From the AKC.org website:
What is CGC?
At the AKC, we believe that all dogs can be good dogs, and all owners can be great owners: all it takes is a little bit of training, lots of love, and of course, plenty of praise along the way.
That’s why we created the Canine Good Citizen™ (CGC) program: a two-part course designed to help you and your dog be the best you can be–together. Since 1989, over 1 million dogs and their owners have participated in CGC, mastering ten basic skills that instill confidence and good manners in and out of your home.
Not only does CGC training create long-lasting trust between you and your pup, but also ensures you’ll be good neighbors and friends to everyone around you—and, if you’re interested in going beyond the basics, CGC also lays the foundation for other AKC sports and activities like obedience, agility, tracking, and performance events.
From the UKC website:
The SPOT program was developed to reward one’s everyday life with dogs. It is important that not only dogs but their owners as well, set an example for responsible dog ownership in our modern world of increasingly urban and crowded environments.
Learning appropriate behavior while on leash and in the presence of other dogs, and learning basic obedience skills are essential for dog ownership today. The SPOT test consists of 10 separate stations. At each station the dog must perform a basic exercise. These exercises are used to demonstrate that the dog is capable of exhibiting desired behaviors that the general public would expect to see in a well-behaved dog.
