# Theo is a canine good citizen! He passed the exam!



## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

What excellent news. 

Those first courses in training are great, eh? They really are the base that all other training is built on. And an excellent start to a dog that will become an intelligent companion.


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## minipoodlelover (Jul 25, 2011)

Congratulations to Theo, and to you for encouraging your good citizen!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Congratulations! What do they require besides a down? Does this mean you can go into nursing homes, hospitals ect? I may consider this for Swizzle. Hope you don't mind all the questions.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Congratulations to Theo and you!:congrats: I am so proud of your both!! So is Chagall, who earned his CGC in August. I think it's great how our poodles can surprise us with their goodness at times--_good boy, Theo!_ You do realize he deserves a special treat for this, right?:nod:


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

CT Girl said:


> Congratulations! What do they require besides a down? Does this mean you can go into nursing homes, hospitals ect? I may consider this for Swizzle. Hope you don't mind all the questions.


The cgc test is a precurser to the therapy dog test. It is an AKC sponsored test with 10 items:
1Accepting a stranger - greeting the evaluator without jumping
2Sitting politely for petting
3Letting evaluator pretend to groom dog (looks in ears, takes paw, lightly brushes hair)
4 Walking on a loose leash for about a minute
5 Walking through a group of people
6 Sit and down on command
7 stay and come when called
8 greeting the evaluator walking a strange dog
9 reaction to distraction - the evaluator rolled and clanged a crate around the room, noisily
10 separation- you leave the room and the evaluator holds your dog for 3 minutes

Now this does not mean that Theo does these things perfectly in the real world. He still needs lots of repitition. However, the fact that he did all this without rewards other than verbal praise shows me he is really responding to us and the time we're putting into his training.:act-up:

I think that to be a therapy dog it's the same 10 skills plus walking through a crowd with children, walkers, wheelchairs etc... and also obeying the "leave it" command around food. (plus some others I can't remember)
I hope that you do cgc. Keep us posted if you do.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed post. I appreciate it. Swizzle will have trouble with his shyness with some of these but with a little more work I think he can do it. The one I think will give him the most trouble is me leaving the room for 3 minutes. I am pretty sure he would cry. I will have to ask my trainer what I can do to work on that. That is a great accomplishment for you and Theo. It is a good list so your Theo must be a very well behaved dog and if he is not perfect all the time - well who is?


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

I dont think swizzle would have to be quiet. Theo gave few of his "where are you" chirps of desperation during the 3 minutes. The evaluator said that this was ok. She said he just couldn't do anything that needed correction. I guess that means something like pulling on the leash or jumping on people....


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Swizzle probably would not pull on the leash or jump on anyone but he would jump - boing, boing, boing. He tries to get height to see where I am. He is getting better though so maybe I will give it a practice run and see how he does. I can always ask my trainer what I can do. I think of her as my trainer. Swizzle almost always does everything right it is usually me that makes the mistake. Hopefully one day soon we can follow in Theo's and Chagall's footsteps and Swizzle will earn his CGC. I will be so proud - just as you both already are.


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## brodgar (Dec 24, 2011)

Mega Congratulations to you and Theo. Poodles love to learn don't they. Then , of course, they think they are smarter than us)))


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Congratulations to you and Theo and thanks for posting the test criteria. :act-up:


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