Kennel Club Good Citizen Award

[rightsaidfrederickII]

Has anyone done it? We've been training for the Bronze via obedience classes and have the test soon, but haven't had much detail about what the test involves.

In particular

• is it a one attempt and if you fail that's it thing, or would a second attempt at something be allowed?
• it's outdoors. If he spots a squirrel and tries to chase am I doomed? He's never caught one and always comes back once the squirrel has run up a tree, but he's a terrier with a prey drive...
• he's intermittently leash reactive (all bark no bite) - I'm working on it but it's not cured. Is that a matter for disqualification?

I'd really like PestDog to have a certificate for all our hard work I haven't taken an exam since I was 22 and somehow it's making me nervous

I have just started the bronze training with my german shepherd. I was given a sheet from the Kennel Club outlining what is required and it is all quite straightforward. It is on the kennel club website under training/ good citizen dog training and you can download the sheet on the test from the download list on the right hand side of the page.
Hope that helps and good luck!

FML, went and found it (trainer hasn't given it to us). Worse than I thought / hoped. Unfortunately PestDog has been passed around a lot (at one point he went through 3 owners in two months) and no one made any attempt at training him other than housetraining until he was >1 year old so we've not started from the easiest of points. I fear his passing the test or not may come down if he's feeling reactive that day and whether or not he spots a squirrel

His trainer knows his background and how far we've come but the trainer isn't the examiner! I'm sure these tests are intended for people who've had Fluffy the Yorkie since 8 weeks...

I'd talk it through with your trainer who knows your dog.
Even if you decide you don't want to stress yourself putting your dog into a situation where he might "fail", he is not a failure given his difficult start and the training is so worthwhile so don't give up on that!And it might be that your trainer believes he has a good chance of success in the test anyway.

I didn’t do the test at the end of my course as I knew she would never in a million years be able to do the sit and stay. I did the course so I would know what I was doing a bit more with her and it wasn’t about the exam part.

Do you want to do the exam? If you want to do it for fun and won't get stressed or upset if he fails then go for it .

Remember training is a marathon not a sprint so even if he 'fails' the test he and you aren't a failure, just remember how far you have both come. Honestly mine would fail those tests because he always knows when I trying to impress and decides to be an idiot at the right moment

I do want to take the test! The complicating factor is that PestDog isn't actually mine, he belongs to DFriend, but I've been doing most of a lot of the looking after and all of the training for various reasons. Unfortunately DFriend might have to move away in the next few months, so PestDog's future / continued presence in my life is uncertain and I'd like to have something to prove how far he's come and that he really is capable of learning! Sadly I know the training won't continue if I'm not around. It's a bit of a shit situation that's beyond my control, but even if he does disappear I'm hoping to have set him up with at least the basics for life.

I'm going to enter it and see what happens; no harm in trying and even if there is a heavy element of luck involved!