Much of the testing I do actually is carried out through several days. Although I do do an official test that can take anywhere around 30 minutes, give or take. Sometimes much longer.
I have not the time to go into great detail about every specific that I do in the test, so I'll try to keep this brief.
First, I just bring the dog into the visiting room we have. It is small, but big enough for the dog to be comfortable. It is quiet and away from anything that might prove to make the dog become highly stressed as well, so that I can see the dog's "true colors" away from the kennel environment. It is more homely- with chairs, a stand, a lamp, and a basket full of fun toys.
I let the dog get comfortable, and just observe its general personality and temperament at first.
Secondly, I just test for random commands. Sometimes dogs come in with BEAUTIFUL obedience. This usually includes both luring and forceful motivation. Many of the dogs come in actually partly knowing sit. That is, you must place your hand on their butt for them to know to sit, even if you aren't applying force. When testing for commands with luring, I can also see the dog's treat drive or know if they take treats gently. (Yes, every very tiny specific detail I do take note and write down. Even something like how gentle they take treats or if they respond to training with treats is important.)
AT this time of observing personality, I also will make quick motions with my hands or move towards them. Usually you don't have to do much of anything to see if the dog had been abused. Actually, its usually evident without even having to do an actual test of raising your hand, etc. I also will have a bowl in the room and will clank it hard against something or drop it on the floor to see their sensitivity level to sound. I can also test for knocking on the door, to see if they will bark or how they react(jump on, doesn't, etc) when a person comes in a door after knocking.
We also test for toy drive/play drive at this time.
Then I do a "touch test". First just gently petting the dog. If they handle this well, I will move on to rubbing harder, going first down their shoulders, back up across the back, and down the thighs. If they take this well, I will go ahead and move on to more sensitive areas such as the feet, tail, ears, mouth, and private areas. It may seem a bit much, but if someone with small children were to adopt a dog, they would need to know that it can be touched and prodded and pulled *everywhere* without a chance of biting. Which brings me to the next part of the touch test. Again, if they handle that well, I will poke, and prod, poking my finger into their mouths and ears, grabbing onto hair and pulling just lightly, pulling their tails, patting their heads. And also "the hug test". If ever a dog becomes uncomfortable with these things, I always watch very carefully for signs of discomfort. Usually the lips, eyes, ears, and tail will immediately tell you when the dog is uncomfortable. Being able to read the dogs usually pretty well, I can go further until I know not to go any further to see how they react if someone were to invade their safety level of being touched and I will note that if this dog has sensitive areas to touch.
I also pick and choose, and will sometimes with the dogs that handle everything very well, will do a "Pinch test". I take the toes, fingers in between, and pinch lightly. Some dogs have higher pain tolerances and you have to pinch harder. What I'm looking for is their reaction to the pain. Do they snap? Do they mouth your hand, or just try to pull their feet away and get away? This is again important much like the prodding, pulling, hugging. Dogs that can handle everything possible and are gentle otherwise I can actually usually recommend that they can and should possibly go to a home with kids.
I test for food aggression as well. I start with an empty bowl and simply rattle treats inside to see their reaction. If they are very very interested, I am more cautious than I would be if they weren't all that motivated by the food. Now, being that I don't have any kind of fancy fake hand, I am cautious, but still just take the risk. I put the bowl down with my hand right next to it. If the dog doesn't show any signs, I go ahead and pull the bowl away a bit. If that doesn't phase them, I put my hand right in and take some food out and hand feed. I have had a few that were sensitive about their food, and I could tell this as soon as I didn't remove my hand after putting their bowl down, where I knew not to push the issue any further and knew this dog would need some training and desensitization.
I will also test for dog aggression. I would rather use my own dogs that I know for fact are safe and would never initiate or cause any aggression, but usually we pick and choose between the dogs at the humane society. We try to test with small, medium, large, and dogs of both gender. We've had a few dogs that were wooonderful with all dogs, except for same sex, etc. If we were to only test with one or two dogs, we may have never found that out. We also take notes on if the dog initiates play, how rough the play,if it usually takes dominant role, etc.
We also bring a cat in. If the dog doesn't try to attack it on first sight, we will let the cat down so the dog can see it walking. If the dog still is good, we will throw cat toys to get the cat to chase and run, to see the dog's reaction. We've had some dogs that were *perfect* with cats until they started to run, and they would have probably caught and killed it if it weren't for precautions such as me moving inbetween to grab the cat and the dog being onleash during these tests.
Now, I actually don't have access to a kid. I would love to, and I do believe there are kids that come and go that belong to other staff members, so the dogs do get some exposure to kids, but this is one thing I can only imitate(touch test) to test for.
Other than the actual test, I also spend a great deal of time with the dog training and working with it on any issues it may have, so I can really get to know the personality and describe it in full detail.
I may have missed something, But, for now.. I'm actually over my limit on "Chaz time!" So, I'm off.
*ETA: Yes, I do take into consideration the breed. I'm usually very good with breeds and specific characteristics that come along with the breed and also include notes on this.
