Puppy School: Part 3 - Graduation

Stitch ended his Beginner's Puppy School last week. I can't believe he's learned so much in just 6 weeks. Some of the basic commands he's learned include sit, down, stay, release, come, and leave it. We still need to refine these commands, but he knows them pretty well. On Stitch's final evaluation, Trainer Ally wrote, "Stitch is a very bright boy and so fun to work with! He has learned a lot of new things in the past 6 weeks and you have both been great students." As you can imagine, I am one proud mom!

So on the last day of class, Trainer Ally "tested" the pups on some of the things that they test for on the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Program. For those of you who don't know, the CGC is a program administered by the American Kennel Club that recognizes doggie good behaviors and doggie owner responsibility. It involves a 10-step test that is conducted by an evaluator. If a dog passes, they get a certificate stating they are canine good citizens!

More information about the test can be found on the AKC website (linked above), but here is a summary of the ten things that are on the test.

1. Accepting a friendly stranger- Stitch did this really well
2. Sitting politely for petting - Stitch did this well, too
3. Appearance and grooming - not tested
4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)
5. Walking through a crowd - Stitch gets distracted when a crowd of people and other dogs walk by him
6. Sit and down on command and staying in place - Stitch did well on this
7. Coming when called - Stitch did this well in class, but needs to practice it in "real life" :)
8. Reaction to another dog - not directly tested, but Stitch is not always comfortable with other dogs. He also tends to prefer big dogs over little ones like him.
9. Reaction to distraction - not tested
10. Supervised separation - not tested

Stitch waiting for his turn at the walking test, photo by BFF

Stitch and I are having so much fun learning good doggie manners and other dog tricks that we've enrolled in the intermediate training classes, which begin this week. We hope to work on the commands he already knows, and learn some new ones, too!