ATTS- First Kai Ken to pass!
This weekend, I entered my kai Matsu in the American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) test being offered at a dog show in Massachusetts. www.atts.org This test is administered by a national organization and doesn't come around very often (it's only offered every other year at this dog show, and isn't offered in the region much more often by anybody.) The test is based on a similar test that is used in certain countries' dog registration organizations (I only remember Mexico off the top of my head...) to test dogs- regardless of show wins, a dog cannot become a Champion if it cannot pass this test under those registries. No US (or Japanese) registries require this test, but in American Akita circles it's frequently taken. ( I should also note that there is 1 shiba inu listed in the passing dogs list, too! 
) Most of the dogs taking the test were of the protection/protection sports breeds and pit bulls, but not all- an American Eskimo went next after us. I think the test is really for ANY dog, but the protection/bullies crowd know about it and seek it out. Like I said- the test isnt offered very often.
The test is a 10 station exercise with friendly/neutral/threatening features and a panel of three judges score the dog's reaction to each one. Failing any single station, fails the complete test, no matter how ideally the dog completes the other 9 stations. Judges take into account the breed function, training and age of each dog, and you need to write down on your entry form a couple of adjectives describing his individual personality and how he is feeling today. An experienced schutzhund malinois is not going to pass the same way a pet basset hound will- they are expected to react differently.
So the first thing- before any stations, actually- is that you come to the start line and the head judge comes out to have a few words. If the dog is reactive to him, it fails and is dismissed right away. Our head judge was the president of ATTS, and he reminded me a lot of Dr Zoidberg from Futurama, which put me at ease right away A curious->friendly but not obnoxious reaction is best, but mild interest is okay, avoidance is penalized, aggression fails.
Overall, the handler is not allowed to speak to the dog at all- no Let's go, nothing. You may look at the dog, you may speak to 2 specific objects ( a bucket and an umbrella), but no talking, no petting/comforting and no leash-directing. Dogs need to be on a loose 6 foot leash with a secure collar, like a slip or limited slip. Matsu wore his martingale and I used his long leather leash that Osy made. The idea is that you are with your dog, but allowing him to react as naturally as possible to each station on his own, and not direct him or coddle him.
Station 1 you stop at a line and are approached by a boring stranger who ignores the dog, shakes my hand and chats with me (kinda like CGC)
Station 2 same deal as 1, except this is a stranger who is specifically friendly to the dog. They must pet him below the head first and then be able to pat along his back. The dog should be friendly, curious and calm.
Station 3 "The Bucket"- a person behind a screen rattles a steel chain around in a metal bucket as you walk to the line and places the bucket at the line. The dog is expected to be a bit surprised by the sudden loud noise but to eventually investigate the bucket. If the dog is not investigating the bucket on his own, the judge will ask you to speak to the bucket- do not look at the dog. Matsu faced away from the bucket but when I checked it out and stuck my hand in, he came over to see too.
Station 4 another screen- a person behind a screen fires a blank pistol *shot!* pause *shot! shot!*-depending on training and breed function, a dog may be expected to take little notice of the shots or to startle and recover. He shouldnt show flight and bolting behavior, but a startle or avoidance at first may be okay for most dogs. A hunting or protection breed is expected to shrug "no big deal" Matsu was surprised that this was happening here out of context but his surprise was mild and he just looked up at me. I smiled at him and kept my mouth shut and tried to radiate approval.
Station 5 was to approach the next line as a person pops open an umbrella and lays it on the ground. The dog is expected to say "What the heck?" and step back but to investigate to 1 or 2 inches from touching the umbrella. check- exactly that.
Station 6 was a sheet of plastic on the ground- both you and the dog walk together across the crinkly surface. The dog should stay on the plastic.
Station 7 is similar, except the surface is wire- an expen unfolded and laying on the ground- only the dog walks on it. They expect you to shorten the leash (all of this test needs to be loose leash- you can't be flying the dog like a kite all over the course) You are allowed 3 attempts if the dog steps off- obviously 1 attempt is ideal. Some dogs avoid grates like drains and so forth more common in the city, but we actually have a grate over a muddy area on one of the trails we frequent, so this wasn't really new to Mountain Man Matsu, though he IS used to being able to chose whether to walk on the grate or go around off leash (or stop and get a drink mid-crossing) so he did step off, and we reattempted. fine!
Station 8, 9 and 10 are related. You walk up to a line and stand sideways with the dog on a loose leash wherever he wants to be and a man acting drunk and walking funny steps out from behind a screen but stays 20 (?) feet away. The "bogey-man" is wearing baggy clothes/poncho and big hat and waving a stick- he doesn't look at the dog but mumbles and staggers around. There is an optional extra slip leash- very heavy duty- that you can add as a second leash if your dog is really big and may bolt.
for #9, the man approaches to 12 feet, behaving similarly
for #10 the bogeyman looks hard at the dog and yells at him "Get off my lawn!!" etc, etc... and whacks the ground with the stick three times.
A dog is expected to judge the threat of this man- certain breeds are expected to move toward the man and display a defensive reaction once the man becomes threatening, not merely odd. Kai are not one of those breeds. Matsu thought the guy was odd, but just watched him, when he approached, Matsu looked away and walked behind me, but did not freak out, cling or go to the end of his leash. When the man threatened us, Matsu was surprised but circled back around me between me and the guy and then looked up at me, I smiled and nodded and he walked back to my side, away from the guy, who staggered back to his screen.
Finally, you go sit in the Waiting Chair while the judges compare scores and thoughts, then the Chief Tester approaches you and the dog at the chair and gives their critique and lets you know if you passed or failed. At the chair, while waiting, you can now talk to the dog and pet him and tell him he did great, etc., but you arent really out of the woods yet- because the dog has just been exposed to stress, the judge's approach at this time is also a factor- the dog should still be neutral->friendly to him. If the dog wigs out at the approach of the judge post-stress, he gets tossed.
I was proud of Matsu because I thought he reacted as I expected at all 10 stations, and just right for his age and heritage, and being a hunting dog with some gunwork over him, but I was not sure if we missed on any technicalities (I had accidentally said Lets go when we left a station, and we did have to do the grate walk again, and I didn't know if the judge knew what to expect of a kai- though I had mailed in the breed standard and description as requested with our reg form, but if he had done the exact wrong amount of research he could easily find silly hype about kai on the internet, using the words "guardian" and "protector" and "give their life for their master", which are NOT appropriate ways to judge a kai ken at this test.) Happily, we got the thumbs up! and he told me that Matsu behaved like a hunting dog should, maybe a bit reserved. I thanked him and he gave Matsu a pat, and we left that riding ring feeling quite proud of ourselves.
The ATTS test is not really about the same stuff as a CGC- there is no dog-dog component, and not as much social stuff- in Juno's CGCA, she had to Leave It for example, and do some obedience things like recall, stay, sit, etc. ATTS is designed to be a test of reactivity and recovery and judging correctly whether situations require action and what the action should be, or simply are nonthreatening or threatening, and whether the dog can control his hind brain/front brain toggle switch- which is not to be taken for granted in Kai. It is not a measure of protective effectiveness of a dog, either, even though a lot of protection dogs go out for it. I have 2 CGCs and a CGCA in my pack but Matsu is the only dog of my 4 who could pass ATTS. Reilly would do well, but surely fail the gunshots station.
Reflecting on this experience, and thinking about how much we talk about nature (capacity for a trait), nurture (degree of realization of that trait's potential due to training and environment), I found actually going through this that the third and certainly equal factor really is relationship. The test would be different if he was just loose in the ring, or if a neutral tester handled him. Whatever way he initially reacted to a station was followed in short order by checking in with ME- since I was not allowed to speak to him during the test at all- he'd react (+/- or not-much) and then look up at me- so I just met his gaze and smiled and tried to transmit approval and calmness. He is not a protection dog- he is a *hunting* dog, and that means a partner, and I saw how his ATTS reflected that in every encounter- it is not his job to take command of the situation for me, nor to ditch me and run for it. His job is to communicate/work *with* me to understand and act together, and I think he was a great Kai Ken in his test.
so, with that explanation complete- it is with pride that I announce Yamabushi no Kanjiki Matsumori-Go CGC TT- the only Kai Ken, and hopefully the first of many to come! -who has passed the ATTS and earned 50 points for Gryffindor.
) Most of the dogs taking the test were of the protection/protection sports breeds and pit bulls, but not all- an American Eskimo went next after us. I think the test is really for ANY dog, but the protection/bullies crowd know about it and seek it out. Like I said- the test isnt offered very often.The test is a 10 station exercise with friendly/neutral/threatening features and a panel of three judges score the dog's reaction to each one. Failing any single station, fails the complete test, no matter how ideally the dog completes the other 9 stations. Judges take into account the breed function, training and age of each dog, and you need to write down on your entry form a couple of adjectives describing his individual personality and how he is feeling today. An experienced schutzhund malinois is not going to pass the same way a pet basset hound will- they are expected to react differently.
So the first thing- before any stations, actually- is that you come to the start line and the head judge comes out to have a few words. If the dog is reactive to him, it fails and is dismissed right away. Our head judge was the president of ATTS, and he reminded me a lot of Dr Zoidberg from Futurama, which put me at ease right away
A curious->friendly but not obnoxious reaction is best, but mild interest is okay, avoidance is penalized, aggression fails. Overall, the handler is not allowed to speak to the dog at all- no Let's go, nothing. You may look at the dog, you may speak to 2 specific objects ( a bucket and an umbrella), but no talking, no petting/comforting and no leash-directing. Dogs need to be on a loose 6 foot leash with a secure collar, like a slip or limited slip. Matsu wore his martingale and I used his long leather leash that Osy made. The idea is that you are with your dog, but allowing him to react as naturally as possible to each station on his own, and not direct him or coddle him.
Station 1 you stop at a line and are approached by a boring stranger who ignores the dog, shakes my hand and chats with me (kinda like CGC)
Station 2 same deal as 1, except this is a stranger who is specifically friendly to the dog. They must pet him below the head first and then be able to pat along his back. The dog should be friendly, curious and calm.
Station 3 "The Bucket"- a person behind a screen rattles a steel chain around in a metal bucket as you walk to the line and places the bucket at the line. The dog is expected to be a bit surprised by the sudden loud noise but to eventually investigate the bucket. If the dog is not investigating the bucket on his own, the judge will ask you to speak to the bucket- do not look at the dog. Matsu faced away from the bucket but when I checked it out and stuck my hand in, he came over to see too.
Station 4 another screen- a person behind a screen fires a blank pistol *shot!* pause *shot! shot!*-depending on training and breed function, a dog may be expected to take little notice of the shots or to startle and recover. He shouldnt show flight and bolting behavior, but a startle or avoidance at first may be okay for most dogs. A hunting or protection breed is expected to shrug "no big deal" Matsu was surprised that this was happening here out of context but his surprise was mild and he just looked up at me. I smiled at him and kept my mouth shut and tried to radiate approval.
Station 5 was to approach the next line as a person pops open an umbrella and lays it on the ground. The dog is expected to say "What the heck?" and step back but to investigate to 1 or 2 inches from touching the umbrella. check- exactly that.
Station 6 was a sheet of plastic on the ground- both you and the dog walk together across the crinkly surface. The dog should stay on the plastic.
Station 7 is similar, except the surface is wire- an expen unfolded and laying on the ground- only the dog walks on it. They expect you to shorten the leash (all of this test needs to be loose leash- you can't be flying the dog like a kite all over the course) You are allowed 3 attempts if the dog steps off- obviously 1 attempt is ideal. Some dogs avoid grates like drains and so forth more common in the city, but we actually have a grate over a muddy area on one of the trails we frequent, so this wasn't really new to Mountain Man Matsu, though he IS used to being able to chose whether to walk on the grate or go around off leash (or stop and get a drink mid-crossing) so he did step off, and we reattempted. fine!
Station 8, 9 and 10 are related. You walk up to a line and stand sideways with the dog on a loose leash wherever he wants to be and a man acting drunk and walking funny steps out from behind a screen but stays 20 (?) feet away. The "bogey-man" is wearing baggy clothes/poncho and big hat and waving a stick- he doesn't look at the dog but mumbles and staggers around. There is an optional extra slip leash- very heavy duty- that you can add as a second leash if your dog is really big and may bolt.
for #9, the man approaches to 12 feet, behaving similarly
for #10 the bogeyman looks hard at the dog and yells at him "Get off my lawn!!" etc, etc... and whacks the ground with the stick three times.
A dog is expected to judge the threat of this man- certain breeds are expected to move toward the man and display a defensive reaction once the man becomes threatening, not merely odd. Kai are not one of those breeds.
Matsu thought the guy was odd, but just watched him, when he approached, Matsu looked away and walked behind me, but did not freak out, cling or go to the end of his leash. When the man threatened us, Matsu was surprised but circled back around me between me and the guy and then looked up at me, I smiled and nodded and he walked back to my side, away from the guy, who staggered back to his screen.Finally, you go sit in the Waiting Chair while the judges compare scores and thoughts, then the Chief Tester approaches you and the dog at the chair and gives their critique and lets you know if you passed or failed. At the chair, while waiting, you can now talk to the dog and pet him and tell him he did great, etc., but you arent really out of the woods yet- because the dog has just been exposed to stress, the judge's approach at this time is also a factor- the dog should still be neutral->friendly to him. If the dog wigs out at the approach of the judge post-stress, he gets tossed.
I was proud of Matsu because I thought he reacted as I expected at all 10 stations, and just right for his age and heritage, and being a hunting dog with some gunwork over him, but I was not sure if we missed on any technicalities (I had accidentally said Lets go when we left a station, and we did have to do the grate walk again, and I didn't know if the judge knew what to expect of a kai- though I had mailed in the breed standard and description as requested with our reg form, but if he had done the exact wrong amount of research he could easily find silly hype about kai on the internet, using the words "guardian" and "protector" and "give their life for their master", which are NOT appropriate ways to judge a kai ken at this test.) Happily, we got the thumbs up! and he told me that Matsu behaved like a hunting dog should, maybe a bit reserved. I thanked him and he gave Matsu a pat, and we left that riding ring feeling quite proud of ourselves.
The ATTS test is not really about the same stuff as a CGC- there is no dog-dog component, and not as much social stuff- in Juno's CGCA, she had to Leave It for example, and do some obedience things like recall, stay, sit, etc. ATTS is designed to be a test of reactivity and recovery and judging correctly whether situations require action and what the action should be, or simply are nonthreatening or threatening, and whether the dog can control his hind brain/front brain toggle switch- which is not to be taken for granted in Kai. It is not a measure of protective effectiveness of a dog, either, even though a lot of protection dogs go out for it. I have 2 CGCs and a CGCA in my pack but Matsu is the only dog of my 4 who could pass ATTS. Reilly would do well, but surely fail the gunshots station.
Reflecting on this experience, and thinking about how much we talk about nature (capacity for a trait), nurture (degree of realization of that trait's potential due to training and environment), I found actually going through this that the third and certainly equal factor really is relationship. The test would be different if he was just loose in the ring, or if a neutral tester handled him. Whatever way he initially reacted to a station was followed in short order by checking in with ME- since I was not allowed to speak to him during the test at all- he'd react (+/- or not-much) and then look up at me- so I just met his gaze and smiled and tried to transmit approval and calmness. He is not a protection dog- he is a *hunting* dog, and that means a partner, and I saw how his ATTS reflected that in every encounter- it is not his job to take command of the situation for me, nor to ditch me and run for it. His job is to communicate/work *with* me to understand and act together, and I think he was a great Kai Ken in his test.
so, with that explanation complete- it is with pride that I announce Yamabushi no Kanjiki Matsumori-Go CGC TT- the only Kai Ken, and hopefully the first of many to come! -who has passed the ATTS and earned 50 points for Gryffindor.
Comments
That test sounds fascinating. I'll have to look around for an opportunity to watch one. Thanks so much for the write-up and experience since I definitely didn't know what that test was about.
Matsu is such a wonderful Kai! Are there any mini-Matsus yet?
I also want to do this with the Kishu next time it's offered. Good job setting a good precedent! Congratulations, again!
haha, I'm pretty sure Meitou and I would fail. One of us would mess something up.
I don't know that Leo would do well with this. I don't know that he'd try to bolt--though the might--but the bigger thing is, loose leash? What's that? He does tend to just go still if alarmed (unless it is a horse!) so maybe? But I think he's a long way from doing this.
Thanks for sharing your experiences though--it's so cool to hear about Matsu's successes, and to get a sense of what the test is like!
This might actually be something that Bella would excel at, especially since there is no dog-dog component. The only part that has me worried is the walking on plastic (she HATES plastic bags). Nola, on the other hand, would be a mess if I entertained the notion of her doing it. I can just imagine her reaction to the umbrella and the bucket!
Oh, and CONGRATS to both you and Matsu! That is definitely a testament to how great of a partnership the two of you have and how much trust he places in you. :-D
Lisa- Ah! my biggest worry about the test was the threatening stranger leaving an impression on him, because I think to this point it has never occurred to him that a person would ever be a threat? But he's fine. I did hear one of the big dogs go off at the threat and it was impressive! but - like you said- it is supposed to be like that for them. I missed out on seeing the mastiff. He looked pretty placid so it would be something to see if he could go from a sighing lump to active defender- but I missed it.
Speaking of horses- the test took place in a riding ring at the 4H fairgrounds, and it rained that morning so it was muddy and puddley with glistening balls of horse poop here and there on the course. No snacking, no rolling, loose leash- phew!
no Minis yet, but he's had almost all of his health tests (rated OFA Good for hips, clear for elbows and clear for luxating patellas) only thing left is eyes CERF tested. My goals for him are all around sound health, steady cooperative temperament, easy to take out and around town and for work- hunting upland birds, hiking. Those are things I can do, and that interest me most.
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There are statistics by breed on the atts.org website- : 17/26 shiba inu passed, 416 of 544 akita (presumably all AA) passed, and now 1/1 Kai ken
As for breeding plans, he really does sound like a great representative for the breed and I bet he would really add a lot. I hope that it is not too forward of me to say this, but I would also like to suggest that you get a gonioscopy done too. CERF doesn't tell you anything about glaucoma (or a predilection for it) but it is a hereditary condition and a gonioscopy can help determine if narrow angle glaucoma is something to look out for in your specific dog. You're so thorough about everything else that I thought I ought to mention it.
I also wanted to say that he looks incredibly cute in the photo you posted. Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience and share it with us!
I have learned a great deal over the last year about keeping a male for breeding. It is both simple and complicated but NOT in the ways I expected. It merits its own thread - and Ive been meaning to write it for months. I should get on that.
I have been and will continue to be really grateful to my breeder mentors- and there's about 6 of them (in my breed and other breeds) that I have been able to ask all my dumb and not dumb questions of a rookie, and navigate What You Do.
It's a strange position as a 'pet owner' (as opposed to a breeder with their own dogs on site- though they had to start somewhere, with one dog, usually a bitch though...) "Im keeping him/her intact for rare breed preservation"- easy to say, but in practice vague and highly variable, and I think in this spread-out community with few breeders and few dogs, still evolving as a way of doing things. Experienced people find that goals are different in rare breeds, stakeholders are all over the place (geographically as well as in our heads and in our experience- lots of 'new' owners with breeding stock - usually 1 dog, and therefore dependent upon coordination with others but little direction, and with added time pressure on bitch owners.) the breed club is seldom heard from. You have to pay attention, ask the questions, learn from others, watch what happens to others and decide who you are going to be in your breed (Im still working that out), what is important to you, what you stand for, and where you can be flexible- because no one is going to come by and tell you what to do, but EVERYONE is going to judge you no matter what you do, so you need to have confidence in the decisions you make. I have learned enough to see that this is a deep complex well, and "Im keeping him intact for breed preservation" isn't just not-neutering your dog.
I'll have to make that thread/wall of text... this thread can be about ATTS.