A friend told me about a Canine Good Citizen test that was being held in Horseheads, NY.  She suggested I take Toka there to see how he did.

We’re in a CGC class which is being held through our dog training club.  I thought that I’d try the evaluation tonight with Toka, because at the very least, I could see where the holes in our training existed.

Toka is the most Akita-like Akita that has graced my life.  He’s reserved and aloof unless he knows you, does not like to be approached or touched by strangers, and is just fine with keeping his ‘family’ or pack to a limited number of people.

I am THRILLED to announce that His Redness passed his CGC evaluation.  I had promised him that if he put up with 30 seconds of examination of his ears & feet, he’d be done with that ‘forever.’ In real life, when I need someone to look at him, they’ll be introduced to him and feed him cookies, indicating that they’re part of the pack.

The CGC exam is staged and artificial, because there’s no opportunity to do that.  However, the evaluator was savvy to how aloof Akitas can be, and worked around that.  Toka was not happy to have undergo the exam, but he accepted it. As the evaluator said: he doesn’t have to like it, he just has to tolerate it.  Toka did just that.

The other stations were a breeze.  We’ve worked at succeeding with all of them.

Good dog, Little Man.  Very good dog indeed.  You’re the best!

I am so proud of you.