Canine Good Neighbor CGN

My Aussie, Keegan (2yrs old, just growing out of his adolescence) and I trained for the (CGN) Canine Good Neighbor test held at DOGSMART.ca and passed with 100%. It's a super 12 step test where judges look for the bond between you and your dog, and how you both negotiate challenging social situations and basic obedience commands. NO TREATS allowed :)

What I LOVED most about the Prep class I took at Dogsmart is that you get to fine tune your handling skills and work on challenges with those around you who cheer you on and set you up for success.

Keegan and I worked as a team, and while he wasn't especially pleased with me creating a little more structure and more training of  polite social skills into our everyday lives...we reap the rewards big time now as I can take him pretty much anywhere and he knows the drill and acts appropriately.
Ie.instead of lunging and dragging me over to say hello to someone...he is happy to hang out by me and wait for the okay.

Training should be FUN, and together no matter what you do, being a benevolent leader is rewarded tenfold in the relationship you build with your pup.

Here are pictures that Shelley took!  A fantastic reminder that all our efforts paid off!

On our way back into the crowd of people

 The swarm of coughing, tripping, arms flailing people...they had no problem providing a challenging test for me and Kee :)

Meet and Greet w/ stranger and their dog, shake hands and Kee's job was to just chill by my side.

Reward for sticking to me like crazy glue!  Kee LOVES to jump into my arms, so that's his "thanks" for a job well done.  No treats are allowed, but we're allowed to play and cuddle and praise our dogs for being superstars!

 Mr. Keegan, Mikatura's Jokers Wyld, CGN  is his title now.  I'm sure he was just chuckling to himself that we humans do some funny stuff....

 Me and my Boo...Daizy my beagle is up next round in January!!!