American Temperment Test Society...

I've done them with every dog I've every owned since the late 1980s. I love it! I think it's a good judge of basic temperament for many breeds. For some with unique temperaments, it might not be the best indicator, but you have three evaluators and they don't expect all breeds to respond the same - they take the breed's expected temperament into consideration when scoring a dog (i.e. the Chihuahua or Poodle isn't expected to show the same protection instinct as a Rottweiler or GSD).
 
I did one last fall and I was actually NOT impressed with the evaluators, for whom anything LESS than an aggressive result with the crazy stranger was a failure, regardless of breed.
 
DogstarAcademy said:
I did one last fall and I was actually NOT impressed with the evaluators, for whom anything LESS than an aggressive result with the crazy stranger was a failure, regardless of breed.
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There may be some bad evaluators out there then. :( The ones I've had in Florida have always given me results I agreed with.

I got a high score with a very protective dog, but also a high score with one that silently stepped in front of me and watched. In various tests at different times (and years), I saw them fail several Rotts that ran behind their handlers, but the Whippets that did the same thing passed.
 
I'm actually quite curious how he will do with the crazy stranger. He is pretty much friendly to most anyone but there have been a few incidents where a person has behaved in a way that he thought was "off" and he barked at them. I wonder if he would be counted down if he reacted by barking?
 
bubbatd said:
How does this differ from a TDI ??
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Not even in the same ballpark. You're not supposed to train for it, you can't speak to your dog AT ALL, can't give commands or anything. You walk a course with various distractions and they score the dog on its reaction. Towards the end, there is a 'threatening stranger' who comes at you and the dog in a menacing fashion and they score the dog on its reaction -- you're not going to see that in a TDI evaluation! :)
 
sillysally said:
I'm actually quite curious how he will do with the crazy stranger. He is pretty much friendly to most anyone but there have been a few incidents where a person has behaved in a way that he thought was "off" and he barked at them. I wonder if he would be counted down if he reacted by barking?
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See my post above yours that I edited. They judge more on the dog's position - if he runs behind you, they might score low or fail (I don't know how they expect a Lab to act). In the case of my dogs, if the dog goes behind you, it fails. If it stands beside you, it gets points off. If it goes out in front of you, it gets a higher score. It's all variable.
 
MericoX said:
I want to try this with all my guys. Too bad none of those are close..
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Keep an eye on their site. Sometimes it's a year before there's anything in my area. Usually only one in the entire state some years. Depends on the host club - it takes a lot of space and manpower to host a TT test, much more than it would for an obedience trial or CGC test.
 
I would do it if you get the chance. Fill out the forms and keep an eye on the site.
 
i'd like to do it with the bullies. steve'd wet his pants at a menacing stranger. he'd probably be traumatized by it :eyeroll:
 
I've considered doing it with Meg. There was one about four hours from us last year. She isn't registered anywhere though - not sure if that would matter. I looked into it a bit more when I was considering it, but have forgotten if I confirmed that it was okay.
 
For the average dog owner, what is the purpose of this? I can see that if you wanted to breed your dog, it'd be helpful to say that he had the ideal temperament of his breed...but for the rest of us? What's the point?
 
CaliTerp07 said:
For the average dog owner, what is the purpose of this? I can see that if you wanted to breed your dog, it'd be helpful to say that he had the ideal temperament of his breed...but for the rest of us? What's the point?
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Because you can. :cool: I do things like this because I like it - even with dogs I never plan to breed.
 
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