Is Your Dog A Good Neighbour?

The Canadian Kennel Club has a great program called Canine Good Neighbour. It's a simple test you and your dog can take that will showcase your polite and well behaved selves. This is taken directly from the CKC website:

The Canine Good Neighbour Program is a 12-step test, that when completed successfully, will ensure that one of our most favoured companions, the dog, is accepted as a valued member of our communities right across the country. Canine Good Neighbours can be counted on to present good manners at home, in public places and in the presence of other dogs.

The test is non-competitive and allows dog and handler to demonstrate confidence and control in 12 steps. It assesses the handler and dog's relationship, together with the handler's ability to control the dog. Dogs are evaluated on their ability to perform basic exercises as well as their ability to demonstrate good manners in everyday situations.

You and Your Dog Must Must Complete these 12 Steps

1. Accepting A Friendly Stranger
2. Politely Accepts Petting
3. Appearance and Grooming
4. Out For A Walk
5. Walking Through A Crowd
6. Sit/Down On Command and Stay In Place
7. Come When Called
8. Praise/Interaction
9. Reaction To A Passing Dog
10. Reaction To Distractions
11. Supervised Isolation
12. Walking Through A Door/Gate

The training program embraces both purebred and mixed-breed dogs and is fun, rewarding, and useful. It encourages owners to have a better and richer relationship with their dogs. The program also enhances community awareness of responsible dog ownership and the numerous benefits associated with dog ownership.

If you'd like a little more in depth information on each step of the test you can click on this link here.

I encourage all my puppy people to take this simple test. Anything that shows the general public how hard we work to be responsible dog owners gets a big thumbs up from me.

The last dog here who I took the test with was Enya (Ch Esquire's Celtic Woman CGN) last April, she was a star!

There are a couple of other dogs who I will be taking through the test this year and I hope you'll join me in doing so. A great place to start your search for a test in your area is by going to Canuck Dogs. If you have any trouble locating a test please let me know and I'll do my best to help you.

Make sure and take pictures when you go to the test so I can feature them here on the blog!