Puppy Psychology??

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi, I've just bought a labrador cross puppy, and for my psychology behavioral experiment I'd like to know how to do a personality test on my dog like a puppy psychologist would do, what tests can I do. Many thanks
Charles Denison

[kendalyn]

Here is a pretty basic one:

http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/html/pages/adoptions/Puptest.htm

Here's another one that is more in depth:

http://www.golden-retriever.com/puppy_aptitude_test.htm

I don't know how valid these tests are. If this is for a paper or something, you should probably find a test that more scientific and has been peer reviewed. Plus, these 2 are pretty short. I've seen entire books that contain different tests to give a dog. Maybe they need to be shorter for a puppy though... Anyway, Good luck :-)

[imported_Kat]

Very briefly, personality is a very anthropomorphical term to be applied to a dog. In the world of canine behaviour, "behavioural traits is a more accepted term". If you wish to test social behaviour of your pup, then you can use a number of tests which have been documented in books.

I am in the middle of writing a thesis on social behaviour in border collies but my tests used can be applied to any dog breed/mix if you have some asistance.

Sociability: Get a stranger to stand in the middle of a room and with the owner out of sight, get a 2nd person to place the dog at the perimiter of the room. Crouching low the person in the centre should call the dog in a happy voice saying puppy puppy or something similar, but avoid formal commands including here and come. Score the dog according to body language on a score of 1-5, with 5 being used for a dog that has erect ears, mid to high tail position and readily approaches the stranger with a wagging tail, with no growling/barking. Score 1 at the other end of the extreme if the pup refuses to come with a low/tucked tail/ears back and/or growling intimidating posture.

Manipulative dominance acceptance: The stranger will pick the pup up supporting it fully across the abdomen and hold it for a count of 15 seconds. High struggling/restlessness gains a low score whereas a content pup with minimum struggling scores a high score.

Playfulness: The pup is invited to play with a tennis ball proportional to his size. Interaction with non-threatening body language gains a high score and a low score will be entered if the pup possesses the ball or refuses to play.

Stamina: Set up a small box with a piece of cheese/sausage inside and cover the box with soft mesh. Place the pup near the box and record his reaction. High interest scores 5 and low/no interest scores 1.

Startle stimuli: Place the pup at the perimiter of the room held by a person, while the other person shakes a can/tin with pennies/stones sharply, then immediately places the tin on the floor. simultaneously turn the pup around and score his reaction. High investigative behaviour scores 5 and cowering/no interest scores 1.

This is just an example of some of the tests that you can use with your pup, but if this is for a truly scientific project then do relate to scientific evidence/journals, as my thesis won't be published until after the summer if it is accepted! Good luck and congrats with your newest addition :wink: