used to strange noises and disruptions. While he'll initially startle, he recovers quickly.
Supervised Separation
Bernie sat with the friendly strangers for the required three minutes. A year ago, I would never have been able to leave him with a friendly stranger. I couldn't even leave him with Matthew. He would see me walk away and start whining and crying. With time, I think Bernie just trusts that both Matthew and I will always come back, so when we leave him now, he's much less stressed.
When I reflect on his abilities to follow cues from one year ago to now, I'm truly happy with how much progress he's made. He's a smart people pleaser with an incredible sense of empathy.
Bernie McSquare sat with my friend Dawn for just over three minutes while I hid around the corner. When I walked toward Bernie, he sat calmly waiting for me.
So what went wrong?
I overestimated Bernie's ability to ignore people and pups that he wants to meet. And here I thought Doodle enthusiasm would be our downfall for Accepting a Friendly Stranger.
I've lost count of the number of times Matthew and I have shook hands over the past several weeks trying to help Bernie prepare for that CGC test item. And that effort paid off. When an actual friendly stranger approached me, Bernie remained in his sit-stay.
However, the lure of friendly strangers and another good looking pup while we were walking were just too much for Bernie McSquare and I didn't help him manage his enthusiasm within those moments.
We need more practice! Practice makes practically perfect. With more practice, I know we can pass CGC.
What are the next steps for CGC dog training?
First, I don't want to lose any of the skills that Bernie demonstrated on this CGC test.
Matthew and I need to continue to practice meeting one another with Bernie in a sit-stay at my side. I need to enlist the help of other friends as well to play the part of the friendly stranger in meet & greets.
We should continue to handle Bernie's paws, which he can get a little touchy about. He gnaws his paws when he's anxious, so I think he's extra-sensitive about having his paws touched and squeezed.
While I'm out on walks, I need to keep practicing sit-stays and down-stays. I should keep chatting away with Bernie and Lizzie since that helps both of them stay engaged with me.
Practicing engagement sessions will also be helpful. Both times that Bernie got distracted by another person or dog, I could have managed his behavior if I had practiced more engagement with Bernie. Gently patting my leg, kissy noises, luring hand gestures. Any and all of these techniques could have re-captured Bernie’s attention if I had been quick enough to use these tools.
I need to remember to carry the longer lead with me at least a few times a week on our walks, so we can practice recall in a variety of locations. I could also work in more mentally engaging sniff walks for both dogs, which they love.
Matthew will take Bernie to some obedience classes. Matthew wants to be certified as a therapy dog handler as well, so he realizes that he needs to up his game with working one-on-one with Bernie.
To help him learn to control his Doodle enthusiasm, I need to figure out more opportunities for us to practice around strangers and other dogs.
Bernie and I are going to continue attending Park Obedience Class. I tend to alternate dogs, so both Bernie and Lizzie have a chance to interact in a more structured obedience training atmosphere with Crystal. However, I may ask Crystal to give me a heads up on classes that may have more attendees. The more dogs Bernie can learn to ignore, the better.
I'll be hanging outside pet stores with Bernie practicing down-stays and sit-stays as other dogs walk by. Hanging outside grocery stores is a good strategy too. While I don’t expect as many dogs, there will be lots of people and noises.
I'm going to ask around more to see if anyone I know has a dog who wouldn't mind practicing with Bernie every once in a while.
We can keep visiting dog-friendly locations like La Encantada Shopping Mall, Bookmans, and Lowe's & Home Depot to practice walking through crowds.
I need to hold firm on Bernie not meeting people when he pulls toward them. People frequently get within Bernie's reach when they're asking me if they can pet my dog. That's when Bernie will pull. I have noticed that if I verbally correct Bernie for this undesired behavior, the stranger usually backs off realizing that they're not actually being helpful.
How did Bernie take failing CGC?
In Doodle stride...
Training progress and our Canine Good Citizen win!
Early Fall 2018 Update: Bernie and I attempted the Canine Good Citizen test again. While I had kept to most of my training ideas/plan outlined above, I made the mistake of not practicing those greetings at home with Matthew asking to pet Bernie.
While those “skill and drill” exercises may have seemed silly while we were practicing them, they clearly had the positive effect on Bernie. He knew what the expectation was when someone approached me to say hello. With that repeated reinforcement gone, Bernie’s skill level deteriorated.
When the friendly stranger approached us, Bernie moved forward and got overly excited. Then when I was kneeling next to him during the Appearance and Grooming section, his energy really took off and he would not sit still.
We failed both the Sitting Politely for Petting and Appearance and Grooming tasks on the test.
For any future test dates, I need to make sure that Bernie is much more tired before we attempt to take the CGC test. I think he’s picking up on my nervous energy and that feeds his Doodle enthusiasm.
After those first three test tasks, which tend to get clumped together quickly, he relaxed a bit more.
Of course, I also knew we had failed the test, so finishing the other seven tasks was a training exercise at that point. An exercise that Bernie and I performed well. During the 2018 summer, Bernie and I began attending drop-in therapy dog classes with another local trainer: Jeremy at The Complete Canine.
If you need help with CGC skills, keep looking locally for training resources. Do not give up! I cannot even remember how I found these drop-in classes that Jeremy offers. I think they popped up as events in my Facebook feed. As much as I find some technology kind of stalker creepy, this time I was thrilled to find an indoor class during the Arizona summer that would allow Bernie and me to practice the skills that he’ll need as a therapy dog.
During almost every class, Jeremy had all the handler-dog teams practicing neutral dog exercises. The neutral dog practice that summer clearly paid off on our second attempt to pass CGC.
March 2020 Update: Bernie and I passed our Canine Good Citizen test. I’d estimate 18 months passed between the Fall 2018 test attempt and the March 2020 success.
Training definitely became more challenging for me in 2019. My dad fell and needed physical therapy at a skilled nursing facility. He died in May 2019. While he was living at the skilled nursing facility, my training regimen was much more lax.
Matthew did take Bernie to Basic Obedience class with Ruff House Dog Training, and Bernie and I would drop into The Complete Canine’s Therapy Dog classes sporadically.
On walks and around home, I was basically re-enforcing skills that I knew both dogs already knew. Thankfully, I did work in some tricks training and that helped a lot. Not only was training tricks much more fun than obedience training, I started seeing Bernie offer more behaviors to try to figure out what I was teaching him. He’s much more of a thinker now.
If you’re struggling with some of the Canine Good Citizen skills, then working in some tricks training or other activities may be just the thing you need. By working on my bond with Bernie, our communication got better, and I know we enjoy spending more time together. Plus the tricks are pretty cute. Who doesn’t want a visiting therapy dog to perform a few tricks?
Need some CGC training tips inspiration?
When Bernie and I geared up to try CGC for the third time in 2020, I started taking copious notes about all the strategies we’ve used over the years to practice. I compiled our training tips into the ten separate articles below to help you get on the right track with your dog. Each article is geared specifically to working on one test skill.
