Canine Good Citizen Certified

June 18, 2014

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So this past weekend, Penny Lane and Elvis were officially CGC certified! For those of you who don’t know, CGC stands for Canine Good Citizen. It’s a two part program that stresses responsible pet ownership and basic good manners for dogs.

No, I don’t need a badge or certificate to prove to people that my dogs are good but it goes a long way in proving that my “killer pit bulls” are not monsters or “unpredictable”. There are surrounding cities near me that require you to muzzle your pit bull if they are out in public. As we all know, there are ignorant landlords and BSL preventing people from keeping their family members because they are a certain breed. And now, Penny and Elvis have an official title from the AKC that shoves all that back in their face. I’ve accepted the responsibility that comes along with being a bully owner; the racism, the looks, the stupid things that people say and trust me, I used to get so mad and jump down their throat. Trust me, I still want to but that will never get us anywhere. Instead, I focus on making my dogs better and setting the example. I do my talking by letting kids come pet Penny Lane while she rolls on her back so they can scratch her belly. I let Elvis swoon on every person that makes eye contact with him and they just fall in love. The little kids in the neighborhood can play fetch and run with them at the park. Never once do you see them jump on a kid or knock them over and you always see them drop the ball right at the kids’ feet.

I’ve encountered quite a few people who own pitties and instead of wanting to work on making their dogs better, they choose to not bring their dogs out in public because they are embarrassed and don’t want people looking at them and thinking bad things about their dogs. You can choose to do what you want but that doesn’t help solve the problem. Stop thinking about what other people think and SOCIALIZE your dog! There’s plenty of help out there, you just have to look for it. Enroll your dog in a class and bond with your dog. Trust me; your pup is just waiting for you to take the lead. You can make all the excuses you want but every person in our CGC class had families and full time jobs but still found time for their dogs because your dog IS family!

And while this is true for ALL dogs, it’s especially true for all of us pittie owners. Our dogs have to be THAT much better because there are a lot of people out there that think they’re THAT bad. The more pitties out there that are socialized the easier it will be to change people’s minds. Part of the reason people use pit bulls to fight is because they are extremely smart, highly trainable and have a ridiculous desire to please their owner…let that sink in for a minute.

And just for the record, there were 4 dogs in Penny and Elvis’ CGC graduation class… 2 pitties, a Doberman and a Rottweiler.