# For those who've taken CGC...



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

TheGomi said:


> Our instructor used a dolly (on wheels that you move boxes with) to circle the dogs while sitting in heel position then dropped it and they're not supposed to move. Well as soon as Cooper saw the dolly it was over. We tried, but he was too terrified and I couldn't get him to pay attention to me he was acting out.
> I was a little frustrated and I don't know if he's just still in his fear stage or he'll never grow out of it. My instructor frustrated me more saying he doesn't think Cooper will ever be able to pass the test because of that.


Your instructor screwed up and then compounded it by blaming the dog. That's bad teaching. Maybe the instructor is good and made a bad judgement call and then said something dumb, but either way, that was a bad teaching moment.

If Cooper had a full-on freakout, then the dolly was simply too close to him, and the second he started losing it, you should have been allowed to move away from the dolly and the instructor should have moved it in the other direction. You can't train a dog during whose agitation level is that high. We call that "over threshold." You want to train your dog under that threshold, where he'll still take rewards and respond to at least some basic commands.

That dolly needed to be farther away and moving more slowly, or you could start with something less scary and build up to the dolly.

Either way, that wasn't the right training for the problem, and the instructor doesn't think too much of himself if he gave up on the dog just based on that. Lots of dogs have minor or major freakouts about new things like dollies and walkers. That's the point of the CGC curriculum: to condition dogs to unfamiliar, scary things and to train them to take commands in those higher-stress situations.

Try setting Cooper up to succeed by lowering the challenge level. He should only be confronted with stimuli that he can handle. You want to bring him toward his threshold and then train and reward him there without any risk of going over it. That'll raise the threshold. It might be a little time consuming to get him over his fear, but it's certainly not impossible.

Don't expect him to grow out of it. Condition him out of it with patience and manageable challenges.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I think the best way to tackle it is head on myself. Have him see new things from a distance at first then slowly get closer and closer. Pay no attention to him.

Example- Hot air balloons- Frequent thing in my area. They used to terrify Buddy. I would deliberately take Buddy to where they would take off. We started out sitting by the car. Then each time we went we went closer and closer. Slowly overtime he learned that since I was not freaked and neither were the other dog's he shouldn't be. Now he can go to a balloon festival and be perfectly relaxed!

Buddy was like a puppy developmentally when I got him. Everything was new. The more I worked with him the better he got and he took his cues from me and the other dogs. If they are okay then so is he. If he becomes a little scared I don't react at all. I just stand there til he figures it out.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Is he afraid of loud noises? They drop a very heavy book during the polite walking portion. I also remember crutches being used.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

As always Tippykayak you hit the nail on the head!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Honestly, I would not take that class with that instructor - Jumps do not belong in a CGC class and jumping with a leashed dog is a very bad idea!!

Dropping a dolly? No that is not part of the test!! 

My most recent test was with baby Brady; it had the evaluator coming towards us with one of her dogs in a slingee baby carriage - certainly not dropping her dog! She opened an umbrella from several feet away - fairly quietly. 

Find an instructor who is also an evaluator and has more experience with sound sensitive dogs and how to teach jumping safely. 

Now that she has successfully frightened you dog, you need to make sure she receives no more opportunities - that is plain abuse in my opinion and she should have been able to see your dog and probably others in class were not going to be able to handle that.

ETA: Oops He not She. I would also bring your dog to a downtown area, a construction zone, a truck stop etc and click & treat for each loud noise - this is something used in agility very successfully to teach the dogs bangs and other loud noises are not always bad


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

The CGC shouldn't be a big stressor for you and your dog. It should be fun for everyone. I would suggest taking your dog to places that you know you can somewhat control or are quiet. Do you know any retailers in your area that allow dogs? If you do, take your dog into one during a very quiet time of the day like early morning. You can always walk in by yourself first and see what is going on in the store. If you think it is safe, take your dog in. I have a dog that is very easily overwhelmed by environments. I've learned to just walk to the front door, have him sit, and let him absorb the area before we enter. Once we enter, I let him sit and absorb again for a bit before we walk around the store. 

I would also work on sit stays and down stays. Stays require a lot of trust from your dog. I would try as many different places and different lengths of time. You want to only do it like Tippy said, you want the dog to succeed. So pick locations and times when your dog will do best. Work your way up from there. Good luck and keep trying!

Your dog can do this, it will just take a little time and patience on your part. Also if you are not comfortable with this trainer's methods, change classes or training locations. You will find a huge range of trainers and their methods. You want a trainer that wants your dog to succeed and has the patience to make that happen.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

_Try setting Cooper up to succeed by lowering the challenge level. He should only be confronted with stimuli that he can handle. You want to bring him toward his threshold and then train and reward him there without any risk of going over it. That'll raise the threshold. It might be a little time consuming to get him over his fear, but it's certainly not impossible.

_I'd second this and rather than taking a break maybe you should look around for another trainer who takes a little different approach. I don't remember dollies and jumps as part of our CGC test and I thought wheelchairs were part of the therapy dog training. I thought dogs were supposed to be off leash for jumping for the very reason you experienced.

To answer your question, with patience and continued work Cooper should be able to get his CGC.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

AKC's Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) Program

*Test 9: Reaction to distraction*
This test demonstrates that the dog is confident at all times when faced with common distracting situations. The evaluator will select and present two distractions. Examples of distractions include dropping a chair, rolling a crate dolly past the dog, having a jogger run in front of the dog, or dropping a crutch or cane. The dog may express natural interest and curiosity and/or may appear slightly startled but should not panic, try to run away, show aggressiveness, or bark. The handler may talk to the dog and encourage or praise it throughout the exercise.

As Tippykayak said many dogs cannot perform something like this without slowly being introduced to the objects, motion and sounds. 

Don't be discouraged by your instructors comments. The instructor should be giving you assistance by advising you on ways to get your pup to be more comfortable around these objects, motions and sounds. It doesn't sound like your instructor is doing that. 

Work on this in baby steps so as not to overwhelm your dog. What you want to do is build your dogs confidence not scare the daylights out of him.

Make a plan. 

step one Let the dog see the object from a distance. Reward for calm behavior. Take one step closer if dog is calm reward for calm behavior. Take it slow maybe the first day you may only go a few steps toward the object. 
For the individual dog this may be step one and two or it may be steps one through ten or 12.

The next step is to let the dog touch be right up next to the object. Reward for calm behavior. 

The next step may be having the dog touch the item. Reward for the touch and calm behavior.

Once you have the dog calm with the object ask someone you know to help you.

Next step have that person move the object one step toward you. Reward for the calm behavior. 

At any time if the dog is showing stress and looks to act in a not calm manner take a step back in your training plan and work at that step back some more.

Eventually you want the dog to be able to stay calm as the object is moved passed them. Again lots of rewards for calm behavior.

After the dog has been desensitized to the object coming past them with lots of rewards you can them move on to making a little noise and putting the handle down on the ground slowly. lots of rewards

In the end you will practice the person rolling it past you and your dog and dropping the handle but take the time to build the dogs confidence up step by step to that point.

I would practice this with other objects also the CGC tester may end up using something completely different than that dolly.


Eventually you will want to change from the food reward to just a praise reward as during the test you cannot use food. So make sure that with every reward you also give that praise during your training.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

In preparation for that test I am still working with Bentley. We go to the mall often, I make sure every time we go we spend sometime at the loading dock. There's always something new happening in that area and Bentley is becoming pretty comfortable with the sounds. If something is really loud he may duck a little at first but quickly recovers.

Also, we take 3 walks a day. There's a spot in the 4 lane hwy that is full of potholes. We go there on every walk because each car, truck, trailer, ect makes different noises going over them. 

Doing these things has really helped Bentley a lot. I am about 98% sure that he could pass the test now but we're still going to wait and continue training and more classes before we try it.
Good luck.


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## Brinkleythegolden (Jun 18, 2012)

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a CGC? I may want to try this with our next one.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

fozziesmom said:


> Pardon my ignorance, but what is a CGC? I may want to try this with our next one.


It's canine good citizen test..

AKC's Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) Program


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## Brinkleythegolden (Jun 18, 2012)

Ohh, thanks, Joyce!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Having given this test hundreds of times and taken it many times too, a good approach might be to start within your dog's comfort zone with something a little loud- like drop an apple- and then say happily "Go SEE". Reward any steps your dog takes toward investigating. Keep a happy tone- You're silly, Go SEE". Try to build that up as a command, getting a bit more challenging over time. Maybe just drop a book at home- Go SEE- GOOD BOY. You want the dog to trust in you that if you say it is fine, it is fine. Give a food reward for any contact, like sniffing, something scary.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

One other thought. I forget if it was mentioned in this thread yet or not, and I don't feel like rereading.

I've noticed that many times a handler's anxiety or anticipation is part of what's scaring the dog. If you know your dog will react badly to something, it's very hard not to tense up yourself. That sends all kinds of signals to your dog that he has every reason to be afraid. In some cases, the handler and the dog feed each other all kind of anxiety.

I say this not to blame the handler at all, since it's a natural reaction. I say it because if we sometimes make our dogs' problems worse inadvertently by anticipating them the wrong way. If you think something will scare your dog, you need to try to send out a "good dog, no big deal" attitude (I will often literally say, "good dog, no big deal" in a chipper voice that's neither high nor low). Expecting the worst can sometimes help produce the worst.


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

TheGomi said:


> We are currently taking Intermediate Obedience class for the second time. You are supposed to take the CGC test at the end of the class, but we had an incident in our first time through the class and didn't end up taking the test. Cooper has always been a "nervous" dog and in the first time through the class he was getting scared of all the new objects (cones, the jump, a wheelchair they are supposed to circle) and when he got his leash caught in the jump and it feel over on top of him it was the straw that broke the camels back. So we took a few months off and were back trying again. Hes been doing well but last night we practiced the part in the test where they are supposed to not react to distractions. Our instructor used a dolly (on wheels that you move boxes with) to circle the dogs while sitting in heel position then dropped it and they're not supposed to move. Well as soon as Cooper saw the dolly it was over. We tried, but he was too terrified and I couldn't get him to pay attention to me he was acting out.
> I was a little frustrated and I don't know if he's just still in his fear stage or he'll never grow out of it. My instructor frustrated me more saying he doesn't think Cooper will ever be able to pass the test because of that. He is SUCH a good dog and does everything else perfectly. He's so friendly to other people and dogs, it's just strange objects that he's scared of. I know we can train at home to lessen fear of things like cones, but I don't know how to get rid of his fear of new objects.
> 
> For those who've taken the test, do you think it's true he won't be able to pass that? And do you have any suggestions on how to get through this? I really want to try it with him.
> ...


Our instructor said they could startle but had to recover quickly & couldn't hide or get aggressive or barky. Charlie startles for a second & then is just interested in the noise. 


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Ohiomom9977 said:


> Our instructor said they could startle but had to recover quickly & couldn't hide or get aggressive or barky. Charlie startles for a second & then is just interested in the noise.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That is they why Buddy is! Almost like "What was that mom?". When I don't react and tell him so see & if he moves forward even 1mm he got told good boy and still does!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I drop stuff on purpose, run toys like my daughter's toy stroller around like a madman, ring the doorbell, roll 4 foot long dowels on the floor, run the same dowels across her body, etc. when we practice stays at home. 

At our CGC test, they used a stroller, and dropped something loud and heavy (I can't remember what it was) on the floor. Bella didn't even flinch, because we do that stuff all the time at home.


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## TheGomi (Mar 28, 2013)

Thanks to everyone for all the great recommendations. I really like the "go see" command, were working on that now with "scary" stuff around the house (like the vacuum!) I also feel better hearing this isn't too uncommon and I thought our instructor was a little out of like with his comments. Also, Cooper has nailed the stays, he's great at that, but for some reason I had not thought (nor been instructed) to use that command for that portion of the test, so ill also be trying that in class on Monday. I'm certainly not giving up on him, I was just feeling frustrated. Thanks for all the feedback!


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

tippykayak said:


> One other thought. I forget if it was mentioned in this thread yet or not, and I don't feel like rereading.
> 
> I've noticed that many times a handler's anxiety or anticipation is part of what's scaring the dog. If you know your dog will react badly to something, it's very hard not to tense up yourself. That sends all kinds of signals to your dog that he has every reason to be afraid. In some cases, the handler and the dog feed each other all kind of anxiety.
> 
> I say this not to blame the handler at all, since it's a natural reaction. I say it because if we sometimes make our dogs' problems worse inadvertently by anticipating them the wrong way. If you think something will scare your dog, you need to try to send out a "good dog, no big deal" attitude (I will often literally say, "good dog, no big deal" in a chipper voice that's neither high nor low). Expecting the worst can sometimes help produce the worst.


This is a great point! That's my fear. That I'm not ready and I do know that Bentley feeds off of me. We will stay in classes until* I *am good enough for him to pass it LOL


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

My favourite place to get my boys to experience loud noises and strange big equipment is Home Depot. They actually allowed my boys to go inside, not just the garden center. 

It was great. Billy is very noise sensitive and he was able to see a big loading dolly and when the man stopped his work we approached it and Billy was able to investigate it. 

They have met several people in wheelchairs and people movers.

My one challenge is Max's reaction to baby strollers. I just recently leaned that he reacts to them by barking, they seem to startle him. And I can't ask parents to let me use their stoller and baby to train my dog. So I've got to try to find places with strollers, like the open air outlet mall in Hagerstown.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Lilliam said:


> My favourite place to get my boys to experience loud noises and strange big equipment is Home Depot. They actually allowed my boys to go inside, not just the garden center.


This is terrific advice. Our local Home Depot has a big sign that says dogs aren't welcome, but I called the local Lowe's, and they said they welcome dogs so we went there instead.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

tippykayak said:


> This is terrific advice. Our local Home Depot has a big sign that says dogs aren't welcome, but I called the local Lowe's, and they said they welcome dogs so we went there instead.


Our Home Depot that caters to contractors and does not carry as much consumer merchandise allows employees to give dogs treats. This is a great place to get dogs accustomed to loud noise. I had Yogi in a down stay when a guy down the aisle dropped a load of lumber. Yogi did not budge and that man said he never saw a puppy that did that so well. Made my day! I also like to expose him to the glass cutters and huge saws they have going a good portion of the time. Another good place is at a grocery store loading dock early mornings when the vendors offload. 18 wheelers backing up, unloading and pulling out of the drive make a lot of noise. Also any automotive garage is usually a good noise exposure setting.

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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

Lilliam said:


> My favourite place to get my boys to experience loud noises and strange big equipment is Home Depot. They actually allowed my boys to go inside, not just the garden center.
> 
> It was great. Billy is very noise sensitive and he was able to see a big loading dolly and when the man stopped his work we approached it and Billy was able to investigate it.
> 
> ...


Maybe try to find a used stroller at a garage sale that you can practice with


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