Temperament tests assess dogs for certain behaviors or suitability for

dog sports Dog sports are sports in which dogs participate. Herding sports * Herding * Sheepdog trial * Treibball Obedience sports * Heelwork to music * Musical canine freestyle * Obedience trial * Rally obedience Protection sports * Schutzhund ...

or adoption from an

animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would ...

by observing the animal for unwanted or potentially dangerous behavioral traits, such as

aggressiveness Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

towards other dogs or humans, shyness, or extreme fear.

AKC Temperament Test

In 2019, the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kenn ...

launched its AKC Temperament Test (ATT), a pass-fail evaluation by AKC licensed or member clubs. Evaluators are specially trained AKC Obedience judges, Rally judges and AKC Approved Canine Good Evaluators.

American Temperament Test Society

American Temperament Test Society, Inc. was started by Alfons Ertel in 1977. Ertel created a test for dogs that checks a dog's reaction to strangers, to auditory and visual stimuli (such as the gun shot test), and to unusual situations in an outdoor setting; it does not test indoor or home situation scenarios. It favors a bold confident dog. , the top three dog breeds that have tested with ATTS are

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered mea ...

(17% of all tests conducted),

German Shepherd Dog The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

(10%), and

Doberman The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany. the breeds cannot be compared against each other because the grades are based on ''each breed's own characteristics''. Despite that, attorneys have been encouraged to use the ATTS published "results by breed" to defend their clients in dangerous dog cases by comparing pass rates of the breed of their client's dog against the pass rates of other well-known non-aggressive pet dog breeds. , 34,686 tests have been completed; less than 1,000 per year.

BH-VT test by FCI

BH-VT, an abbreviation of a German term which roughly translates to "companion dog test with traffic safety part", is governed by rules from

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium. History The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...

(FCI). The BH-VT has become the prerequisite examination for entry into almost all

in Europe that require off-leash work, such as Schutzhund/IPO/IGP,

agility Agility or nimbleness is an ability to change the body's list of human positions, position quickly and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance (ability), balance, coordination (physiology), coordination ...

and

flyball Flyball is a dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from the start to the finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their ha ...

. It is not required for

conformation show A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a ''breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs ''c ...

s where dogs are always on leash. Dogs must be at least 12 months old (older for some breeds). There are two portions: obedience and traffic. For the obedience portion, each of the following are part of the test: heeling on leash, heeling off leash, sit exercise, down with recall, down under distraction. The traffic portion includes tests for encountering a group of people, bicyclists, cars, joggers, other dogs, and being tethered for a short period alone without its handler, and walking through a group of people that are moving. Aggression towards other dogs is at all times forbidden in FCI events, and any bite or attempt to bite or attack a human or other dog will immediately disqualify a dog. Any aggression towards another dog will ''permanently disqualify'' a dog from any participation until it has proven itself through passing a repeat BH-VT with behavioral test. An earlier version of the test was called simply "BH", and it was

Schutzhund Schutzhund (/'ʃʊtshʊnt/, German for "protection dog"), currently known competitively as IGP and previously as IPO, is a dog sport that tests a dog's tracking, obedience, and protection skills, and evaluates if a dog has the appropriate trait ...

's preliminary test that all dogs must pass before going further in Schutzhund training. With the increase in (non-

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

) dog sports for all breeds, the new BH-VT omits the "gun shy" test, which was instead moved to the next higher level of Schutzhund trials.

Canine Good Citizen by AKC

The Canine Good Citizen by the American Kennel Club tests for good behavior in a companion dog. Over 1 million dogs and their owners have participated in CGC since it was started in 1989 (over 30,000 dogs per year).

Puppy aptitude tests

There are numerous puppy aptitude and temperament tests which are used by buyers when selecting a puppy and by breeders when evaluating a litter of puppies.

Shelter evaluations

Shelters use temperament tests to help identify dogs with problem

behaviors Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well ...

, including

aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

, and to help to increase the rate of successful adoptions. For some, these tests are a way to determine if a dog should even be offered for adoption, or to whom they will restrict an adoption of an individual dog (adult-only household or

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

only, versus family with children). In a time when shelters are trying to improve outcomes for shelter animals, some consider temperament tests to be controversial and result in too many dogs being labeled negatively, leading to

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. As such, some shelters have discontinued using any form of testing for their dogs. Such tests seek to assess a dog's manners, its reaction to strangers, small children and other pets. The tests try to identify if a dog has problems with food aggression, resource guarding, or

separation anxiety Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home and/or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment (e.g., a parent, caregiver ...

. Tools used for evaluations might include a

leash A leash (also called a lead, lead line or tether) is a rope or similar material used to control an animal by attaching it to a collar, harness, or halter. In British English, a leash is generally for a larger (possibly dangerous or aggressive ...

, bowl of food, a lifelike doll, a fake arm, and dog treats or toys.

Assess-a-Pet and Assess-a-Hand

The Assess-a-Pet Temperament Test involves use of the Assess-a-Hand, a vinyl or latex mock hand and arm mounted on a wooden dowel, used to avoid bites to the tester who uses it to approach, pet, and then pull away a bowl or toy from the dog. The device was invented by Sue Sternberg. The test is typically given after a certain number of days at a shelter, with retesting after a failure, and additionally after resolution of illness.

Match-Up II Shelter Dog Rehoming Program

This test requires two people: a handler and a recorder. It has 11 sub-tests and the answers are placed in a computer program. It was designed to "help shelters learn about the personality and needs of each dog so that behavioral interventions can be implemented and successful matches can be made."

SAFER Test

SAFER (Safety Assessment for Evaluating Rehoming) by the

ASPCA The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...

is used to "help identify the risk of future aggression and individual behavioral support needed before adoption for each dog in a shelter."

Wolfhound testing

Temperament testing in

wolfhounds Wolf hunting with dogs is a method of wolf hunting which relies on the use of hunting dogs. While any dog, especially a hound used for hunting wolves may be loosely termed a "wolfhound", several dog breeds have been specifically bred for the purp ...

is an old and proven form of a mild dog fighting used in young dogs to test their temperament. For example, an American standard for an Irish Wolfhound is defined as "a large, rough-coated, greyhound-like dog, fast enough to catch a wolf and strong enough to kill it." It states that "the breed's well-being demands strong, gentle hounds, never aggressive or shy, not even "edgy" ones. Edgy hounds are presently under control, but without their handler's constant control would surely at least retreat, or perhaps manifest worse characteristics of the weak temperament." Typically it is practiced with larger

breeds A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

known in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

as волкодав (literally: dogs meant for the hunting of

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

). These large breeds (such as

Caucasian Shepherd The Caucasian Shepherd Dog or Caucasian Ovcharka is a large livestock guardian dog native to the countries of the Caucasus region, notably Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ossetia, and Dagestan. It was developed in the Soviet Union from about 192 ...

) in Russia undergo the testing called тестовые испытания волкодавов (i.e. testing/examination of dogs meant for hunting wolves). The breeders believe that males used for breeding have to have preserved fighting ability and dominant tendencies because it is a typical mark of their breed. They also believe that weak dogs without fighting abilities will cause a decrease in quality of the breed. As part of the test,

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, or ...

s release two young

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s and let them behave naturally even if they begin to fight. If the fight looks dangerous, the breeders pull the dogs off each other to prevent their injury. If one of the participating dogs shows fear from the other dog and displays no dominant tendencies, he is removed from breeding to ensure his weak nature is not passed on to his descendants.

Notes

References

{{Domestic dog Animal emotions Ethology