Puppy Aptitude Test

The following table is adapted from "Understanding Puppy Testing" by Suzanne Clothier, 1996

	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Goes to stranger	+++,jumps, bites	++ paws, licks	+ tail up	+ tail down	hesitant, lies down when near	- doesn't come
2. Follows stranger	+++underfoot, jumps, bites feet	++underfoot, few jumps, bites	+tries to keep up	+slightly behind, tail down	hesitant, follows behind, stops	- doesn't follow
3. Lifted	struggles,growls, bites	struggles	relaxed	settles, strong heartbeat	small struggle, strong heartbeat	frozen
4. Restrained on back	struggles,growls, bites	struggles, good eye contact	some struggling	relaxed	no struggle, heart rate elevated	no struggle, no eye contact
5. After restraint	jumps up, growls	jumps up, nips	jumps, licks face	wiggles, licks hands	rolls over, licks	freezes or leaves
6. Retrieve	chases, picks up, runs away with	chases, guards over	retrieves	picks up, returns without	looks or chases part way	nothing
7. Loud noise	listens, locates, growls	listens, locates, brief bark	listens, locates, moves toward	listens, locates, ears up	startles, defensive	no response
8. Tease with rag then drop	attacks, bites, shakes "drop"	follows, biting contact "drop"	follows, biting, no drop contact	defensive, bolder w drop	defensive, hides	runs away
9. Pressure on toe webs	count to 10+ without response	9	7	5	3	1
10. Open umbrella	leaps at, bites	investigates, bites	investigates	startles, cautious invest.	startles, no invest.	startles, runs away
11. Energy	gallops everywhere	gallops and trots	trots cstly, some gallop	mostly trots	trots and walks	mostly walks
12. Treat under dish	persistent until gets treat	++long pers.	+long pers.	long pers.	some persistence	no persistence
13. 8' Fence section	goes around right away	awhile 1st time, right away 2nd	cries, tries to go thru, learns 2nd	cries, tries to go thru, same 2	cries both	doesn't try

Results:

mostly 1s: highly independent, not a good companion dog unless only had 1s in retrieving and toe pressure

mostly 2s: highly confident, excellent working dog, need early and ongoing Obedience training, will do well at top levels of competition, too active for older folks, too dominant for small children

mostly 3s: confident, adaptable, do well with active family, children, may be more active than some people would like, good in competition

mostly 4s: responds well to leadership, good with small children and older people, socialization is very important for dog not to become fearful, easily trained

mostly 5s: very submissive, socialization and confidence building critical, not for children or active family

The Puppy Aptitude Test

Results: