The American Kennel Club's Good Canine Citizen (CGC) Test is designed to test dogs' basic good manners. Well behaved dogs are always appreciated at home and in the community. This is even truer for dogs who live in a big city like New York. So the CGC program was a good milestone for Harry to be a respectable city dog. Dogs do not need to be highly trained to pass this test, but they need to have good manners and basic training. Dogs of any breed (pure or mixed), any sex (neutered or not) and at any age (if old enough to receive vaccination) can participate.

Harry passed the CGC test when he was a year old. He had to bring his own brush, current rabies certificate and New York City dog license card to the test. He had to wear a flat collar during the test. No training collars and food treats were allowed.

The test fee was $12 when Harry took the test. The fee is usually between $10 and $20 depending on where the test is organised. The recording fee (optional) was $5 and Harry received a lovely CGC certificate.

There are 10 items in the CGC test. Dogs need to pass all the items.

Accepting a friendly stranger The dog allows a friendly stranger to approach it and speak to the handler. The evaluator walks up to the dog and handler and greets the handler in a friendly manner, ignoring the dog. The evaluator and handler shake hands and exchange pleasantries. The dog must show no sign of resentment or shyness, and must not break position or try to go to the evaluator.

Sitting politely for petting
The dog allows a friendly stranger to touch it while it is out with its handler. With the dog sitting at the handler's side, to begin the exercise, the evaluator pets the dog on the head and body. The handler may talk to his or her dog throughout the exercise. The dog may stand in place as it is petted. The dog must not show shyness or resentment.

Being clean and groomed
The dog welcomes being groomed and examined. The evaluator inspects the dog to determine if it is clean and groomed. The dog must appear to be in healthy condition. The handler should supply the brush commonly used on the dog. The evaluator then softly brushes the dog, lightly examines the ears and gently picks up each front foot.

Walking nicely on a loose lead
The dog may be on either side of the handler. The dog need not be perfectly aligned with the handler and need not sit when the handler stops. The dog and the handler walk on a course which has a right turn, a left turn, and an about turn with at least one stop in between. The handler may talk to the dog along the way, praise the dog, or give commands in a normal tone of voice.

Walking politely through a crowd
The dog can move about politely in pedestrian traffic and is under control in public places. The dog and handler walk around and pass close to several people. The dog may show some interest in the strangers but should continue to walk with the handler, without evidence of over-exuberance, shyness or resentment. The dog should not jump on people in the crowd or strain on the leash.

Responding to Sit, Down and Stay commands
The dog responds to the handler's commands to sit and down and will remain in the place commanded by the handler. The dog must do sit and down on command, then the owner chooses the position for leaving the dog in the stay and walks 20ft (6m) away. The handler may take a reasonable amount of time and use more than one command to get the dog to sit and then down.

Coming when called
The dog comes when called by the handler. The handler will walk 10ft (3m) from the dog, turn to face the dog, and call the dog. The handler may use encouragement to get the dog to come. Handlers may choose to tell dogs to "stay" or "wait" or they may simply walk away, giving no instructions to the dog.

Being polite to other dogs
The dog can behave politely around other dogs. Two handlers and their dogs approach each other from a distance of about 20ft (6m), stop, shake hands and exchange pleasantries, and continue on for about 10ft (3m). The dogs should show no more than casual interest in each other. Neither dog should go to the other dog or its handler.

Being confident under distraction
The dog is confident at all times when faced with common distracting situations. The evaluator will present two distractions like dropping a chair, rolling a crate dolly past the dog, having a jogger run in front of the dog, or dropping a crutch or cane. The dog may express natural curiosity or appear slightly startled but should not panic, try to run away, show aggressiveness, or bark.

Being calm under separation
The dog can be left with a trusted person as maintainig good manners. Evaluators will say something like, "Would you like me to watch your dog?" and then take hold of the dog's leash. The owner will go out of sight for three minutes. The dog does not have to stay in position but should not continually bark, whine, or pace unnecessarily, or show anything stronger than mild agitation or nervousness. Evaluators may talk to the dog such as "There, there, it's alright".