So Now You Know

The Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program, established in 1989, is an American Kennel Club program to promote responsible dog ownership and to encourage the training of well-mannered dogs. A dog and handler team must take a short behavioral evaluation of less than half an hour; dogs who pass the evaluation earn the Canine Good Citizen certificate.

The evaluation consists of ten objectives. All items must be completed satisfactorily or the team fails. Test items include:

* Accepting a friendly stranger.
* Sitting politely for petting.
* Allowing basic grooming procedures.
* Walking on a loose lead.
* Walking through a crowd.
* Sitting and lying down on command and staying in place.
* Coming when called.
* Reacting appropriately to another dog.
* Reacting appropriately to distractions.
* Calmly enduring supervised separation from the owner.