How to Prepare an AKC Novice Trick Dog Video Evaluation

Direct answer: prepare evidence an evaluator can actually review

To prepare an AKC Novice Trick Dog video evaluation, choose the correct current checklist, confirm your dog’s identification and any CGC credit, agree on submission arrangements with an AKC-approved CGC Evaluator, and record the required behaviors clearly. Keep the performance footage, trick list and dog details organized so that the evaluator can tell what is being demonstrated without guessing.

This guide concerns preparing a video evaluation package, not entering the separate annual Trick Dog competition or automatically obtaining a title. It does not teach every trick or assess an individual dog’s readiness. The independent cover is an illustrative recording-preparation scene, not an official evaluation photograph. No evaluator is contacted, application submitted or payment made through this article.

1. Separate the Novice title from the annual competition

The official AKC Trick Dog program page describes both in-person and virtual testing through approved CGC Evaluators. For Novice, the usual requirement is ten listed tricks. A CGC certificate or title already on record at AKC can count toward five, leaving five additional tricks. The page also states that dogs need an appropriate AKC number and that titles are awarded no earlier than four months of age.

The same program page can display an annual competition announcement. That announcement is a different task from obtaining your first Novice title. Do not copy a competition deadline or entry form into a personal titling checklist simply because both involve videos.

Write the purpose at the top of your preparation sheet: Novice Trick Dog title evaluation by video. This simple label helps when searching for forms or discussing arrangements. If your actual goal is a competition entry, stop and review those specific rules rather than assuming the workflow below covers it.

2. Assemble the right reference set before choosing tricks

Open the official Trick Dog applications page and follow its links to the Novice checklist and participant/evaluator guide. Save the documents you are using with a retrieval date. A search engine may also surface an older form whose shorthand differs from the currently linked version.

In our check, the guide linked by AKC was dated March 12, 2026. The currently linked checklist was the Novice sheet, not the separate March 2024 PDF also visible in search. This matters because a familiar trick name does not necessarily communicate its complete current performance requirements.

Use one working reference set rather than mixing several saved copies. If you find a discrepancy between a checklist’s short label and the detailed guide, identify it before filming and seek clarification. Do not silently choose the easier interpretation or combine pieces of different versions into a requirement that no official source actually states.

Keep a separate page for your own recording notes. Camera position, a room layout and a file name are preparation choices, not new AKC rules. Marking that distinction prevents a useful personal workflow from being mistaken for an official technical standard.

3. Check the dog record and the CGC route

The official Trick Dog FAQ identifies AKC registration, PAL and Canine Partners as numbering routes. Locate the record that belongs to your dog before transcribing a number. A microchip number, a local dog-license number and a registry identification number are different identifiers; do not substitute one merely because it is easy to find.

If you intend to use CGC credit, confirm that the certificate or title is on the relevant AKC record. Being comfortable with foundation behaviors at home is not the same as having that credential recorded. Keep your evidence of the record with the application materials, rather than trying to establish it from memory after filming.

If the record is unresolved, write the gap down and clarify the appropriate route before claiming credit. This guide does not select a registration route for an individual dog or submit a new number application. Resolving identity first can prevent a well-organized video package from carrying inconsistent dog details.

Use the same dog name consistently in your personal index and documents. Preserve the exact official identifier in the private application file, while keeping it out of optional public video titles. Public discoverability is not necessary for organizing the work on your own device.

4. Choose behaviors by the full requirement, not their nicknames

The currently linked Novice checklist offers a choice of listed skills, including distinctions such as getting into a box and sitting in a box on cue. It includes evaluator fields and a video-testing checkbox. It also directs the owner to send the completed sheet with the title application, while the evaluator returns the completed checklist to the owner.

Build a working table with the official trick label, the guide location, what must be visible and whether the skill is ready to record. Avoid writing only a household cue such as do your thing. The evaluator needs to identify the requested behavior, not decode a family nickname.

Choose skills appropriate to your dog and existing training. There is no reason to select a movement that is unsuitable simply because it looks impressive on camera. Seek individual instruction where needed, and do not improvise physical exercises to make a submission longer or more entertaining.

If you want to use a behavior outside the named list, discuss its status before counting it. A clever variation is not automatically an additional accepted trick. Keep unresolved choices separate from the set you believe is ready, so your total does not depend on an assumption.

5. Read the Novice allowances and the exceptions

The March 12, 2026 participant and evaluator guide permits food or toy lures at Novice unless a particular trick says otherwise, and permits food reinforcement and clickers. For the hand-signal trick, however, its description excludes lures and verbal cues. The guide also contains behavior-specific distances, durations and repetitions that a checklist name alone may not reveal.

This distinction is worth resolving before you record. Make a small note beside each selected behavior about the relevant allowance or exception, then verify it against the actual description. Do not transfer a rule from Rally, CGC or a higher Trick Dog level simply because you have used it elsewhere.

The guide states a general one-performance approach with evaluator discretion to request another demonstration, while individual descriptions include exceptions. Consequently, this article does not give a blanket one-repetition instruction for every trick. Show the full required behavior and ask about any uncertainty before editing your final package.

Treat rule questions and training questions differently. The guide can explain what is evaluated; an instructor observing your team can help you teach it. A camera cannot repair an incomplete skill, and repeatedly recording the same confusion is unlikely to make the requirement clearer.

6. Agree on the delivery arrangement before a long recording session

AKC’s Trick Dog terminology guide explains that virtual evaluation involves sending performance video to a CGC Evaluator, who reviews it and returns a signed checklist when the level is passed. It distinguishes that evaluation from the owner’s subsequent title application to AKC.

Before preparing large files, confirm that your chosen approved evaluator accepts virtual submissions and ask for their current delivery instructions. Clarify whether they want a combined video or separate clips, how they want tricks identified, any file or access requirements and how questions are handled. This guide has not verified a universal video length, upload limit, mandatory orientation or editing rule.

Also establish what any evaluator fee covers and how it differs from AKC title processing. Do not assume a service arrangement or payment merely by finding a name online. You remain responsible for deciding whether to use that service; no third-party contact or purchase is performed here.

Write the agreed instructions in your own checklist and retain the source. If something changes, update that checklist before creating another version of the package. Clear delivery expectations can prevent unnecessary refilming or repeated uploads without creating a new performance standard.

7. Frame each demonstration so the whole task is visible

Set up a short camera check without asking your dog to perform a full sequence. Look at the footage on the device you will use to review it. Can you see the relevant body movement, the handler’s cue and any object involved? A clip that looks adequate on a small preview may conceal the important action near an edge.

For a task involving distance or duration, plan how the evaluator will be able to assess that requirement. Do not rely on an attractive close-up when the relevant space disappears outside the frame. Ask for guidance if the available room or camera angle cannot show the full exercise honestly.

Use a stable recording position and a suitable, uncluttered area. Keep unnecessary people and private documents out of the frame. An ordinary phone may be sufficient to make a useful recording, but this article does not certify a particular device, resolution or filming setup.

Separate an unclear recording from an unclear performance. If the camera misses the action, solve the framing issue before asking for another attempt. If the skill itself is not ready, return to appropriate training. Neither problem is improved by adding titles, music or dramatic transitions.

8. Keep the package truthful and easy to navigate

Maintain an index that connects each proposed trick to its file and, if useful, its starting point within a longer recording. Use neutral file names that make the sequence understandable. The index is a convenience for review, not permission to omit the performance that the evaluator needs to see.

Follow the evaluator’s stated editing rules. Do not splice parts of different attempts together to make an incomplete behavior appear continuous or remove an essential cue from view. A clearly labeled clip should still be a faithful record of what happened. Where a new recording is needed, retain a clear version history so that you do not accidentally send the older one.

Check access using the delivery method you agreed upon, without making private information public unnecessarily. Confirm that the intended recipient can view the actual file, rather than only seeing a thumbnail or a request-access page. Keep your original recordings until the process is resolved.

Limit the package to relevant material. Extra footage of unrelated behavior can make it harder to find the required demonstrations. Completeness means the evaluator can assess every selected trick, not that the video contains every practice session you filmed.

9. Keep evaluator approval and AKC processing separate

After review, check that the returned checklist identifies the correct dog and level and includes the evaluator’s required details. If an item is unclear or another demonstration is requested, address that issue directly. Do not alter an evaluator’s signature or mark yourself approved because you believe a recording meets the requirement.

The applications page offers AKC’s Title Application Portal and emphasizes the title application together with the relevant checklist. Use its current instructions when you are ready to apply. This guide does not reproduce portal screens, submit private information or promise a processing time or fee that will remain unchanged.

Save a private completion folder containing your final index, the submitted footage, the returned checklist and any application confirmation. Record what has actually happened: footage prepared, evaluation completed, application submitted or title recorded. Keeping these stages distinct avoids announcing an official title before its record is established.

FAQ: preparing a Novice Trick Dog video

Must my dog already have CGC? No. The standard route uses the required Novice tricks; CGC credit is available when the qualifying record exists. Do not assume home training counts as recorded CGC.

Can I choose any ten entertaining behaviors? Use the current accepted list and guide, and clarify any proposed handler-choice behavior. Different names do not automatically make a variation a separate trick.

Is there one video format everyone must use? No universal technical specification was verified for this guide. Agree on the current arrangement with the approved evaluator before producing large files.

Does a submitted video mean a title was earned? No. Evaluation and official application processing are separate steps. Keep the status of each accurate.

What if the dog needs more preparation? Pause filming and work with suitable instruction. This workflow organizes evidence; it cannot guarantee readiness, suitability or a passing result.