Here is the link to the novice trick dog checklist: http://images.akc.org/pdf/trick_dog_novice.pdf. If you get evaluated in person, your evaluator will fill this out for you. If you do a video submission* you will need to fill this out and send it in with the other paperwork.

Here is the link to the trick dog application: http://images.akc.org/pdf/Trick_Dog_Title_Application.pdf

*If you do a video submission, here is the link to the video verification form. Your evaluator will need to fill this out and send you a copy; they evaluator will also send a copy of this form to AKC: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/08152934/AKC-Trick-Dog-Video-Verification-Form.pdf

In this lesson, I want to go over the route for earning a Novice Trick Dog title through the American Kennel Club (AKC) and give you an idea of how to go about earning that title through that organization. There will also be links you can go to in order to print the proper paperwork if you choose to earn this title through this organization. 

There are 2 ways you can earn your Novice Trick Dog title with the American Kennel Club. You can either demonstrate your tricks to an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator, which is also approved to evaluate the trick titles as well, or you can earn your Novice Trick Dog title through Do More With Your Dog and then after earning that level title through that organization, you can send a copy to AKC and apply to have them list that title under your dog’s AKC name as well. There will be a separate lesson talking about Do More With Your Dog, so we won’t talk much more about that route in this specific lesson. 

Currently, there are 2 ways to earn the title with an AKC approved evaluator if you just want to earn titles through the American Kennel Club. You can either demonstrate your tricks in person or through a video submission. The video submission is new and permission was granted to do that at the end of March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear at this time how long we will be permitted to do video submissions or if this is something that will permanently be allowed, so that form of getting evaluated could be subject to change in the future. Because of that, I will have a separate lecture going over video submissions and if that ability every changes, that lecture will go away.

When demonstrating your tricks in front of an evaluator, it may be done in a class setting, trial setting, or may be done in a private setting. You go through the tricks for that level with your dog and upon completion an evaluator will fill out and sign a form for you to turn into AKC to earn the actual title. Most evaluators will have some fee to get evaluated for the title, but not all of them do. Then there is a separate fee for the actual title that actually gets sent into the AKC and that fee is listed on the “trick dog application” form. 

To be eligible for an AKC title, you need to have an AKC number through one of the following avenues: an AKC Registration Number, a Purebred Alternative Listing (PAL) number, or an AKC Canine Partners Number. 

An AKC Registration Number is a number you would have received from a breeder that was registering a litter of AKC purebred puppies or from a previous owner that had a registration number. 

The PAL number is if you have a purebred dog that is not an AKC registered dog and would not be able to receive an AKC registered number. This is a number you can apply for. 

The AKC Canine Partners Number is number you can apply for that can be for either a purebred dog or a mixed breed dog. 

If you do not have a number, you will want to apply for one before trying to submit for a title, because that number goes on all the paperwork for earning the title for that dog. You can find information about obtaining a number from www.akc.org.

Now to go over some rules. If your dog has earned their Canine Good Citizen title, you only need to demonstrate 5 tricks from the Novice Trick Dog title list. If your dog has not earned their Canine Good Citizen title, you will need to demonstrate 10 tricks from the Novice Trick Dog title list. You are allowed two handler’s choice tricks. Handler’s choice tricks are tricks that are not listed on the Novice Trick Dog title list. If you think you might want to go for the upper levels of the trick dog titles, double check to see if your trick is listed in one of the upper levels so you can save it for when you test for that title; you can’t use a trick for two titles. For example, if your dog knows “rollover” and you want to use it as a write-in for handler’s choice in novice, even though it is listed in intermediate, you cannot use it as one of your tricks in intermediate if you used it in novice. 

At the novice level, you are allowed to use clickers, food and treats, food lures, hand lures, and toy lures. That is not the case for some of the upper levels, so keep that in mind as you work on trick training with your dog if you are going to want to title at the more advanced levels. Outside of titling, I strongly recommend also working past that and getting some of those behaviors to fluency because they may be foundation blocks for some more advanced tricks you want to teach later on. 

You will need to demonstrate each trick twice. This is true whether you do it in person or via video submission. Make sure you remember to do it twice!!!!

Here is a list of the AKC Novice Trick Dog checklist. If you have your dog’s CGC, you only need to demonstrate 5 of these tricks; if you don’t, then you need to demonstrate 10 tricks. Again, you are allowed 2 handler’s choice tricks. 

The good news is that if you took our Freshman Course, your dog has already learned some of these skills. For example, your dog should know sit or down on a hand cue. Your dog should know a hand target, which is the hand touch trick. If your dog is fluent in sit and down, if you can do that 3 times in a row, you have your “push-ups” trick. If you took our Sophomore Course, then your dog has also learned the “paws up” trick as well. 

In this course, we will teach and demonstrate well over 10 tricks, so you will definitely have some options in what you want to teach your dog, what you want to have evaluated, and you will have some different options for tricks you can use as handler’s choice as well if you would want to have a couple of those tricks demonstrated.