# Making progress in CGC class!



## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

We are halfway through Charlie's CGC class & he's improving quite a bit. He is good with accepting a friendly stranger, sitting politely for petting, sit/stay, reaction to another dog & to distractions & supervised separation. 

His loose lease walking is getting better. He did great at class tonight with just the nylon slip collar (we normally walk with the prong collar) He also did great with coming when called. Our biggest challenge so far has been walking through a crowd but we are bringing him to a family reunion this weekend so he'll get lots of practice with that. 

Any tips anyone who has passed the CGC can give me would be appreciated!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Good for you!!! Charlie is really on his way if you're making progress with CGC and he's not even a year old yet. CGC is a pretty rigorous test for a friendly, exuberant young dog like a Golden. Passing that before age 1 is pretty darn good.

I would say that if there are any nights when you could go to your training facility and have people who are there help you with practicing parts of the test you know he needs more practice with it would really be good. There are always people hanging around who would help you with things if you ask. This would be good practice under the same conditions, basically, that the exam will be given under.

Good luck! I'm pulling for you!!


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

Several dogs in his class are younger - I think the youngest is a 6 month old Doberman & there is also an Airedale terrier under a year old. Charlie will be one in a few weeks. She holds different classes at other times so I doubt I could train there, but maybe I'll go early & work with him before class. I figure if he doesn't pass we can just keep working on the problem areas & take it again if necessary.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Sounds like the training is coming along well. When we were getting ready for CGC I took Zoe "into town" in the late afternoon or on weekends when there were lots of people of all ages on the sidewalks, some of them also walking dogs. It's good practice for loose leash walking, greeting strangers, ignoring other dogs, and leaving things that might be on the sidewalk. We also always did a sit before crossing the street or while waiting for a light to change.

Good luck with your CGC test.


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## Mayve (Aug 21, 2012)

That's awesome! Good luck and kudos for all the good work. I must admit I love training now with Sage, I didn't think I would, but I really do


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I thought the hardest part was greeting a stranger with a dog. It's different when you are walking toward each other vs. milling around the ring in class. I had her sit/stay for this. She still wanted to go check out the other dog, but fortunately she stayed put. 

For the supervised separation, I put her in a down stay....and she stayed.


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

The hardest part for us was the hand shake by a stranger. Maddie was super young when she was tested and we hadn't taken a class for CGC. I had people out on our walks shake my hand for days before I had her tested.


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

At class we've practiced it walking towards each other. There is a bike trail/park near by so we often spend part of class there. The trainer likes it because there's lots of natural distractions. We may be doing our test outside too.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Gwen_Dandridge said:


> The hardest part for us was the hand shake by a stranger. Maddie was super young when she was tested and we hadn't taken a class for CGC. I had people out on our walks shake my hand for days before I had her tested.


Fortunately, Bella has never been much of a jumper, but I put her in a sit stay for that too just in case. 

OP, By the way, praise is also allowed. Use that to your advantage.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

My class just had our CGC test today and all 7 of us passed! Our best tip was to always focus on your dog. When the tester walks up to shake your hand our trainer told us to just stick out your hand and look at and talk to your dog the whole time, ignoring the tester. Also training a super solid watch me was a huge help. That way if a person or dog walked close by during the test you could easily use a "watch me" to get your dog past the distraction. Also, if you have any issues with the loose leash parts of the test increasing your speed and using watch me work really well. Going slow allows the dog a chance to look/sniff around. Starting at a faster speed and then working down to a normal pace can be helpful. Playing a lot of focused attention and impulse games at home on top of regular training can be helpful too, it builds a great foundation. Good luck!!


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

The hardest part for us was the supervised separation. I thought I heard her whine a little during the test, but the evaluator said she was great. We did it a little differently -- the evaluator took Molly's leash and walked away so I wasn't able to give her any commands but I told her I'd be right back. I practiced having someone else walk away with her for weeks and telling her I'd be right back. I hoped it would lessen her anxiety if she knew I was going to come back very soon. The first couple of times we practiced in class, out of 10 dogs, I only heard one lone dog whining loudly and it was Molly. I tried to make myself feel better by telling myself that clearly, the other dogs don't love their owners like Molly loves me! Lol. 


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> The hardest part for us was the supervised separation. I thought I heard her whine a little during the test, but the evaluator said she was great. We did it a little differently -- the evaluator took Molly's leash and walked away so I wasn't able to give her any commands but I told her I'd be right back. I practiced having someone else walk away with her for weeks and telling her I'd be right back. I hoped it would lessen her anxiety if she knew I was going to come back very soon. The first couple of times we practiced in class, out of 10 dogs, I only heard one lone dog whining loudly and it was Molly. I tried to make myself feel better by thinking that clearly, the other dogs don't love their owners like Molly loves me! Lol.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App


Bella never missed me at all when I was gone. Even when we practiced in class. I could have left for an hour, and she would have been fine with it. LOL. Not sure what that means....


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

Yesterday we did that in class - she sent 3 if us to the front store part out of site & 3 helpers held our dogs. Charlie did not whine. I'm going to try to practice that at the campground this weekend too with our friends. 


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