Out of interest, if you have took your CGC award

How many dogs have you done it with?
How old was your dog (at what level)?
How old were you?
Did you pass first time? If not why?
Advice to others doing the scheme:

Though this could be a fun thread as I know me and polarbear are doing it at the mo

I'll start:

How many dogs have you done it with?

2- my childhood dog archie, a lab & Betsy, my 'first' dog, a border collie x lab

How old was your dog (at what level)?

Archie was 3 1/2 when he got his bronze, we didn't do foundation as I'm not sure that level existed at the time. I didnt do the higher levels with him due to my parents jobs at the time which meant because of transport issues they needed to be in a certain area.

Betsy was 4 months when she got her foundation I think, and 8 months when we got our bronze. I would love to get her silver before my birthday and her gold before hers (march and may)!

How old were you?

With archie I was 12 He was quite an easy dog to train as he was quite chilled, lazy and food orientated.

With Betsy I am 21 she on the other hand has been easier in some ways as she is so driven, but harder as she is constantly on the go but control unleashed is helping us with that!

Did you pass first time? If not why?

Both times, yes. Who knows for the future!

Advice to others doing the scheme:

Trust your instincts if a class isn't right for you.

I did it way back when, when there was only one award with one of my dogs.

Since then I have got Gold with three dogs, I never bothered after the Bronze with my current dog.

All of them have passed first time, although as I am now a Kennel Club Approved Examiner for all three levels I doubt if I would have passed us a couple of times.

Fortunately soon all the examiners who have not gone through the KC Approved system will be phased out so that there is a more consistent approach, any old Tom, Dick and Harry can do it now and often do a very poor job of it.

I really cannot remember how old the dogs were at the time, it did not matter to me as it is the luck of the draw when your club has a test.

Cannot remember how old I was but it was over 30 with my first dog as I had been abroad for 15 years.

My advice to others?

Remember, it is not a contest and it does not matter what age your dog passes the tests, age is no indicator of prowess.

The youngest dog I examined (and passed) for bronze was 4 months; as an adult it is not renowned for its obedience!

It is often easier to pass Silver and Gold with very young dogs than adolescents or older dogs IME.

People should enjoy the journey as much as the goal ie what they learn along the way.

I know. I remember at my old club they insisted on heelwork competition style with my last dog and a present/finish on recalls. Think maybe they were taking a it a tad seriously!

Although doing the KCGCA is not supposed to be stressful or competitive, it does feel like both whilst you do it. I remember doing bronze the first time round with Bailiie; she was about 11 months old and the group was quite large, and we actually failed on a couple of things, one being a controlled entry through the gate. We always struggled with that because Bailiie thought when she went through the gate onto the training field, she was going for fun!
The test itself was very unfair because the examiner was NOT watching what the dogs were doing, she was focused only on the remainder of the group - we were split in half. Some folk didn't unclip the lead for recall, the first few of us were told we had to - that was the rule (!!!); I left feeling extremely frustrated and confused with the rules and very upset we didn't make it.

Second time round was much better even though it was the same examiner; apparently she used to have "off" days..... There were less folk in the group and it seemed to be far better controlled. Bailiie was 20 months old at this one and thankfully we passed.

I do think its a lot of luck on the day for both the dog and handler. Needless to say, we failed first time round on the silver because Bailiie thought the grass was far more interesting during the stay and the call away from distractions, than listening to me . Everything else was fine but we were told we weren't ready. very disheartening

Since changing our training centre, we have definitely learnt a lot more and are doing far better than before so I'm hoping we go far. Bailiie is now 2 1/2 and I'd like to think we can get gold before she's 3 in June.

I've never trained a dog before like this and am loving the challenge. My last dog got to just over 18 - I only wish I knew then what I know now....

Now there are guidelines for examinees, examiners and instructors which clearly state the aims of the scheme and what is being looked for, and nobody is looking for competition heelwork or presents etc.

Hi Polarbear

I know!

At Betsy's old club I felt very judged because because of my age and also the methods I have chosen to train her with. It was either their way or no way. One particular trainer used to patronize me so much and talk to me as though I was a 6 year old. I used to get comments all the time "surprise surprise" if we did something wrong or "she should know this by now" .

So I reported the trainer to the head instructor who left me alone for 1 week and then started again, at which point I thought for betsys sake I need to change classes.

Polarbear, I also wish I knew more about more positive training when I had my first dog. It angers me to this day some of the things I was told do to my first dog and what police dog handlers reccomended and there are much more effective methods to train that dont involve hurting or intimidating a dog or trying to stick a plaster over something without looking at the root cause of the problem. I don't want to sound as though I'm ramming down things down peoples neck, but this is what works for us.

Betsy's old club also used to tell me she was pushing buttons and trying it on for the sake of it when she was obviously trying to offer a wanted behavior- quite the opposite!

The new club is lovely and "gets" us and respects how we have decided to train. They have commented on our lovely relationship and can't believe how smart she is, one of the trainers commented is like we have an invisible cord between us knowing what we need from eachother. Of course we are FAR from perfect, but instead of correcting her with force I try to think how can I become a better trainer and teach things more solid to help her generalize better, so as smokybear told me when I first came here, I can got closer to the "martini" dog please no one take this as me trying to force my beliefs.

I would also rather take a test when I know she is ready so I don't set her up to "fail" although I don't see it like that if that makes any sense at all.

Amen.

I've done it with all our dogs bar the very first as it didn't exist, we have generally done it at shows, either companion shows or championship shows. I've no idea how old I was when I passed my first one.

My Norwich pup passed her bronze at 14 weeks and silver soon after, but I think it's one easier for pups before distraction hits them, I've never aimed for an age, just done them when the chance arose as I've never attended a club that does them.

I believe it very much depends where you do them, at breed champ shows its very easy to pass, whereas at an obedience event standards are much much higher.

Here (NZ) your dog has to be at least 12 months old to sit CGC.

It would be very easy with most puppy's for most tasks with hardly any training so I think it is good that it has that age restriction.

It actually says in the manual:
"All dogs over the age of 12 months of age can sit the CGC programme, but training can start as soon as your pup reaches the age of four months"

I guess if the dog is well behaved at a year old then it is likely to continue.

My dog is 16 months and we will probably do foundation and bronze soon.
I didn't get her till she was nearly three months old and because it was near christmas we couldn't start any puppy classes till she was nearly four months old (by then I had already done some training with her though). I think at 4 months her recall was probably better than it is now (although she still isn't bad) because she has discovered the joy of sniffing stuff since then!

How many dogs have you done it with?

3
How old was your dog (at what level)?

1st about 6 months for Bronze, Can't remember Silver, Bout year and a half for Gold
2nd 6 months for Bronze, Bout a year for Silver
3rd 9 months for Bronze and Silver as he took it same day, about to start training for Gold

How old were you?

Ancient

Did you pass first time? If not why? Yes except Gold for the 1st dog, he broke his stay when I went out of sight, did it perfectly the week before test and week after.

Advice to others doing the scheme:

Enjoy the journey of training. Remember the point is to be able to do the excercises in 'the real world' and make it part of your every day routine. eg. doorway/gate control, recall from distractions etc

id like to try it with mine, but i just dont think i can.

asbo wont sit on grass, concrete or cold floors. getting him to lie down on command (ive never taught it! took him a year to master a sit!) is wishful thinking.

id love to do more with him but i just dont think he can.

daphni could probably pass it. i could always try anyway..

again with roxi, dont think I'd stand much chance!