[Veronica1]

7-month old Panzer is currently taking CGC classes. The hardest part he's having with the training is the examining of his feet! Last night the trainer asked if he had hurt his right paw because Panzer definately didn't want it examined. Walking through a crowd, distractions, supervised separation, sit/stay - all good - touching the feet, no thanks!

So, we're going to work on teaching him to shake. Any other suggestions also welcome.

 

[AgileGSD]

This is a very common issue with GSDs. What are you doing so far?

 

[Franksmom]

How does he do when you trim his nails?

 

[Veronica1]

So far? Not much. We've always tried to touch his feet since he was a young pup, but still he prefers not to have them touched, and until now, there hasn't been much of an occasion to have to force the issue. His nails seem to stay worn down from walking and playing at the dog park, so nail trimming hasn't really been a factor. I'm sure he will need his nails trimmed during the winter months though, so we do need to get this mastered!

 

[Franksmom]

I started my pup when he would be just laying quietly next to me, I would rub on his shoulder and progress gradually down his leg a little further each day. He's 6 months now and lays quietly for me to trim his nails and such.
The thing I did learn was it didn't do any good to start this if he was all hyped up and wanted to play. So I made sure this was something we worked on at night when he was just laying next to me.

 

[onyx'girl]

Good luck with it Veronica. As you know, Karlo hates his feet touched.
When I did the CGC class/test with Onyx, the evaluator never touched her feet, she had me pick them up for inspection(she was afraid of GSD's according to my class instructor, and didn't want to be near Onyx's face) she did brush her quickly though.
Most of the time I think the evaluators just brush over them, but each one is different. I doubt he will fail the CGC because he balks at having his feet touched. I'd let the trainer work with him next class and see if he feels this is a deal breaker on getting passed. Some dogs just hate to have their feet messed with.

 

[DJEtzel]

I've never heard of the CGC checking their feet so this is new to me...

Are you sure they do?

 

[onyx'girl]

AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Program
Test 3: Appearance and grooming
This practical test demonstrates that the dog will welcome being groomed and examined and will permit someone, such as a veterinarian, groomer or friend of the owner, to do so. It also demonstrates the owner's care, concern and sense of responsibility. The evaluator inspects the dog to determine if it is clean and groomed. The dog must appear to be in healthy condition (i.e., proper weight, clean, healthy and alert). The handler should supply the comb or brush commonly used on the dog. The evaluator then softly combs or brushes the dog, and in a natural manner, lightly examines the ears and gently picks up each front foot. It is not necessary for the dog to hold a specific position during the examination, and the handler may talk to the dog, praise it and give encouragement throughout

 

[GSDAlphaMom]

Touch and treat with lots of yay's every time, over and over. Start with very brief touches and once he's good with that hold it a few seconds. He will start to associate getting his feet touched with good things (treats). Make it a really yummy special treat...could be specific to just this exercise.

 

[Veronica1]

Yes, the appearance & grooming test looks at each ear, each front paw and brushing. It's all pretty quick and the handler is allowed to hold the dog's foot up for the paw examination, but even that was met with resistance. The goal is to make sure the dog would accept examination from a vet.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I would teach a shake command. That's what I did with Halo. It's not absolutely necessary, but I think if you can get him to offer up a paw voluntarily you can be fairly sure it's not going to be an issue for the test. Once you've got him responding to the command for you, have him do it for other people.

 

[Pattycakes]

I just went through the CGC test with my GSD and she doesn't like her paws messed with either. But I did work with her the last couple of weeks before the test just petting her and slowing working my way down her leg until I got to her paw and and would just barely touch it and then gave her praise. She still doesn't "like" her feet messed with...but she tolerates it. And she did pass her CGC.

 

[jakeandrenee]

When Jake took the test in Sept they quickly lifted his his front feet, one at a time. Like Jane said I agree it shouldn't be a deal breaker if he is just a tad unhappy but complies.

 

[Veronica1]

Last night he really wouldn't comply. He just shifted himself around so his foot couldn't be reached.

Thanks to all for the suggestions & encouragement.

 

[EJQ]

Quiet time is a good time to start.
As Franksmom said "I started my pup when he would be just laying quietly next to me, I would rub on his shoulder and progress gradually down his leg a little further each day. He's 6 months now and lays quietly for me to trim his nails and such"

Arm yourself with a bunch of his training treats. Once he knows you have the treats, start touching and rubbing, reward him with a treat as you progress and once you get to his feet give him a treat when ever you touch his feet - don't rush it - be patient - he'll soon realize that this is a positive action. It's been my experience that a lot of this "touchy/feely" type of conditioning (touching feet, ears, mouth, brushing) is best attempted after exercise and when they are in a chilled mood.

As an aside, I'm beginning to realize that there is quite a difference in CGC evaluators. I've been working with the same evaluator for many years. She is tough! Part of the evaluation is contact with head, ears, mouth, teeth, front and back feet, brushing etc. I have also heard of evaluators that are afraid of certain breeds and their inspection is cursory at best because they won't get too close to the dog.

 

[Courtney]

I've never heard of the CGC checking their feet so this is new to me...

Are you sure they do?

They do. We just started a CGC class and the trainer just went over with us what they do. She used her own dog as an example and lifter her paw off the ground briefly and felt it then ran her hand down the back.

 

[DJEtzel]

They do. We just started a CGC class and the trainer just went over with us what they do. She used her own dog as an example and lifter her paw off the ground briefly and felt it then ran her hand down the back.

I've seen a few cgc evals where the judge simply ran his hand over the ears then down the back for that segment.

I guess every judge is different?

I won't have an issue luckily; Frag loves picking up his feet for people.

 

[Courtney]

I've seen a few cgc evals where the judge simply ran his hand over the ears then down the back for that segment.

I guess every judge is different?

I won't have an issue luckily; Frag loves picking up his feet for people.

My issue will be the supervised seperation his eyes are always locked on me.

 

[Stosh]

The examiner never touched my dogs' feet for the CGC either. Stosh gave her his paw which she took, but there was no examination. Just a touch on the head, shoulders and and hips

 

[AgileGSD]

The examiner never touched my dogs' feet for the CGC either. Stosh gave her his paw which she took, but there was no examination. Just a touch on the head, shoulders and and hips

I've seen a few cgc evals where the judge simply ran his hand over the ears then down the back for that segment.

I guess every judge is different?

Unfortunately, not all evaluators perform the test properly. I've seen dogs pass that nearly couldn't be touched at all, who were more than mildly upset about noise, who wouldn't sit or down, etc. I have even known training classes who would pick a certain evaluator for the class because a dog had an issue with men or tall people. Kind of goes against the whole meaning of the test.