Canine Good Citizen is a program that promotes good behaviour in dogs not only at home, but also in the community. This amazing program encourages responsible dog ownership.
As shelter dogs they come from varied and often unknown backgrounds. These dogs have not yet been taught the basic disciplines, potential adopters are looking for. Our training for CGC started with a volunteer at Lucky Lucy Foundation, Bev De Ponseele, who is a Dog Handler, Animal Behaviourist and Animal Psychologist with over 20 years experience.
Our aim with the training was simple, to get the dogs adopted. Dogs that know the “sit” and “stay” commands are more likely to adapt to their new homes and owners. Besides this the training is beneficial for a physical and mental work out.

Early Saturday morning, 21 November 2015, seven very nervous volunteers set off to Lucky Lucy for our first ever (first of many to come) Canine Good Citizen evaluations. The dogs were happy to see their handlers and helped calm their nerves almost instantly. Jane, from Cape Handlers Dog Club was the evaluator and trainer on the day and Bev De Ponseele assisted. We were privileged enough to have a new and completely sponsored training camp on the premises for the first grading. We look forward to using this camp for future training exercises. Once the initial nerves settled the volunteers and dogs were showing off their new skills. We are thrilled to report that all seven dogs were awarded their Canine Good Citizen Bronze rosettes and certificates.

Lucky Lucy Foundation would like to thank Bev and Jane for their time and effort spent on making this achievement a reality, without their assistance this would not have been possible.

We look forward to reporting on many more successful gradings with the Canine Good Citizen Program. If you would like to know more about KUSA Canine Good Citizen have a look on the KUSA website. https://www.kusa.co.za