Wyn & Mary Burch, Ph.D.
AKC's Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Director, Certified Applied Animal BehavioristCitizen Canine Blog (that’s right, this one!) Wins at Westminster!
Every year, on the Sunday before the Westminster dog show, dog writers from across the country travel to New York City for annual writing awards that are the equivalent of “Best in Show” for dog writers. This year, the Citizen Canine blog (that’s right, this one!) won an award as the Best Blog in a writing competition and the Citizen Canine book won the prestigious Maxwell Medallion in the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) contest. For more information on DWAA, see dwaa.org
About the Programs
AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy® is the puppy level of Canine Good Citizen® (CGC). AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy is designed to provide dog owners and their puppies with a great start in training. With more advanced skills than AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, CGC rewards dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. The Canine Good Citizen Program stresses responsible pet ownership for owners and basic good manners for dogs. The Hartford is a proud sponsor of the CGC and AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy programs.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Featured Trainer: Renea Dahms
At Pawsitively Unleashed in Custer, Wisconsin, Renea Dahms is working hard to train puppies to have good manners. Her training focuses on the well-behaved family pet rather than competiton and as you can see in her video, the basics of … Continue reading
Dealing with Divorce: Don’t Forget the Dog
Breaking up is hard to do, and when the family pet is involved things become more complicated. While there is no perfect solution for helping your dog adjust during a break up or divorce, there are steps you can take … Continue reading
Do You Have a Plan for Your Dog?
A friend gave me an article written by the Ethicist of the New York Times magazine. On the day I read it, I found the topic sufficiently depressing that my first reaction was “no way am I putting that on the CGC blog.” But … Continue reading
Posted in Responsible Dog Ownership
Tagged planning for your dog, responsible dog ownership
3 Comments
Featured Trainer: Michael Nichols
Today we’d like to feature Michael Nichols, a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator/Instructor. Michael teaches CGC classes as Tails-A-Wagging in Bellingham, Washington. On the video at the link below, you’ll see that by the time dogs graduate from Michael’s CGC class, … Continue reading
Clicker Training: Using a Clicker to Train Your Dog
Yesterday we talked about playing the shaping game with people to get you warmed up for clicker training your dog. Remember, the concept of shaping applies to you as a trainer too. Start with an easy behavior to shape if … Continue reading
Getting Ready for Clicker Training: Play the Shaping Game
Tomorrow we’ll talk about the basics of using a clicker to train your dog. A clicker is a device with a metal strip that when pushed, makes a “clicking” sound. Clickers were being used as early as the 1940s when … Continue reading
Resource Guarding: Don’t Touch My Dish!
A dog owner called the AKC Canine Good Citizen department with this problem: “I just adopted ‘Missy,’ this cute little Chihuahua mix, from our local shelter. She is a perfect dog in many ways, but if you get near her … Continue reading
Posted in Behavior, Training
Tagged behavior, food guarding, resource guarding, training tips
7 Comments
Canine Good SENIOR Citizen
If you’re a dog trainer, you’ve heard the question a thousand times — “Can you teach an old dog new tricks?” Of course the answer is yes. But this week in Canine Good Citizen evaluator Edie Elting’s CGC class (Charlotte, … Continue reading
Posted in CGC test, Senior Dogs
Tagged cgc test, senior dogs, teaching older dogs, training
3 Comments
Lights, Camera, Action!
We’re ready to make you and your dog a star! And if you’re a Canine Good Citizen or AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy instructor, we can help promote your great classes by showing your training in action. All you need to do … Continue reading
Will Work for Food: How to Properly Train with Treats
To continue on yesterday’s theme of training, which is a bonding experience for both you and your dog, I want to talk about training with treats. Some dog owners are nervous about using food as a reward, so here are … Continue reading
