PREP GUIDE
🎓 Training
AKC CGC prep
Targeted preparation for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, all ten items in order.
🕘 Plan for about 60 minutes. PetHour keeps 15 minutes between a caregiver's visits for travel and handoff.
Before the booking
- Read the ten CGC test items and note the ones your dog finds hardest.
- Write down the cues and hand signals you already use and the rewards your dog loves most.
- Pick one or two goals — they beat a long wish list.
- Bring high-value treats, and your dog a little hungry (a smaller meal beforehand) unless your vet says otherwise.
- Plan to practise between sessions: training sticks when the owner keeps it going.
What usually goes wrong
- Perfect at home, falls apart at the test
- Practise in new places with new people until the behaviour holds anywhere.
- Different cues at home
- Give the owner the exact words and signals in writing and show them in person.
- Too much, too fast
- Long sessions make dogs shut down. Keep it short, reward often, and stop while it's going well.
- Expectations don't match
- Behaviour changes gradually. Agree realistic milestones, and how you'll both know they're met.
If this happens
- The dog is too stressed to learn
- Add distance from the trigger, make it easier, or end the session — stress blocks learning.
- Aggression or a bite
- Stop and keep everyone safe. Recommend a qualified behaviour professional or a vet behaviourist rather than pushing through.
🚨 Call a vet now if…
- A sudden behaviour change — new aggression, fear or confusion — can be pain or illness: suggest a vet check.
- Overheating or exhaustion during outdoor sessions.
In an emergency, call the vet or emergency clinic first, then the owner — the vet details are on the booking (ToS §4.8).
These are general tips to help you prepare — not rules for how a caregiver must work, and not veterinary advice. Agree the details for each booking in the booking chat, so you both have them in writing.