Wouldn’t it be great if you knew which puppy is the best choice in advance? You can imagine a lot about the problems you will face in raising it and how its character will develop. Knowing all this will make it much easier to choose the right puppy, and it will also help you prepare for life with him. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to test an animal, but there is a test for puppies.
This test is designed to test a puppy between 6 and 8 weeks old. Puppies should be healthy and active at the time of the test. Prepare for the test with pencil and paper. After each experiment, the correct score will be recorded.
1. assess the puppy’s relationship
Place the puppy in the centre of the room and stand in a corner. Then call the puppy or something to get its attention. Observe how the puppy reacts.
1 point – stays put 2 points – insecure, tail down and moving towards you
3 points – tail still down and coming straight towards you 4 points – tail confidently raised and approaching
5 points – wagging tail running with a desire to play
2. rate your dog’s independence
Put the puppy in the middle of the room again, but leave the room. Well, let’s see what he does.
1 point – the puppy did not follow you 2 points – the puppy followed closely with its tail down
3 points – follows confidently, but still keeps his tail down 4 points – follows directly behind you, tail up, but does not want to play
5 points – follows happily behind you, tail up and running around your legs
3. Let’s check his obedience
This time lay the puppy on its back with your hand on its chest to prevent it from standing up. Again, observe his reaction.
Point 1 – Puppy lies calmly on its back without resisting 2 points – the puppy is interested in what you are doing and tries to lick the paw
3 points – the puppy is lying down but is not calm and is touching your hand or nose with its paws 4 points – tries to stand up or resist
5 points – the puppy shows strong resistance and tries to bite you
4. assess repressive tendencies (step 1)
All you need to do is rub the puppy. Look into his eyes and see how he reacts.
Point 1 – the puppy doesn’t react at all to what you do 2 points – turns its head to the side where your hand is and tries to smell your hand
3 points – he clearly likes what you are doing and tries to lick your hand 4 points – try to run away, may struggle but does not express direct annoyance
5 points – puppies will immediately attack to bite.
5. assess repressive tendencies (step 2)
To do this, hold the puppy in your arms and lift it up so that your eyes are at the same level. Do not put it down for 30 seconds and watch what happens.
Point 1 – the puppy remains calm but does not try to communicate or try to escape 2 points – does not express dissatisfaction with his actions, tries to lick his face
3 points – the puppy immediately expresses annoyance but quickly calms down and tries to lick the face 4 points – if he doesn’t like what you are doing at all, he will try to run away for about 30 seconds, but he will not be harsh.
5 points – the puppy attacks the bite.
It is important to stress that there is not much difference between healthy and active dogs. If the scores differ from five to one, it is directly related to the fact that you have made a mistake in the training or that the puppy is in poor health. In this case, the test should be repeated after a few days.
If the results do not change, the dog may have psychological problems. If there are no significant differences in the scores, the puppy’s behaviour is assessed as follows:
5 points for both stages of the repression method and at least 4 points for the other tests.
Such puppies grow up to be very aggressive dogs. Such a dog should not be kept in a family with children. It takes a long time to change this behaviour and only the one who stays at home will see the results after months of struggle.
4 points in most tests
Usually produces a serious and determined dog. A guarding or searching and rescuing dog is common. It takes a lot to deal with such a dog