So Walter took his CGC exam today

And he failed it...pretty epically. There were a couple parts that I thought he might have trouble with, but I thought it was worth a try. Walter's problem areas are that he loves people and other dogs, so I really need his focus to get him to ignore them. When we got in the ring he noticed the test dog in her crate. She noticed him and they both started whining. I walked him around the ring a few times to distract him, but he kept looking for her. Anytime we walked by her crate she whined and I lost all his focus again. I was able to get him focused on me for a few parts, including his stay, which I was very happy with, but whenever the test dog whined in her crate I lost him again. When the examiner brought the test dog out of the crate for meeting a strange dog it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to be able to ignore her. I'm kinda bummed that it went so bad, but at least now I know what we need to work on. We have class starting again in a couple weeks and I really like our trainer so I'm sure we'll pass next time.

I'm sure he'll do great with a little training! Still a bummer, though. At least you know what you need to work on too

I doubt that Rhys, my Amstaff, will be able to pass the CGC unless the strange dog completely ignores him. And I'm not sure I want him to 'meet' the strange dog either. He's somewhat DA towards rude or pushy dogs and I usually just don't take the chance.

I'm still trying to decide if Abrams would be able to pass. I think he would do well...but there is also the potential he wouldn't. Especially depending on the environment. He has a tendency to get barky towards people in unfamiliar places. Are you able to actively engage your dog during the test? Talking, giving commands, etc?

I'm also worried he'd pee on something and get disqualified, if it was held outside. Lol

Sorry that you were disappointed, but it sounds like you have a good attitude towards the whole thing. And after all, over-sociability is a 'good' problem to have, compared to all the other reasons dogs fail.

That's exactly what I was going to say. It's a good problem to have And I'm sure with maturity and some more training and experience he'll be able to pass no problem.

You can pretty much do whatever it takes to help your dog. Ya know, with the exception of using treats lol.


It took Juno 3 tries to pass, so nothing wrong with not passing! I didn't even care if she passed or not, but after we took it the first time I became determined to have her pass someday, which she did.... 2 years later
There's a lot to be said for maturity.

At least you tried and now you know what he has issues with. And like everyone else said, that's not the worst issue to have

Honestly, I'd be pretty annoyed if the test dog was whining.

For some reason I cared a lot about Meg passing that; she failed the first time (super, non-reactive in any way Golden for the test dog - Meg held it together while we greeted, but grumbled as we walked away). I re-tested her with a tester who had a BC (which is a breed Meg is usually very good with) and she passed.

Gusto would be appalled by the handling and petting stuff, and I would never bother putting him through it.

Never mind!!! At least you gave it a shot they are here to try us!

Yeah this... the neutral dog SHOULD ignore the testing dog completely, that's their job. I've used Macky and Keeva both as the neutral dog, and they never do more than glance at the testing dogs. Nothing less should be acceptable for the neutral dog IMO...

You guys will get it - it really is a fun thing to work for

Ummmm yeah, I'm an evaluator and I only use dogs who I know will completely and utterly ignore the dog testing. And the neutral dog does not even get brought in to sight of the testing dog until that part of the test is ready to happen.

As others have said, there are much worse problems to have when it comes to the CGC!
Walter just loves too much, and with a little bit of work on focus and ignoring I'm sure he'll pass with ease!

Exactly. It's not called "neutral" for shits and giggles. It needs to be truly NEUTRAL.

Thanks for the support everyone! The examiner said something similar, that there are definitely worse problems to have than having such a happy dog. He made her laugh a few times during the exam too. He's only 10 months old so I knew it was probably not going to happen this time around. I was very surprised that the neutral dog was whining so much though. It threw him off completely. He had issues with some parts that had never been a problem before because he was just so distracted by her.

He got lots of loving from everyone in the room after the exam though, so Walter had a good morning just the same.

That really sucks. But I agree- with a little work, I'm sure he'll pass next time!

CGC is something I've always wanted to do with Jackson just for the heck of it. He's a great dog in public and has always proved to be a good citizen. The main reason I haven't done it is the petting/grooming part. I really wish that wasn't part of it. He's not aggressive at all, never has even growled at a person, but when an unknown person tries to pet him along his body, he backs away and just... doesn't like it. He has this WTF look on his face and kind of shys away. He's generally okay if I say 'go say hi' in a happy voice and he will let a stranger pet him on the head, but otherwise, he's kind of shy/weird about it. I would assume this would be a fail??

When we give the CGC test at my work the test dog is completely out of sight until it is time to use that dog. We have used Cricket as that dog on more than one occasion and she knows to ignore the dog that is being tested.

Don't give up. Just keep practicing and you will get there. You can always retest when you feel ready to give it another go.

Ya you don't want him pulling away during this part of the test. Cricket took some work because she isn't super fond of being handle much by strangers. She mainly doesn't like them messing with her feet. I can help you work on this with him next time I see you if you want.

Good on you for giving it a go. Sorry it didn't pan out.

The test dog when I did it was the evaluator's puppy Leonburger. Cohen does not like puppies or giant dogs, so that was our biggest challenge. That said, our tester was really lax and I would have liked to see her criteria be a bit more strict. But... it was just a CGN test. It's not like it was an OB comp.

If it makes you feel any better, but dog wouldn't pass the CGC right now either, for exactly the same reasons (and probably for the separation portion as well). Having a dog who is overly friendly with all people and dogs really isn't a horrible problem to have, as far as things go. Maturity will help - he's really really young still. I'm hoping my boy is mature enough to pass when he's about 5 years old. lol