Canine Good Citizen
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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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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, which many people represent after the dog's name, abbreviating it as CGC; for example, "Fido, CGC".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The evaluation consists of ten objectives.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> All items must be completed satisfactorily or the team fails. Test items include:
- Accepting a friendly stranger.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Sitting politely for petting.<ref name="auto"/>
- Allowing basic grooming procedures.<ref name="auto"/>
- Walking on a loose lead.<ref name="auto"/>
- Walking through a crowd.<ref name="auto"/>
- Sitting and lying down on command and staying in place.<ref name="auto"/>
- Coming when called.<ref name="auto"/>
- Reacting appropriately to walking by a dog and person.<ref name="auto"/>
- Reacting appropriately to distractions.<ref name="auto"/>
- Calmly enduring supervised separation from the owner.<ref name="auto"/>
Evaluators sometimes combine elements during the actual test. If a dog fails the test initially, owners can continue training with their dog and retake for the test in the future.
If all ten objectives are met, the handler can apply for a certificate and special dog pet tag from the AKC stating that the dog has earned the CGC.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Dogs do not have to be registered with the AKC to earn a CGC, nor do they have to be purebred or, in fact, registered with any canine organization.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The goal is to promote responsible dog ownership for all dogs.
Since its inception, the CGC program has become the model for similar programs around the world, is the base for other exams, such as those given for therapy dogs, and is used as a starting point for more advanced dog training.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>