In the late 1980s, the American Kennel Club set out to create a program to promote responsible dog ownership and to encourage the training of well-mannered dogs. The result was the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program, established in 1989.
To earn their CGC certificate, a dog and handler team must pass a battery 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.
Evaluators sometimes combine elements during the actual test.
If all ten objectives are met, the handler can apply for a certificate and special dog tag from the AKC and earns the title of Canine Good Citizen, abbreviated after the dog's name as CGC.
Since its inception, the CGC program has become the model for similar programs around the world, is the backbone of other exams, such as those given for therapy dogs, and is a good starting point for more advanced dog training.
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