Does anyone have any experience with this puppy aptitude testing?

ttddinh

http://landofpuregold.com/puptest.htm

**There are some statements regarding dominance that I am not so sure I agree with**

Calia

From what I've heard, a lot of these puppy aptitude tests are somewhat inaccurate as a puppy can get different scores depending on age, environment, and even how they feel that day. If you want to use an aptitude test, I'd suggest finding several different locations and testing them several times in each location as they grow, and see if there is a score trend for each pup.

Tikaani's breeder used a similar puppy aptitude test on the litter and he scored mostly 4's with some 5's. She had stated that when showing a dog, you want mostly 1's and 2's as those kinds of dogs supposedly can show more pizazz and better able to handle the stress from being in the show ring. 4's and 5's are better suited for pet homes, as they supposedly tend to be more mellow and easier for a pet owner to handle.

Either way, no matter how they test, they could still wind up totally the opposite of what they scored. Sometimes, life experiences can have a big affect on a dog's personality and no matter how prepared you try to be and how cautious you are, there are always unexpected surprises.

CrimsonO2

I think the word has all of us soured on the concept overall. However, with the description of the tests, I think the use of the word is overkill for the sake of trying to consistently use a concept in . If I were to replace the word "dominance" with "imposition" or "assertion" I'm more comfortable with the statements made on the tests.

Jesse

BradA1878

@ttddinh - I am still reading over the other one you posted, which is why I have not commented yet.

I generally am not a fan of these tests, I don't like labeling dogs - and I especially don't like to label puppies. If I see a pup is acting a bit more shy than other pups, it's a sign we need to work with that pup more - not label them as "shy". That's just an example, but it applies to all the other label people place on dogs/puppies. This is why I can't buy into this type of thing...

However, having written that, I don't think puppy tests hurt puppies - and if it helps a breeder work with their pups more then I don't see an issue with it.

Here is a video you may find interesting on the subject...





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atlas

Curious - does anyone know how puppy temperament tests measure "pain tolerance?" My husband and I visited a presa canario breeder who had traveled to get a litter of puppies temperament tested by someone who is supposedly well-known and has been on tv (I don't remember her name but of course as CM has shown us, being on tv means very little by way of credentials), but my husband and I found it kind of alarming that they tested for pain tolerance (though we figured that when some people look for that kind of breed they want that in a puppy - but we just wanted to see happy, well-adjusted puppies). The paper did not explain how they went about testing for it, and we did not decide to purchase a pup from that breeder so we did not ask.

Also, for what it's worth, I found that the temperament paperwork was kind of unnecessary - we were able to get a sense of the kinds of pups that they were by observing them in their environment with the breeder and his children. Spending an hour there told us more about the puppies than the paper did (I found the statements to be overgeneralized and the conclusion was basically, "These dogs would do well in an experienced home," which is the recommendation for presa canarios in general). But, that was just us/our experience.