05/01/2026
For many years, I've had the goal of getting my dogs CANINE GOOD CITIZEN tested & CERTIFIED!
I've never had one of my dogs TESTED so far, BUT . . .I DO feel Capiah WOULD have easily passed & probably Aponi would have too! In fact, many of my dogs would have actually passed, I just never TESTED them & I wish I had !
I WANTED to get Sapa S.T.A.R. PUPPY certified & I THOUGHT puppies were eligible up to age 1 yr. Unfortunately, I JUST looked it up & the AKC says 23 weeks / 6 months & they MUST go through 6 classes with a trainer. Well, I'm honestly NOT a big fan of the AKC in general. BUT these programs I heartily support. The thing is, I AM a trainer ! I'm just not likely to pass AKC "certification - TECHNICALLY !
But I can "CERTIFY" my OWN certifications! LOL! So here we go !
AKC Canine Good Citizen test says the dog MUST do the following :
Here are the 10 specific test items for the AKC CGC certification:
1) Accepting a friendly stranger: The dog allows a friendly stranger to approach and speak to the handler without showing shyness or resentment.
CHECK ! Kekehk & Sapa BOTH will readily accept strangers, BUT - they want LOVIN'S & get pretty excited ! Kekehk is AAAHHHmazing & has POLITELY offered his PAW as if to "SHAKE A PAW" & I have NOT trained him to do that! So I find that incredibly impressive !
2) Sitting politely for petting: The dog sits at the handler's side while an evaluator pets them.
IDK about at my SIDE because I've never restricted them to stay there. I allow them to step up to loving strangers & greet them POLITELY ! Kekehk is better at this that Sapa, but let's cut our baby girl some slack because she's almost 1 yr old ( as of 5/6/'26 ) & Kekehk is 19 months, so he's far more mature.
We COULD polish this a BIT, but I'm calling it a PASS !
3) Appearance and grooming: The dog welcomes being brushed, having ears checked, and front feet examined.
I RARELY if EVER brush them because THEY DON'T >NEED< IT ! Short - smooth coated dogs don't require much grooming & that's WHY I HAVE THEM!
Ear checks are FINE ! Feet - for Nail trimming is. . . GOOD. . USUALLY ! Kekehk can be WEIRD! 1 TIME he'll VERY CALMLY sit & allow you to trim his nails & other times he's a total SH****AD about it ! I can't explain it ! I just accept & live with it ! If he freaks out, it's NOT the right moment ! No big deal !
Sapa seems more co-operative, but honestly, she seems to wear her nails down pretty well on her own & I haven't had to trim her much. She's fidgety about it & I trim what I CAN per session. Frequency begets acceptance. I don't worry about it.
4) Out for a walk: The dog is under control on a leash, walking with the handler, including turns and a stop.
CHECK ! . . . BUT, We're the BULLDOGGE EXPRESS, so PULLING is likely involved! Work is needed yet ! I will NEVER AGAIN use a prong collar, and I JUST RECENTLY bought another one! Kekehk won't let me anywhere NEAR him with one & Sapa got HURT by wearing one & I'm reverting to how I originally felt about them! NOT GOOD !
So POSITIVE training methods involve walking & when the dog(s) pull, you IMMEDIATELY turn about the other direction ! It takes TIME, but they DO learn not to pull ! It's been rather cold, so I'm not walking them everyday yet.
5) Walking through a crowd: The dog walks politely through a crowd of at least 3 people.
I ROUTINELY walk through WALMART with BOTH dogs WALKING POLITELY beside me as I ride a scooter ! They generally ignore people UNLESS I invite them to come & love on the puppies ! . . .AND I ALWAYS DO ! People LOVE dogs & Bulldogges are uncommon, so all the MORE fun ! I treat it as a TRAINING & SOCIALIZATION >EXERCISE< !! We don't GET company at home, so our shopping outings provide OPPORTUNITIES for "the puppies" ( I refer to them as PUPPIES regardless of HOW old they are ! ) to learn HOW to greet friendly strangers POLITELY ! I teach them "OFF" so IF & WHEN they try to jump up, they get gentle corrections. Then when the calmly SIT for lovin's, I lavishly praise them & it WORKS ! THEY LOVE going to Walmart ! We could use a little polish here, but generally, I feel well accomplished with this one !
6) Sit and down on cue and staying in place: The dog responds to sit and down commands, then stays while the handler walks away and returns.
IDK WHY they GROUP these commands together ! I see them as two totally & very distinctly separate things.
*Sit - NO SWEAT ! BOTH my dogs readily "SIT" when told to ! Sapa could use some improvement & I'm working harder with her.
*Down - we've recently been working on !
Kekehk is readily doing a "DOWN" now - WITH a Lamb Lung stick treat as bait ! He's now conditioned to go to a DOWN when he sees me with a piece of that treat !
Again - Sapa needs work , but she's young & I expect that. That does NOT mean that I ALLOW he shenanigans ! I do NOT ! Compliance = learning ! She's making great progress !
7)Coming when called: The dog comes when called from a distance of 10 feet.
OH! I'm LOVING their RECALLS ! For quite some time now, I can stand at the office door & just yell " PUPPY COME!! " ! DEPENDING UPON WHERE THEY ARE IN THE YARD, THEY COME >RUNNING< !! I also get great responses when I am out in the yard & call them to me. So CHECK !
8)Reaction to another dog: The dog behaves politely when approaching another handler and dog.
Sapa has been a problem child on this lately ! She's started being a bit reactive & I'm working to correct her ! IMMEDIATE distraction is key ! Then you have to get them calmed down. Generally just the distraction has been enough, but it depends upon where we are. If I'm loading them into the truck - distraction & it's over ! Out on a walk & a BIG challenge, so we're working on things !
Kekehk generally does GREAT, but naturally gets triggered by Sapa ! That's to be expected ! THAT is PACK behavior !
9) Reaction to distractions: The dog remains calm when faced with distractions like a dropped pan or passing jogger.
Again - Kekehk is the ROCK STAR here! NOTHING seems to bother him, but a dropped pan WOULD startle him. I feel this is a conditioning thing & can be trained so they don't freak out ! Sapa certainly freaks out with loud noises, but people are fine. We're working on "ON BYE" !
10) Supervised separation: The dog stays calm while the handler leaves them with a stranger for 3 minutes.
NO SEAT HERE ! BOTH DOGS WILL READILY ACCEPT A STRANGER HANDLING THEM WHILE I WALK AWAY FOR A WHILE ! KAILEY WILLIAMS was strange to them at 1st when we went to the Arkansas show & she handled them no issues! The guys helping at the show handled them, as well & no issues !
THIS IS WHY I TAKE THEM TO WALMART & >ASK< PEOPLE TO LOVE ON THEM! IT PAYS OFF WITH A HIGHLY STABLE DOG !
These tests are designed to evaluate the dog's ability to remain calm in everyday, real-world situations.
So , we have a little polishing to do, but I feel we're doing exceptionally well & are nearly ready for testing. Stay tuned & watch our progress as the weather warms up & I start more frequent training.
If anyone is interested in VIDEO CONFERENCE training sessions, I am only charging $50 per week for as many sessions as you like! Dogs do BEST with brief SUCCESSFUL sessions repeated frequently ! Feel free to PM OR email me !
EMAIL : [email protected]
Cell Ph. - (715) 780-7350
