Canine Good Citizenship Program

Appearance and grooming - This part of the test shows that your dog will allow someone to groom them, whether it is you or someone else.  This also shows your sense of responsibility, care and concern in keeping your dog groomed.  The individual giving the test will examine your dog to see that they are clean and groomed.  They may look at your dog's ears, paws, etc.  You should provide the brush or comb used to typically groom your dog.  The evaluator will use it to lightly comb or brush your dog.  During all of this, you can talk to your dog (with praise and encouragement), and they can sit or stand during this. 

Canine Good Citizenship Program

Sitting politely for petting - During this part of the test, your dog should allow a friendly stranger to pet them.  Your dog should be sitting at your side, the person administering the test will pet your dog on their head and body.  You can talk to your dog during the encounter.  The dog can even stand while being petted.  Your dog should not show any sign of shyness or resentment.

Canine Good Citizenship Program

Accepting a friendly stranger - During this part of the test your dog must demonstrate that they will allow a friendly stranger to approach and talk to you.  


The individual giving the test will walk up to you and your dog; greet you and ignore your dog.  They will shake your hand and engage you in a brief conversation.  Your dog should not show any sign of resentment or shyness, during the encounter.

Canine Good Citizenship Program

The Canine Good Citizenship Test will expose your dog to a variety of situations; the 10 test areas are:

1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming
4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and down on command and staying in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised separation

(more details about these 10 test areas in later posts)

Canine Good Citizenship Program

Many countries outside the United States have created canine good citizenship programs based off the AKC's program.  Neighborhood programs set up by law enforcement or animal control agencies utilize parts of the program to deal with dog problems in communities.  Therapy dog groups sometimes use the program as a screening tool for their program.  


Often Specialty Clubs offer the Canine Good Citizenship Test as an activity at their annual conformation shows.  It is a very good idea to have your conformation dog complete this test.  

Canine Good Citizenship Program

The Canine Good Citizenship Program is often used as the starting place for training a dog.  This provides a great foundation for other activities you can do with your dog such as:

• Obedience
• Agility
• Tracking
• Weight Pull
• Carting
• Conformation

Training your dog is a win, win situation; not only for your dog but you as well.  This type of activity really strengthens the bond between you and your dog.  The dog who has received basic obedience training is a joy to live with; they exhibit good manners in and around your home.  These dogs also behave better around other people and animals.  

Canine Good Citizenship Program

AKC's Canine Good Citizenship Program was started in 1989.  This program recognizes dogs who demonstrate good manners in their homes and communities.  There are two parts to the program:

1. Responsible pet ownership 
2. Basic good manners for pets

The dogs that pass the 10 step CGC test can receive a certificate from AKC; showing the date, and their dog's name when they passed the test.

Dog Breeding

What is a phenotype?  This refers to observable traits found in  dog; in other words things you can see.  Like coat color, shape of head, tail type.


What is genotype?  This refers to the genetic makeup of a dog.  


What does homozygous mean?  A trait is homozygous when both alleles are identical.  It also means that both the dog and bitch had the same allele for that trait.  


What does heterozygous mean?  A trait is heterozygous when the two alleles are different.  In other words, the dog contributed a different allele from the bitch for that trait.  


What is a genome?  A genome is the end result of all the genes combined in an organism.  The canine genome consists of approximately 2.5 billion DNA based pairs.    

Chinese New Year - Year Of The Dragon

Today marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year; 2012 is the year of the black water dragon.  We can expect a year marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration, and intensity.  

Dog Breeding

Here are some more genetic terms and their meanings.  Each gene is found in a particular location on a specific chromosome; this is referred to as locus.


Each gene controls a specific trait, these are known as alleles.  Alleles are either dominant or recessive.  Some traits are controlled by only one pair of alleles while other traits are determined by a group of alleles. 

Dog Breeding

Gametes are different from the other cells in the body.  The gametes only contain one strand of each chromosome and only one copy of each gene.  During reproduction the two gametes fuse together to form an embryo.  Once the embryo is created the one strand from the bitch and the one strand from the dog join together to form a corresponding pair.  

Dog Breeding

The male's sex chromosomes are different from the females.  The females' sex chromosomes consist of 2 X chromosomes;  the males' sex chromosomes consists of 1 X and 1 Y.  


Let's move on to gametes.  Gametes are cells that allow animals to reproduce.  In the female the gametes are known as the eggs and in the male the gametes are known as the sperm.  

Dog Breeding

Another part to consider on how traits are passed along are chromosomes.  A chromosome is the organized structure of DNA.  Genes are placed together in a precise order resembling long strands.  The chromosomes exist in every cell in the body.  The chromosome is paired with a corresponding chromosome; one chromosome is from the bitch and one is from the dog.  

Every chromosome consists of a lot of genetic information. Dogs have 78 chromosomes or 39 pairs.  

Dog Breeding

There are four types of bases; A, C, G, and T

1. Adenine 
2. Cytosine
3. Guanine
4. Thymine

A combination of these bases forms a coded message. Each gene consists of a particular order of many bases.  A gene's specific function is determined by these unique base combinations.  

The unique combination of genes will determine appearance and behavior.

Dog Breeding

The responsible dog breeder must have a basic understanding of genetics.  This is how they can control things like color, size, and angulation.  


Let's start with genes.  A gene is the basis of heredity.  There are approximately 19,000 genes within an individual dog.  Genes are made up of DNA.  DNA is a molecule that is shaped like a spiral ladder; each rung of the ladder has two paired chemicals referred to as bases.  

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Today we celebrate the life and and achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr.  He strove to end racial segregation and to achieve racial equality.  Last year "The Stone of Hope" memorial was opened to the public to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Lei Yixin was the master sculptor for this memorial; it is located in West Potomac park, Washington DC.  

Dog Breeding - cont.

Long ago dog breeds were developed for a certain task; not only were they are companions they also helped us do our work.  Today many of those traits are diminished or totally absent.  


It has become the responsibility of the breeders today to preserve each of the individual breeds.  It is a huge responsibility for breeders to see that desirable traits of each particular breed is carried forward.  


Breeders should strive to use sound breeding stock outside their own kennel. This is so important to preserve the integrity of each breed.  This may mean locating breeders in another state, country, or continent.  

Dog Breeding

Most of us don't realize just how long our canine companions have been around, would you believe more than 12,000 years?  Our canine companions are considered the most diverse species on our planet.  Our doggies come in all shapes, sizes, and have varied behavioral traits.  There are now more than 350 different canine types worldwide.  


The number is astounding and you might even ask how did that happen?  As far back as 3 to 4 thousands years ago; there were several different distinct domesticated types of dogs.  People selectively bred dogs for desirable traits and tried to avoid the undesirable traits, even before the science of genetics was developed.  

Dog Show World - cont.

I love the Saint Bernard breed; even though in recent years I have been witness to a side of this breed that is very troubling.  I am not sure that I will get additional Saint Bernards in the future, only time will tell.  The ones I currently own have many years ahead of them, years I plan to make the most of and enjoy.  We are hoping to retire sometime in the next ten years; knowing that, we must also accept that we will not be financially able to show dogs.  Our time in the show world was brief and to us brought more disappointment than success.  It does not turn out that way for everyone.  We wish those of you entering the dog show world good luck and good times!

Dog Show World - continues

Another thing we observed with the dog show world is people strive to finish a dog very quickly.  This is very true for the larger dogs.   I sometimes think this has a lot to do with how powerful the larger dogs become with maturity.  If these dogs do not get sufficient training and socializing; they will be very difficult to handle in the show ring.  Many Saint fanciers have observed in recent years that aggression has become a problem with too many Saint Bernards.  Aggression is not welcome in any breed; but is especially undesirable in the large breeds.  

(more tomorrow)

Dog Show World - continues

Longevity in the dog show world gives you the knowledge necessary to be successful.  The more shows you attend, the more judges you will encounter.  Each judge is unique and you should learn something new with each one; the things you learn will help you to be more successful in the future.  Observing the techniques of other handlers is also very beneficial.  The handler who makes this looks easy deserves your attention.  Take the time to really watch them in the ring; many are like magicians.  

Try to keep in mind that every time your dog enters the ring, you are asking someone's opinion about them.  There will be judges that like your dog and those that don't.  Learn from what they have to say; try not to take what is said personally.  You have asked for their opinion and it has been given.  

(more later)

Dog Show World - cont.

We quickly saw that our breed of choice, the Saint Bernard, is not well represented at the all breed shows.  Often there is no competition, so no points are awarded.  In the beginning we were not troubled by that, we figured it was still good experience for our dogs and us.  As more time passed and our knowledge increased; we realized that  to finish a dog as a Champion there has to be competition.  There is competition and points at the specialty shows; but winning is another matter.  If you have a quality dog and it is showcased to show those qualities, the wins will follow.  Sometimes the dog alone can bring even the novice to the winner’s circle.  It just depends on what the judge likes.

(more thoughts tomorrow)  

Dog Show World - continues

Starting later in life with the dog show world seems like a good plan.  You have more free time and often more expendable income.  We had more free time for this endeavor but our window for financing this adventure was for a limited time.  In our case, we should have gotten involved several years earlier.  This may have allowed us to have more success. 

We were not successful in the dog show world; it did look very promising in the beginning.  We found ourselves going to dog shows most every weekend and we were enjoying it.  We approached this as a learning experience and we did learn a lot.  We still go to specialty shows of our breed, but now we are just spectators.  The dog show world did appeal to me; setting on the side lines is not the same.  

(more later)

Dog Show World - cont.

Another thing to consider before jumping into the dog show world would be attending several all breed or specialty dog shows.  I say several because one show would not really reveal the positives nor the negatives of this environment.


There are several spectators at the all breed shows; strike up conversations with them.  You might just be surprised the insight to dog shows you can learn from them.


Observe what is going on inside the shows ring and probably more importantly what is happening outside the ring.  This can even guide you on choosing a handler for your dog.  You can quickly see the skill level of these individuals.  Some are very polished and their expertise is quickly noted.  Even the novices will teach you something by observing them as well.


(more later)

The Dog Show World - continues

There is a huge financial expense showing a dog, try to educate yourself fully on this.  First off, you should determine if you are even able to manage this additional expense into your budget.  I do not recommend purchasing a lot of equipment in the beginning; you might want to consider the expense of using a handler who already has equipment for dog shows instead.  Once you determine that you will be staying involved in the dog show world; then you can decide to purchase some equipment.


Things like a larger vehicle, generators, the higher ticket items; put off till you are really hooked.  What will you do with these sort of things if the dog show world does not work out for you?  We purchased a lot of stuff and now it just gathers dust and takes up space in our garage.


(more tomorrow)

The Dog Show World - cont.

I never thought it was going to be an easy endeavor, but it sounded very rewarding.  I knew nothing about showing dogs.  It did seem like this was the next logical step after having Saint Bernards for over twenty years. The first mistake I made was letting the breeder select the show puppy for me.  I figured since this individual was a veteran breeder and handler they would make a better choice than I could.  

That is not necessarily the case, some puppies just do not develop into show quality.  The veteran breeder/handler just moves on to another dog with this sort of situation.  But what do you do, if you're new to this world?  Maybe you are able financially to purchase another show dog, provided you have the space to have an additional dog.  Then you can try again, what are the odds that this dog won't work out in the dog show world either?  They are higher than you think; especially when you continue to use the same breeder.

I would advise from the very start to trust your own instincts regarding picking a show dog.  Then no matter how the future unfolds, you won't be blaming someone else if things don't work out.  Input from other individuals is very beneficial and should definitely be considered in making your choice; but let it be your choice.

(more later)

The Dog Show World

I wish I had been able to get some insight into becoming involved with the show environment.  I think if someone had been able to provide me with the pros and cons of show dogs, I could have made a better informed choice regarding the matter.  


The problem is you end up talking to dog show people to begin with; they love this world and will probably provide you with a biased opinion.  It would be nice to find individuals who have tried the dog show scene and left or those who have retired from showing.  You definitely need to talk with someone who has actually been involved in the dog show world.  


(more tomorrow)

Best In Show 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National

GCH CH Jaset's Satisfaction wins Best In Show at the 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.  He is owned by Beth Harris & Michele Molnar & Jamie Danburg.  The breeders are Sandra Tompkins and Chris Bailey.  Ann Rairigh is the Agent.  GCH CH Jaset's Satisfaction is a Standard Poodle.  Congratulations on this fantastic win to all of you from Brandykegs!

BBE For Saint Bernards at 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National

GCH CH Jamelle's Camelot won Best Bred By Exhibitor for Saint Bernards at the 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.  The breeder/owners are Michele and Jack Mulligan.  Congratulations from Brandykegs!

2011 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship

BRED BY EXHIBITOR GROUP RESULTS 

2011 AKC/EUKANUBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

THE WORKING GROUP

1. Boxer   GCH CH Breho Fortuity Shared Treasure
2. Siberian Husky   GCH CH Kontoki's A Bend In The Road
3. Alaskan Malamute   GCH CH Samaljankan's I'M The One At Nyrakym
4. Bernese Mountain Dog   GCH CH Wyndrift's Steal Your Heart Away RN

THE SPORTING GROUP

1. German Shorthaired Pointer   GCH CH Shade Mountain's Twilight Dancer JH
2. Spinone Italiano   GCH CH Bela's Presto Change-O RN
3. Cocker Spaniel Parti   Ch Galaski Million Dollar Question
4. Vizsla   GCH CH Jnek's King Ralph JH

THE HOUND GROUP

1. Afghan Hound   GCH CH Thaon's Mowgli
2. Basenji   GCH CH C-Quest Jokuba Zensational
3. Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen   CH Jaren's Our Girl Friday
4. Redbone Coonhound   GCH CH CWSG CCH Sidearm Jungle King Mufasa

THE TERRIER GROUP

1. Border Terrier   GCH CH Meadowlake Simply Sinful
2. American Staffordshire Terrier   GCH CH Alpine's Highwayman
3. Smooth Fox Terrier   CH J'Cobe Broxden Danea
4. Norwich Terrier   GCH CH Foxwood Chasing A Dream

THE TOY GROUP

1. Miniature Pinscher   GCH CH Kimro's Dora The Explorer
2. Affenpinscher   CH Tamarin Tasha
3. Long Coat Chihuahua   GCH CH Bayard Let Me Play Among The Stars
4. Toy Manchester Terrier   CH Thunderhills Irish Cream At Burmack

THE NON-SPORTING GROUP

1. Bichon Frise   GCH CH Paray's Power & Privilege
2. Miniature Poodle   GCH CH Danfour Debutante
3. Tibetan Terrier   GCH CH Ri Lee's Stellar Performance
4. Keeshond   GCH CH Trumpet's Ticket To Ride

THE HERDING GROUP

1. Belgian Tervuren   GCH CH Sky Acres Flying Solo
2. Puli   GCH CH Fuzzy Farm Twist And Shout
3. Bearded Collie   GCH CH Briarpatch Just One Look HT
4. Shetland Sheepdog   GCH CH Shadow Hill's Star Chaser

Congatulations To All The Winners From Brandykegs!

Happy New Year!

Brandykegs would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  May your new year provide all of you with good health, good times, and good cheer!