Title: Give Your Dog A Personality Test
Author: Sylvia Dickens
Give Your Dog A Personality Test
You already know that people have different personalities,
and that sometimes they can clash. It's no different with a
dog. They have their own personalities, too. It's possible
whichever dog you choose just might be prone to "disagree"
with your methods.
Knowing a puppy's personality before you commit to buying
or adopting him will help you to make a wise choice in
selecting the right puppy for you. If you already have a
dog, doing a personality test will help you better
understand why he does certain things or why he can't seem
to learn certain rules or commands.
Checking your puppy's personality starts with understanding
his breed, because many of his characteristics will be
inherited. If you don't know the specific breed, try to
determine what breed cross he might be and refer to those
personalities to see if they fit.
There are some excellent books in the library to help you
figure out how your particular breed of dog thinks and
reacts. Alternatively, you can ask a breeder or your vet.
As long as your puppy is over seven weeks of age, you can
get a good result from a personality test. The main
personality types are responsive, strong willed, energetic,
timid, easygoing and aggressive although you're likely to
see a mixture, depending on the mixture of breeds and the
circumstances. For instance, a dog might be easygoing
around the family, but aggressive around strangers. This is
common in dogs that are protective, rather than social and
friendly.
Friendliness Test
The friendliness test will determine if your dog is a
socializer.
Take the puppy into a quiet area, free of other
distractions and whine like a young puppy or talk to him in
a friendly, affectionate voice. You're trying to see what
kind of response you get. If he cocks his head to one side,
becomes alert and happy, then he has a responsive
personality.
If he ignores you initially and then runs around, jumps all
over you and gives you friendly barks and nips, he is a
high-energy dog.
A strong willed dog will become alert and will away again
barking and eventually come to you. A timid dog will whine
back and bark before crawling up to you with his tail down
and his ears pulled back.
An easy going dog will show be more laid back and seem not
to care. He is quick to lose interest in your whining, most
likely because he's decided it really doesn't matter to him.
If the dog lunges at you and growls with his ears and tail
standing straight up (rather than curled or dropped and
relaxed) he is an aggressive dog with dominant qualities.
If he barks, backs away and crouches down yet remains
defensive, he is showing fear aggression. Fear aggression
is common in dogs that have been abused.
You can do other tests as well. You can test a dog's
sensitivity to noises, how he reacts to discipline, and how
tolerant he is to pain and discomfort.
Sound Test
For the sound test, put some pennies into a tin can and
shake it to see how your dog responds. Keep in mind that
dogs have sensitive ears and are able to hear sounds humans
can't. This test could reveal that your puppy might have
hearing problems or that he is "gun shy".
Again, in a quiet area, rattle the can from about six feet
away from the dog. Try to hide the can behind your back as
seeing it might clue him in to what's causing the noise. We
want the noise to be unexpected.
A responsive dog will perk up when he hears the noise and
become inquisitive about its source. If you had rolled the
can on the floor to make the noise, he would see it as a
toy and begin playing with it.
A high-energy dog will respond to the noise, but will
become easily distracted. He might even bark at the noise
as if trying to scare it away.
Shy dogs will back away and lower his ears and tail while
raising the hair on the back of his neck. This is a
submissive posture. It's common for shy or timid dogs to
run and hide from loud noises.
An easygoing dog will saunter up to the noise, check it out
but will soon return to whatever he was doing.
An aggressive dog backs away, growls, curls his lips and
will make direct eye contact with you as if in defiance. A
fear aggressive dog, on the other hand, will crouch and
take a submissive stance. Such dogs often will urinate as a
sign of submission.
Discipline Test
The discipline test can be helpful when you think about how
easy it might be to train this particular dog.
Understanding this aspect of his temperament can be useful
in determining the methods you'll need to use during the
training process.
Be careful when issuing this test as an aggressive dog
might try to attack you or bite you. If you suspect that
the dog is aggressive, you might want to skip the first
version of this test. Immediately stop the test if the dog
begins to show signs of fear.
Version 1: Raise your hand and pretend to hit the dog, but
don't actually hit him. If he shows curiosity and stays
happy or ignores you, he has either a responsive, easygoing
or a high-energy personality. If he cowers, flinches, ducks
his head or wets, this is a timid, shy and insecure dog.
A dominant dog will growl, curl his lips, snarl and perhaps
bite. If this happens, it's best to stop the test for your
own safety. A fear aggressive dog will respond in a similar
way, trying to bite as a way to protect himself. Clearly,
such a dog has already had a bad experience.
Tolerance test
This test will be beneficial if you have children around.
By knowing how much your dog can tolerate, you will be
better informed whether this dog is a good choice for you
and your family. This test isn't so much to discover his
personality as it is to determine how much discomfort your
dog can tolerate.
If the dog is intolerant to pain, there could be many
reasons, including physical ailments, poor breeding, or
abuse inflicted by inexperienced pet owners. Children, for
example, tend to like pulling a dog's tail or ears or
riding the dog, which can be painful to the animal.
There are three areas you can test (tail, toes, skin), but
for this article, we'll discuss the tail, since that's an
easy target for many children and even some adults.
Keep in mind that you don't want to hurt the dog. Pull his
tail gently and see how your dog reacts.
If he turns and mouths your hand without really trying to
bite and even becomes playful, it's evident this puppy has
a safe tolerance level. If the dog tries to stop you or
tolerates it for a short time and tries to move away, he
has an average tolerance level.
If the dog yelps, growls and snaps while trying to get
away, he has a poor pain tolerance. If he bites and growls,
the dog has very little or no tolerance whatsoever. If you
have children, you might want to choose a different dog, or
teach your children not to pull the dog's tail.
Knowing a dog's personality and temperament before he comes
to your home is helpful in making a wise decision in
choosing a suitable pet for your family.
About the Author:
Sylvia has owned dogs all her life and has learned a lot.
Get your complimentary copy of Sylvia's latest booklet,
"Unveiling the Myths & Mysteries of Owning a Puppy" by
going to http://ebook-
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