I took my dogs out to be evaluated for the Canine Social Citizen (NADSR) - it is nearly identical to the Canine Good Citizen.

Abby was perfect. Kelly failed the three minute seperation. She was whining, then began pacing, circling and pulling on the leash. The evaluator told me that she can pass even if she is whining quietly, but not if she is moving around.

How can I train her to sit quietly when I am gone?

Background:
Kelly is a pit/doberman mix, super velcro dog. She is 19 months old. I took her in through my rescue about 2 - 3 months ago. She was not trained, but did not have behavior or seperation issues. She lives very structured and spends a lot of time in her crate. We have met 3 other females from the same litter that have the same whiny/velcro thing.

I don't know anything about the Canine Social Citizen (NADSR) but in SchH 3 the dog is the down position off leash and the handler out of sight for the period of time another dog does obedience and this can be 10 minutes. I think this is abaut the same thing here. It is an obedience issue and it's achieved in steps. You put your dog on a leash, hold it and tell him down and walk a few steps away. Watch him and wait a few seconds. If he stays down, go back, say 'good down' and reward him in the down position. Walk away again and increase the distance acording to the dog's level of training. If he stays down for quit a while try to turn you back and see if it still works. Every time he gets up he need to be corrected immediatly. If he gets up and follow you say 'no' and put him ritht back to the place you told him to stay down. Every time. If he complies he gets a reward. The last thing is then to hide behind something and watch him throug a peep hole. I know that sometimes the correction has to be a little bit harder than you like but you got to do what you got to do. I never used a e-collar but I tink it would be a good tool for it too.

Hi Anne,
In preparing for the Canine Good Citizen, for dogs that are insecure about their owner's leaving, we ask the '3 minute handler' to randomly give treats and otherwise try to frame the situation as pleasant (playing, walking a bit) for the dog. Treats are not allowed during testing, but it can be a useful step toward building the dog's confidence and to the dog pass this part of the test.

Also we tell owners to make sure they are not part of the problem: tone down your own greeting/departure rituals, don't make a big deal out of leaving your dog. Leave with confidence, have the handler encourage a pleasant and short interaction, and work from there.

I'm not sure about the NADSR, but in the AKC's Canine Good Citizen, whomever the dog is left with during supervised separation (during testing) is allowed to talk with the dog and pet the dog (to simulate a 'normal' situation where you might leave your dog with a person). Excessive attention is not allowed from the handler, and excessive stress should not be shown by the dog. Also, the dog is allowed to move around, but not try to pull away. Is your test more strict than this?

Good luck!
Michelle

Few people know what the canine social citizen test is. You`re better off just doing the canine good citizen test from the AKC. Dogs are allowed to move during the test as long as they don`t try to go to you(pulling the leash)or act very nervous. Any evaluator who tells you otherwise needs to have the rules shown to them. A seperation is different from holding an OB command. If it`s a 3 minute sit or down then that`s different but I think your evaluator was interepting the rules badly. Look at the exact wording but I still suggest you just go over to the AKC or some other temperament test.

American Temerament Test This is another one you may want to look into.