CGC Advice

[StateOfMine]

I am going to try to get Flint to pass his CGC (obviously when he is the appropriate age to even earn the title). For those of you that had your dobes pass the CGC, how did you start? What was your biggest challenge? How did you overcome it? What age was your doberman before you felt they were ready to take the CGC? Flint is in obedience classes now but he's definitely not ready for the CGC yet. I don't have many training classes yet and I don't see him being ready by the end of them.

 

[Ddski5]

How old is he now?

Young Dobermans are a fricking handful and can be a frustrating nightmare. I use to do obedience with mine everyday after work and feel as if I was getting nowhere. Though I was frustrated and feeling useless, I kept forging to the goal of having a well disciplined Doberman.

Then one day prob around 12.5months, it’s like he finally got it…all the stars lined up just right and he did everything on point.

I don't have many training classes yet and I don't see him being ready by the end of them.

Keep doing what you are doing, you will get there. It is a process, not an overnight or weekly finished product. Patience, persistence and consistency is the key- and above all you must have fun with it.

***I never really got into CGC- I just wanted my Dobermans to be extremely well disciplined in public so people would respect and not snark/laugh.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Dropping the link with the test items here because I needed a refresher!

CGC Test Items – American Kennel Club

www.akc.org

I think the supervised separation is challenging for most dogs but pretty straight forward to prepare for!

 

[Ravenbird]

For those of you that had your dobes pass the CGC, how did you start?

My Star Puppy/obedience teacher had a 4 week class (1x week) specifically for CGC & CGCA so we did practice the things that are on the test as @LifeofRubie posted. That was helpful running through the motions and having other people hold my dog, touch, brush etc.

What was your biggest challenge?

For my dog (they will all have their own issues) biggest thing was other people touching her and me being out of sight.

How did you overcome it?

Working on it. Repeat repeat repeat, lots of food reward. Meeting weekly with a group of other people and dogs was THE most helpful thing. Going through all the motions in practice with other people/dogs. In her test, Asha did not pull when I was out of sight but she whined.

What age was your doberman before you felt they were ready to take the CGC?

Asha passed her CGC and CGCA (I did both the same day) at 9 months. It wasn't a beautiful test, but she didn't make a total fool out of us either. I do remember vividly that after it was all said and done and we were being congratulated that a man walked by on the sidewalk with his dog about 100 feet away (the test was at the instructors house/yard because it was during Covid) and Asha did her infamous explosive lunge & barking at him and I had to gather her up and clamp my hand over her muzzle. I was so embarrassed and had to ask if I still passed. She said the tests were over so she wouldn't change the score.

With any puppy, I would say the very best thing you can do to pass this test is to do TONS of work in public areas, class or not. That's basically what the test is all about. Being able to tolerate being touched by the vet, vet techs, strangers asking to pet your dog.

 

[Ravenbird]

Hahaha - I found the thread about my CGC and I did misremember a little bit. Evidently someone else was still testing when Asha blew up.

CGC: Done! PLUS...

At just under 10 months old, Asha's CGC Test was today and we passed! There was just the smallest whistle while I was gone for 3 minutes & Asha actually laid down after a minute. All else went fine. THEN, there was a CGCA (advanced) test after that (Evaluator said as long as the CGC was passed...

doberman-chat.com

 

[Rits]

My advice. Overprepare. For almost all of the interactions, they don't HAVE to sit but if you expect them to sit through it by practicing that, it'll make it so much easier to pass in case they do stand. They just have to remain under control and not jump. So this is why I over prepare.

Walk on a loose leash has been difficult for ALL of my dobes. The evaluators are pretty lenient where the dog doesnt have to heel and can go to the end of the line and you can use your voice as much as you want to encourage them back to you before the dog pulls the leash tight. So heeling is the other thing I would practice every single day if you can and work on luring him in position beside you.

You can make him think you have something in the test, just not have anything actually on you. So get that hand stinky like a hot dog

My evaluator is amazing and always had us over prepare in practice too to make sure we would pass. She would be proofing everything. Recall 20 ft? How about recall 20ft past toys and her running through the middle too. Now thats not going to happen for your eval but you never know what "off" thing will occur so it helps to proof and train higher than the level of testing. That goes with any sport one is trialing for. It makes test day so much easier!