The Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title is a wonderful way to recognize your dog’s good manners and your strong partnership. Whether you’re working toward therapy dog certification, preparing for public outings, or just want to show off your dog’s skills, this 6-week CGC Prep Class will help you polish what you’ve already built together. Visit the AKC CGC overview or watch this short video to learn more.

This class is a practice-focused class designed for dogs who have already learned the necessary skills—such as polite greetings, loose leash walking, and reliable recalls—in a prior Basic or Intermediate Manners class.

Weeks 1–5 focus on practicing a rotating selection of the 10 CGC test items to build fluency, confidence, and reliability in real test-like scenarios. Week 6 is test day! Your instructor, who is also an AKC-approved evaluator, will administer the official CGC test. The evaluation is included in your class fee—there’s no additional cost to take the test. If you pass and choose to add the CGC title to your dog’s official AKC record, you’ll simply need to submit a form and a small fee directly to the AKC.

Prerequisite:

Intermediate Manners class. Teams who have taken an equivalent positive reinforcement–based foundational training course must obtain instructor approval before registering.

Dogs must be comfortable working on leash in the presence of other dogs and people. This class is not suitable for reactive dogs.

BRING TO CLASS:

Sample Skill Rotation:

Below is a sample outline of how the CGC test items may be practiced throughout the course. Please note that the instructor may adjust the plan based on the needs of the students in class.

Week 1:

• Accepting a friendly stranger
• Sitting politely for petting
• Walking on a loose leash
• Sit/down/stay on command
• Supervised separation

Week 2:

• Appearance and grooming
• Walking through a crowd
• Reaction to distraction
• Polite greetings (friendly stranger & petting)
• Supervised separation (longer duration)

Week 3:

• Sit/down/stay with increasing difficulty
• Coming when called
• Reaction to another dog
• Appearance and grooming
• Walking on a loose leash

Week 4:

• Polite greetings with movement
• Reaction to distraction
• Walking through a crowd
• Supervised separation (mild real-life setup)
• Sit/down/stay (adding distance and distractions)

Week 5:

• Coming when called (with distraction)
• Reaction to another dog (closer proximity)
• Appearance and grooming
• Walking on a loose leash in public-style setup
• Final practice: polite greetings & supervised separation

Week 6: CGC Test Day.