Temperment Testing Puppies

[DogPaddle]

I have heard of variouse methods and reasons for temperment testing puppies.
Cradleing with their feet a few cms of the ground. - Trust, Stability
Tossing a ball to see if they give chase. - Drive
Walking away to see if they follow. - Social Attraction
Pinching skin between toes. - Hardness/Sharpness
Picking up by scruff of neck. - Harndess/Sharpness/Dominance
Pinning on back. - Hardness/Sharpness/Dominance
What do you all feel about these, especially those who have bred, shown extensively, proffessionally trained or rehabilitated dogs?
Do these tests actually prove anything?
Do these tests cause any harm or unnec. suffering to the puppy?

[Prairie_Gurl]

I don't know if they cause any unnessecary harm or not... but I know that when the Seeing Eye Dog place breeds dogs, they do a lot of that stuff plus some other tests to see if they'll be fit for seeing eye dog work.

When Shadow was a puppy I use to pick her up off the ground a little ways, and roll her over on her back. So that she gets to trusting me. Even now, she'll lay on her back when she's in my lap (yep!!!! she stillll fits!!). But, I haven't really thought much on the matter...

[mouseatthebusstop]

we did the rolling and holding on the back with with Paddy and Gladis when they were puppies. I would not do the pinching between the toes sounds cruel :(

[courtnek]

All of them are verified temperament testing, and dont hurt the dog. Of course, there are exceptions. Dont pick up a large puppy by the scruff, that could hurt him if's he heavy, like over 3 months. Rolling them on their back tests them for reactions to dominance and doesnt hurt them.
Like picking them up.

The toe pinching is actually a specific test - there are certain dogs that are what is called "touch sensitive"...and have to handled differently than others. You dont pinch hard, not to cause pain, just enough to see if they will pull away right away or not. Most dogs will tolerate that for 20-25 seconds, a touch sensitive dog will pull away almost immediately. I had never heard of that until getting Freebee. She is touch sensitive. You have to pet her very gently, no heavy rubbing or patting. So you wouldnt want to place a touch sensitive puppy in a home with rowdy children, things like that.

Unlike Alex, who you could roll down a hill and he wouldnt care!! :D

[Marble]

yeah, i thought i was all smart and read stuff in a lot of books about this testing, so i went to the pound and visited dresden........ha ha ha......you know the one where you drop a ring of keys by the puppy to see if they investigate it or if they get scared and run away? well, i thinking this was so ingenious, dropped a big set of keys right behind her and in about a split second she whipped around and grabbed them and tossed them in the air, all she wanted to do was play with them. no fright, no fear, no hesitation........and i got her anyway.......and have been working on her for the last seven months and she is just insane . i really do think those tests have a lot of validity and should be done very carefully and that you should watch the dogs reactions very carefully if you really want to know what you are getting into. you can see A LOT about how a dog will be and react to things using these.

i also used the one where you hold them cradled on their back and she wiggled for forever.......should have known better but i was already stuck on her by then. :D

[Guest Anonymous]

I think there the tests are pretty valid in determining a shy vs more assertive individual in a litter. My standard eskie at 8 weeks was a middle of the road pup in temp testing. He was very curious about new things but somewhat cautious about approaching them. He was a wait and see kind of guy. My mini on the other hand was/is very shy. It took him 8 weeks to play with the puppies in puppy class and was and still is standoffish with strangers. He is not a dog for kids because kids are more forward. At 20 months and 16 months respectively, the original personalities are very much in evidence.

I use the touch sensitivity test when temp testing smaller dogs for placement with younger kids. The object is not to hurt the dog but rather expose it to a slightly uncomfortable stimulus. My toy eskie totally flunked that test but an adoption with a family who had a 6 year old had been approved. He failed in that family within 2 weeks. The little girl's friends tried to play dress up with him and he nipped one of the kids. He plays very nicely with kids but he does have his limits. Since I have no youngsters, he does well in my house and plays with neighbor kids under my direct supervision.

The puppy tests, I believe were to test individuals within a litter. My mini was an orphaned puppymill pup. It is very difficult to determine if his shyness was because he had no littermates and was hand reared. At 13 weeks, he loved to be carried around and was not very sure how to be a dog. He is very bonded to my standard who was 6 months old at the time I got the mini and he learned some "doggy" manners by emulating the behavior of the older pup. We had to teach bite inhabition when it came to people.

[DogPaddle]

Ok so here are Zaphods, just over 4 months, results, tried these tests about an hour ago.

Cradle with feet off the ground a cm or so - hung there for 9 seconds with only a little tiny bit of a foot waggle, after that he squirmed and wiggled and made his annoyed noise.

Toe pinch thing - I don't know if I did this right, I didn't want to hurt him, he never really reacted.

The put him somewhere and walk away thing - he follows.

Loud noises - he's curious.

Rolled or tossed item - he goes to investigate and more or less retrieves it.

Too heavy to pick up by scruff, didn't try it.

Put him on his back - squirms, claws, makes a whole range of noises.

I think he's a pretty outgoing little guy, likes people, good social attraction, not touch sensitive I guess, maybe a bit stubborn or slightly dominent. Just curious really. Anyone else have any insight into his results?

[courtnek]

He's not touch sensitive, in fact probably enjoys being handled and roughed up a little.

He is tolerant of being held, but only for so long. Then tries to assert his independence and be put down.

He is intolerant of being dominated. That's something to watch for. The scruff test is also for willingness to be dominated. This is a pup you will
want to watch for "I'm running this show" behavior. It's easier to train them now than later.

The willingness to follow shows healthy affection for you; he's not shy or afraid. He wants to know where you're going and why

No fear of loud noises shows he feels safe, both with you and confident in himself.


All in all, your pup is confident self assured and somewhat bold. I would watch for the dominance thing, that comes on slowly and before you know it they think they're king.