Cooper's CGC test is Wednesday

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

Cooper is taking his Canine Good Citizen test this coming Wednesday! I am excited, and have spent a lot of the weekend practicing. I believe he will pass...but I guess you just never know! He does well when greeting most people, but every once in a while he jumps right up on them? Don't know why? At any rate the test is at the training facility we go to, and he does great there....so I think we will be fine!
Anybody have any last minute tips or tricks? I am going to take him out and run run run him Wednesday afternoon before the test! He does a lot better when he is well exercised!

Fingers crossed!

Christina and Coop

[Christine & Shelby]

Good luck... so exciting. I bet you and Cooper do great! Can't wait to read about it!!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Good luck!!!

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Good luck on Wednesday. Taking him to Petsmart if it is raining on Wednesday is a good idea.

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

I just checked our weather forcast and it is going to be raining cats and dogs on Wednesday! NOoooooo! This is not what I wanted. I was hoping for good weather so we could play ball right before the class - as that gets him focused on me.... He can't take the test as a muddy mess....
Well, looks like I will have to exercise him in the rain in the morning and then just inside ball before the class....maybe I will get lucky and it won't rain as much as they think....
It is supposed to rain Tuesday too, so that will get everything good and muddy. Darn it!
I like the idea of going to a pet store right before the test. I did a lot of work at Petsmart this weekend, and will go back on Wednesday before class!!!

[Leslie and Halas]

Good luck! I'm sure you'll both be great. Like the others have said, exercising before is a good idea, just to get some of that excess energy taken care of - for both you and Cooper.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Exercise before the test, as you are planning to, and try not to be nervous yourself. When Webber did his TDI certification they mentioned that I was more anxious than the dog! He liked performing. I was worried that he wouldn't pass and we would have to do it again. How little faith I had!! What ever exercises you do to get Cooper to focus on you would be what I would work on before the test. He knows what to do, but he has to be paying attention to get the command. Good luck!

[Karen P]

Good Luck Cooper !!! I am sure that you will do great. Chewie is taking his Friday evening. The only advice I got was a tired doodle is the key.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Relax, take a deep breath - he will fell your tension and be confused.
When we took our test, Samantha 'looked' like she was going to jump up but I caught it, corrected her quietly and all was well. That is just as important as how the dog does - how you 'work' your doodle.
I don't know if a part of your test is looking for dropped items on the floor to protect your doodle, it was with ours (we took the Bright and Beautiful test 0 not CGC). Remember to always check the environment for hazards.
Most important - have fun! You both will do just great!!!!

[Jaime]

Remember that you are the advocate for your dog and it's ok for you to talk to your dog and give praise. The test is really about you as a team working together. Good luck!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm sure Cooper will do great! I did a couple of things. I searched YouTube and found several evaluation videos that I watched to get a good level set on what to expect. The most challenging parts for Guinness were "heeling" through a crowd and sitting quietly while greeting the "friendly" stranger. So, we went to Petco all the time before the test to practice. I also "looked for crowds" everywhere, and walked him around. I found the best place to practice this was the soccer games. The day of the test we went back to Petco for one last "run through". There were other dogs in our group, and we met before the test to let them "run their dog sillies off" before the test. He actually did fine walking through the crowd during the test, but did stand up when the evaluator came to greet him the first time. She let him do the other elements and then retested this at the end. He did fine the second time (but at that point he was more used to her). I also kept treats in my pocket before the test and gave them to him while practicing at the testing facility just before his actual test. So, throughout the test he thought that I had treats and I really think that was an incentive to him. Good luck!