What do they do to dogs when they have a temperament check?

Question

My dogs would be put up, but if I were to open my home to care for children, they say I still need to take them to a vet and have their temperment checked. I know the reason for the check is to make sure they are not aggressive.....but what goes on during the testing?

Answer 1

I tempermant test the dogs comming into our rescue.
Most times I do a variety of things with the dog and record the reactions and behavior of the dog.
I expose the dog to other dogs and cats and other small animals.
I walk the dog and see what gets them upset and how they do on a leash.
I ask for basic obedience things like sit, down , stay.
I feed the dog and give treats and see how they take things from me and how protective they are about what has been given.
When they are feed we try and remove the food to see if they get food aggressive.
We also have another dog in the room to see it the aggression is towards dogs or humans.
I trim their toe nails and take a temperature and listen to their heart rate and breathing. It gives me an idea of how well the dog can be handled and what they will tolerate having done.
If I find areas that the dog needs work in when they go into foster care the foster family works on those things. If the dog is very aggressive it usually goes to one of our very experienced homes to see how it will do in a home setting and is then re eveulated after a month or so.

Answer 2

Well I believe they check to see if the dog is startled easily by noises, they check to see if it is food aggressive, and how it acts around babies/children. They will usually take and use a fake hand and see if the dog tries to bite it when put into a food bowl from which the dog is eating. As far as with kids they generally use a doll and make crying noises to see if the dog gets aggrivated. And most likely if you do child care they will require the dogs be in a seperate area, away from the daycare, both inside and out.

Answer 3

Like Kaylee F, i thought it said temperature too....lol!

People often misunderstand or misuse the term "temperament". All it means is, simply, the dog's personality. As yet, there is no scientific evidence to show that we can actually breed for temperament, per se. Its noble that breeders hope to breed only for "good temperaments", but there is no scientific evidence to prove they're successful.

Yes, from two parents, one or two offspring may have the same personality as one of the parents. This would strongly suggest a genetic link. However, what we do know about dogs and humans is that many of the offspring from the same two parents will have personalities nothing like either parent; suggesting multiple factors determining personality, only part of which (if any) may be directly linked to genetics. What part of temperament is inheritable and what portion is a mix of genetic factors and even developmental environment, remains to be seen.

Regardless, once a dog is born, his/her temperament is pretty much set. Dogs come in all temperaments: from very dominant, to very submissive, and all the shades of gray in between...even within the same litter! Most importantly, all are trainable! But the training methods that work for one, absolutely may not work for another. Dominant dogs need to be kept more ‘in check', and very submissive dogs need to build their confidence.

Like siad in the first answer- they judge to see how they are with kids, if they have food agression, ext. This is the procedure that is done at almost all shelters....!On animal planet, some shows- like animal cops and shows like that, will show this procedure with each dog entering the shelter- sadddly the ones who do not pass, well.... they have to pass on him, which i find really sad!
Good luck- i hope your dogs pass with flying colors!
here is a couple links with sue Sternberg!

http://www.suesternberg.com/00sue.html
http://www.petfinder.com/journal/sue.html
http://www.puppyworks.com/events/sternberg/ss0304il.html

Answer 4

Generally this is done by an animal behavourist or a trainer. There are various tests, depending on which system is used. But by and large, they will see how the dog reacts to being touched, having its food touched, having its food taken away, etc etc.

Answer 5

Most shelters test using a method developed by Sue Sternberg. Google her name and youll probably get a list of the specific tests.

Answer 6

Well, I've seen them take my dogs temp. first they put the dog on the vet talble, then they take the thermomiter and stick up his bottom hole, and reads the temp. My dog doesn't like it but he puts up with it. It feels just like if they were to stick one up your bottom.

Answer 7

http://www.atts.org/testdesc.html

http://www.atts.org/testdesc.html

http://www.volhard.com/puppy/pat.htm