Thread: Puppy temperament testing

Hi all im new here but i thought i'd add the method i use. i like Leerburgs method from nite training puppies/ choosing a working dog.
the method is pretty much the same as what tony uses. here is a basic right up of Ed Frawleys method.

sorry its a bit long.

Things to look for when purchasing a working line puppy.
1- Look to see that all puppies run/charge up to greet you at the fence yapping, if one does not that is acceptable but if three or more shy then do not bother with the litter as shyness is a temperament problem. You want them to swarm your feet, chewing your pant legs and shoe laces when you stand still.
2- Watch to see witch pups run up to the fence, any pup that shies and only runs to the fence because its litter mates are should not be considered.
3- When greeted at the puppies pen note whether they are defensively barking (deep throaty growl/bark) or playfully – let me out squeal bark. You want a defensive bark towards strangers. This shows it will have a good defense drive
4- A pup who aggressively fights with its litter mates is showing defence.
5- The very aggressive pup is not always the best choice, some puppies learn at a young age to solve an insecurity problem through aggression.
6- The dominant (not aggressive) wants the ball whilst the aggressive dog is afraid of losing the ball. The litter mates will leave the dominant puppy alone. Note tail carriage.
7- Take into account when they were last fed. Separate the two sexes.
8- Bang to pieces of two by four to test gun shyness. You do not want a gun shyness dog. If any puppies from the litter are shy do not get a puppy from that litter as this is an inherited trait.
9- If an eight week old puppy shows no prey drive, it will never show prey drive. They have it or they don’t have it. You can’t teach them prey drive.
10- Play with them with either a heshon sack or towel, but preferably a towel, and a tennis ball to bring out there drives.
11- Take the pups away that you’re not interested in.
12- Use tennis ball to test prey and retrieve. Roll ball make sure pup sees ball. A good puppy needs to run to the ball pick it up and bring it back to you. Not retrieving shows they will not retrieve well in later life.
13- By this time you’ve narrowed down your selection into one or two pups. Take the selected puppies away individually to a new/strange environment. This shows how the puppy will act alone, des the puppy freeze up or does it have a clear mind and explore the new surroundings and play on its own. The pup that’s too concerned with strange places is not the ideal candidate.
14- At this point check noise sensitivity. Drop a pan and see how long the puppy takes to recover, a quick recovery is ideal.
15- Then do a forgivingness test – handle the pup for a while to you see that the pup is comfortable being around you, you want to see that the pup is trying to catch your attention, (this could take a minute) then pinch the puppy till it yelps, then release him to watch the reaction. The response you want to see for a future protection dog is an aggressive response during the actual pain, then after the pinch it comes immediately back to you and is forgiving. This indicates an adult that will have a tendency to act aggressively towards pain and bite work but still have a good enough temperament to be forgiving in obedience work after a correction. The pup that runs away from the handler after being pinched and does not come back, is not forgiving, its not going to be a good obedience dog when it gets older, cause its not going to recover well from leash corrections in training, its going to hold a grudge and go down in drive when he feels stressed.
16- Take a puppy and hold it on its back for 25-30 seconds, you want to see an initial aggressive reaction to being held but then followed by the pup that accepts the situation and lies still. Puppies that fight and bite throughout the entire time whilst on there backs turn out to be stubborn dogs. Puppies that don’t fight at all in this test and the pinch test lack a fighting drive, this is not correct for a protection dog. The pup will lack temperament and drive and is overly concerned with its surroundings. The pup needs to show an aggressive response not avoidance. (tests for future attitude towards obedience and handler)
17- The last thing to check the puppy is to take it back near the puppy pen and put the puppy down. Look to see if the puppy totally forgets about you and goes to the litter and stays there. Or if it’s more interested in playing with and being around people. A dogs temperament in how it relates to people is as important as the drives it ahs to do protection work, the person that ignores this in puppy selection is less likely to get a good working dog. The ideal dog is one with good temperament and good drives.

Review – Tested for gun shyness – eliminated any litter that has any gun shy dogs in it.
Then want to see the reaction of the pups as you approach the pen - do they show any defence here, you should eliminate any pups that hang back or even the pups that hang back until they see the others approach the fence, and then they come.
Then test the litter for prey drive on a towel, pups MUST have prey drive, it’s not something you’re going to put in them later.
Then test the retrieving drive with thoughs still to be considered, do they retrieve to the hand? Or do the go get it then ignore the handler.
Thoughs that are left are to be removed from the puppy pen and taken into a strange area or room to see how free there mind is towards new surroundings, do they lock up or get concerned or act scared, or are they totally free.
If they look ok, then do the noise sensitivity test and watch their recovery time.
If this looks ok check the pain sensitivity followed by holding the puppy on its back, watch for a aggressive response, followed by a quick recovery coming right back to the handler.
And then throughout the entire period of time watch the temperament of the pup, how it relates to people, you want to see a puppy that’s more interested in pleasing people, than it is being around the other dogs and puppies.

The quality of puppies bite is important, but comes last as a puppy with poor temperament will turn into a dog with poor temperament.
There are several things to be looking for as you watch a puppy do sack or towel work.
1- Quality of its bite, is it consistently a full mouth bite. Or a weak frontal bite which the pup lacks intensity.
2- Does the puppy shake its head whilst biting? Or does it just get lock jaw. Or show avoidance.
3- Is the puppy vocal while biting does he growl when he’s on the sack? Does he scream and sound hectic when he’s on the sack? Or is he calm and quite? Is the overall impression of the dog calm whilst doing sack work or is it hectic. Some puppies don’t growl but they have a high pitched hectic whine while biting, these pups are almost frantic in there bite work. This type of puppy can be trained but needs special handling during training, and maybe another selection would be better. Growling and screaming whilst on the sack is a sign of insecurity, many times novice trainers misinterpret this as toughness in a puppy, that’s not correct. The only exceptions with this could be rottys as they can be a little noisy.
4- The shaking of the sack whilst biting is also very important in the temperament of a puppy; it’s a necessary part of the instinct to kill its prey. Occasionally you will see puppies that bite full and then tug and tug and tug but never try and shake they have lock jaw when on the sack. These puppies can be trained in bite work but it can be very difficult to train the ‘out’.


hope that helps.

jess