Test Proves Some Dogs Have Obedience Licked : Training: Only three of 28 fail program that includes biggest challenge: Sitting quietly on a hill.

After winning a certificate recognizing him as a well-behaved dog, Luke, a 3-year-old Labrador-beagle mix, smiled broadly, his pink tongue dangling out the side of his panting mouth.

For Luke, a veteran of obedience school, Saturday’s second annual Canine Good Citizenship Test was old hat--practically.

“You never know what he’ll do next,” said Luke’s owner, Cindy Campbell of Ojai, shaking her head at the short, blond dog who was sitting peacefully on the lawn at Camino Real Park.

“He doesn’t stay very well,” Campbell said. “He eats the cat food. He’s very good at chasing the chickens. . . . (But) he really has added another dimension in our family. He’s really one of us.”

Luke was one of 28 dogs who, aside from the occasional slip into bad-dog behavior, demonstrated remarkably good comportment while being led through a series of obedience tests at the daylong event sponsored by the Ventura County Dog Fanciers Assn.

Only three dogs failed the test by barking or not listening to their owners’ commands.

“It’s a unique program that helps owners make good citizens out of their dogs,” said Betty Burnell, an organizer of the event who has taught dog obedience classes through the Ventura Parks and Recreation department for 12 years.

Burnell defined a canine good citizen as a dog that “makes its owner happy without making anyone else unhappy.”

The good-citizenship test was developed by the American Kennel Club in 1989 to recognize good behavior in both purebreds and mutts, Burnell said. Dogs are judged by how well they can obey commands, such as walking on a leash, sitting and staying.

“It’s not a formal obedience training, but just to show that a dog can behave,” explained Simi Valley resident Rosalie Anderson, president of the Ventura County Dog Fanciers Assn. and an American Kennel Club judge. In order to receive a good-citizenship certificate, dogs have to welcome being groomed and handled by a stranger, walk on a loose lead around a course of orange traffic cones and, in what appeared to be the most difficult test for some of Saturday’s competitors, be left alone on a grassy hill while not barking, whining or pacing.

Ten-year-old Candice Schlunegger of Ojai was worried her fluffy gray Tibetan terrier mix, Waggner, would fail this part of the exam.

“He always barks at home,” she said. But Waggner passed, and proudly chomped on his red leash after he and Candice accepted their certificate, ribbon and collar medallion.

Candice was one of eight youngsters from the Loma Vista and Miramonte 4-H clubs who escorted their pooches through the test. They were joined by 20 adults, a mixed bag of serious and casual dog owners.

“We’re here for fun and doggie socialization,” said Wendy Schustack of Ventura, who brought two dogs to be tested, a purebred German shepherd named Von Rollo and a Rhodesian ridgeback-pit bull mix called Guy.

Schustack and her Ventura-based dog trainer, Sheila Foutch, hoped to expose Guy to a low-key obedience test that wasn’t restricted only to purebreds. “We wanted to come here and see what needed to be done,” Foutch said of Guy’s training. Both women said dog owners need to take the time to train their pets.

“All dogs should go through obedience training,” Schustack said. “They’re animals and they’re unpredictable.”

Longtime dog-show judges Dolly and Robert Ward brought their purebred Samoyed, Varmi, to the event so she could brush up on her obedience training.

“I thought, if she doesn’t pass I’ll be a laughingstock,” 74-year-old Dolly Ward said. Because the Hidden Hills couple travel frequently to judge dog shows around the world, they make an effort to take Varmi to public events whenever possible. “She likes to do things and I don’t want her to be alone.”

Ventura resident Mary Thue and her sheltie, Topaz, are novices at obedience competitions.

“This is his first good citizen and we did well,” Thue said. “I want to train him to be in competition.”

Thue said she intends to frame Topaz’s certificate.

“Why not?” she asked, petting Topaz on the head. “It’s proof that he’s a good dog.”