Standard Poodles - Temperament Test

The puppy temperament test can help you determine which Standard Poodle puppy will be the best fit for your family. If properly performed, these tests are reasonably reliable in predicting the dog’s personality, sociability and trainability when mature.

Avoiding the pitfalls of owning a dog that jumps, nips, barks or never seems to tire, can easily be avoided if you do your homework and seek help when choosing a puppy from a litter. Although the temperament test can advise you as to where the puppy will best fit in, developing the puppy’s personality is mostly up to the new owners.

A Standard Poodle's temperament can generally be determined at around 49 days old. At this age, its life experiences learned so far will also affect its temperament. At this young age, it’s not easy to say that a certain trait is not genetic as opposed to a learned trait.

Many reputable breeders will perform a puppy temperament test on their litters to determine the personality and activity level of their puppies. No two puppies are alike, there are easy ones and challenging ones and it's hard to pick one from a mass of cute wiggling puppies by just looking at them!. Save yourself some headaches and find out what your puppy is like before you take it home.

Supplying detailed information to the breeder about your lifestyle, living accommodations, family members and other pets is critical for him/her to determine which puppy would be the best fit. Also, be honest about your experience with dogs. If you say you have lots of experience, your breeder will likely pick a dog that is more active, energetic and more challenging! High energy dogs need lots of exercise and training. A family with small children will probably want a less active dog.

Where Did The Test Come From?

Puppy temperament tests became well known around 1979, after the publication of Clarence Pfaffenberger’s book “The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior.” It’s been used by many breeders, trainers and ordinary people like you and I, to determine which puppies have the best personalities for show, field work, service dogs, guide dogs and the family pet.

Temperament tests have been developed by all sorts of organizations and individuals in attempts to choose the right dogs for their needs. Susan Clothier wrote a puppy testing booklet. Carol Lea Benjamin wrote one. William Campbell’s book “Behavior Problems in Dogs” includes a puppy temperament test. One of the best know tests was developed by Wendy Volhard.

Before you choose your puppy, pick a test that best meets your needs, by studying as many tests as you can find. You can find them in books, websites, seminars, from breeders, from rescues and shelters and from experts in the specific field of work that you want your dog to do. Puppy temperament tests are pretty routine these days and although they aren’t perfect at predicting how the puppy will turn out, any information helps.

Hints on Testing a Puppy

• Before interacting with the puppy, observe it for awhile and compare its behavior against its littermates.
• Perform the testing in a quiet, neutral setting and test only one dog at a time. Videotaping is a good idea, as well as taking notes.
• Don’t do the test right before or after mealtime for best results and make sure the puppy has had time to relieve itself before you start.
• Remember to consider the type of temperament that will best fit into your household.

The temperament test consists of a number of exercises that help give information as to the puppy’s tendencies. Here are some of the exercises you are likely to encounter on a test:

• If at all possible, test the puppies more than once, because the first test may catch some of them on an off day and give inaccurate results. The puppies are all going through important development stages at this time and they don’t all develop at the same pace.
• In addition to the test results, you should consider any observations or input from the breeder or caretaker.
• The breeder’s genetic knowledge of the puppy and the test results should help you better understand how the puppy will turn out as an adult.
• Turning the puppy over and restraining it on its back is a common test. There really is no “right” answer to this test. Some people feel that if the puppy struggles just a little, it shows signs of certain working qualities. Being able to read the dog’s body language is important also. If the dog just lays there, it could be either relaxed or frozen with fear.
• Try lifting the puppy off the ground by cradling it by the stomach. You want to see how long the puppy can go without struggling to being held in the air.
• Getting the puppy to follow you when you walk away, shows the amount of interest it has in humans.
• Kneel or sit down and call the puppy--calling each puppy the same way. This also shows how much interest it has in humans.
• Squeezing the webbing between two toes with the thumb and forefinger is used to test touch sensitivity. Slowly count to ten as you increase the pressure. Do not use your fingernails and stop the pressure when the dog reacts in any way.
• You can test the puppy’s retrieving instinct by sitting on the ground with it and tossing a crumbled up piece of paper a few feet away. If the puppy runs to it and grabs it, that’s good. If it grabs it and brings it to you that’s even better!
• You can also test the puppy’s response to unusual sights and sounds, but do it in a way that won’t frighten the puppy.

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