st. petersburg I Say Sit, And You Jump Up.
(Left to right): German Shepherd Dog, Anio retrieves a dumbbell during his obedience demonstration. Jace, a Sheltie, demonstrates the high jump during her obedience
demonstration. Rover reporting and photography by Anna Cooke.
Each year, in September, the American Kennel Club calls on its more than 5,000 affiliated dog clubs to participate in AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Days, or RDO Day. One of those clubs, the Dog Training Club of St. Petersburg held their RDO Day in conjunction with their annual open house. In addition to dog- related vendors, club members conducted demonstrations in Obedience, Agility and the ever-popular crowd pleaser, Flyball. RDO Day helps educate the public
about the importance of being a respon- sible pet owner. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program. In 1989, the Canine Good Citizen test was intro- duced to dog clubs through a letter from the AKC’s then vice president of Obedience, James Dearinger. “The pro- gram was designed as a response to the anti-canine sentiment that was painfully gaining momentum back then,” explained Dearinger. The CGC was the first AKC-spon-
sored certification program to accept non-purebred dogs. The test focuses pri- marily on good manners. An early video promoting the test described its goal: “A dog that makes its owner happy and does- n’t make anyone else unhappy.” Back in the early 1970s, breeders
feared that cities would impose laws restricting ownership as a result of a few highly publicized incidents. The late
84 THE NEW BARKER
Whenever I See Your Smiling Face - Meet James Taylor, a three-year-old Poodle. Lisa
Herm David, a columnist for Dog World magazine wrote articles about the chal- lenge of dogs living in urban environ- ments and outlined a “good citizen” pro- gram in the early 1980s. The original elements of what
became the AKC’s CGC test were devel- oped by a committee that included James Dearinger, Bob Self of Front & Finish magazine, and AKC Field Rep Wally Kodis. A pilot program was run in 1989 with the Upper Suncoast Dog Training Club in Clearwater. Early tests were con- ducted with the Tallahassee Police Department K-9 Unit, a purebred Rottweiler club, and the mixed-breed Ochlockonee River Kennel Club.
adopted James Taylor from Florida Poodle Rescue, who pulled the dog from Polk County Animal Services. Several years ago, during a trip to St. Petersburg, Lisa, a lover of all Poodles and a Northern tourist at the time, visited Vinoy Park. “There, on that particular day, were 10 Poodles flying around the dog- friendly park. I knew, right then and there, that I had to move to St. Petersburg, Florida,” she told us. Linda has named each of her Poodles, who have come and gone, after musicians: Marley (after Bob), Dylan and Clapton. By the way, James Taylor has received his Canine Good Citizen certificate and is now a Therapy Dog.
10 Steps In Canine Good Citizen Training/Testing Test 1: Accepting a friendly stranger. Test 2: Sitting politely for petting. Test 3: Appearance and grooming. Test 4: Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead).
Test 5: Walking through a crowd. Test 6: Sit and down on command; staying in place.
Test 7: Coming when called. Test 8: Reaction to another dog. Test 9: Reaction to distraction. Test 10: Supervised separation.
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