J&A's Puppy Aptitude Tests & Photos

(Candid photos taken during testing follow the article!)

TESTS

As Holly and Bullet's  pups turned 7 weeks old  the Puppy Aptitude Tests and individual evaluations took place. Our good friend Paige Davis is a breeder of English Setters and she knows our dogs almost as well as hers. Paige came and spent a few hours here to perform the 'tests'.  It was a lot of fun for John and I to actually sit back and observe the pups individually in a new surrounding by a total stranger as Paige had never met them before. The results helped us reach our specific goal of fitting each puppy with the best family.  

The pups were extremely consistent at each level of the P.A.T.  For Social Attraction every pup came running to greet our friend,  bouncing up into her arms without being called to.  Each pup also happily followed wherever she went, jumping around and keeping their tail wagging the whole time, oh it was so cute!  The restraint which can sometimes be the most challenging (pup is held on the floor on it’s back for a full 30 seconds) resulted in little to no struggling.  If they did struggle, they quickly settled with some eye contact.  For the social dominance which immediately follows that test all the pups enjoyed the stroking, petting they received when they sat back up and some even climbed up into our friend’s lap and started to lick her face. Guess they forgave her for the restraint!  (It’s so important to remember – these tests are done at an exact and precise age and stage of development.  Sometimes people misunderstand the purpose of putting a puppy on their back and it can result in trauma!!  When it’s done as part of the P.A.T. there is a specific purpose as the outcome should balance the rest of the tests that surround it. The reaction of just putting the pup on their back and forcing it to remain there tells us nothing other than a human is bullying  a puppy. And maybe some trainers or animal behaviorists use it on adult dogs but truly it is totally old school and unless someone knows what they are doing – it should be avoided. I find this is so often misunderstood.) Then the elevation dominance follows. Over the years we have tested litters for other breeders of English Setter pups, Beagle pups and several others.  There is such a huge difference in the Brittany reaction to being elevated off the ground. (Cradle pup in our hands and let it hang there.)  Other breeds will wrestle their way out of our hands and make it nearly impossible to hold them!  These puppies were almost bored with that part of the test today it was just so funny!  We did the retrieving test.  This is ONLY intended to show the degree of willingness to work with a human and gives an bit of an idea of how much  will be involved with training your bird dog to retrieve.  Instincts are strong and while it was all about playing they did chase after a crumpled up paper ball that was tossed, pick it up and eventually (EVENTUALLY LOL) get it back to our tester.  Chasing it is just as important as returning with it,  but returning after chasing is a good thing too.  Now here’s an interesting thing about the touch sensitivity.  Pup was held and pressure was gently increased while pressing on the webbing of a front foot.  Not quite pinching but that’s the general idea.  The count is to 10 before stopping or, stopping when you get a response.  Let me tell you all that this litter is incredibly stoic because they averaged 8-10 counts before showing ANY reaction at all.  Sound sensitivity was next and basically while pup was on the floor in front of tester she picked up two puppy pans and clanged them together, making a sharp noise.  All the pups were curious and looked up to see where the sound came from but not one of them was afraid, no one ran, no one cringed.  The pans were then thrown across the floor making all kinds of racket and once again each pup reacted the same way by walking over, checking them out, and that was it ho-hum!  Sight sensitivity is for the purpose of intelligent response to a strange object jerked around them.  Well we have a little fun with this and attach a grouse wing to a fishing pole. This is NOT a test for true birdiness but it still was impressive to watch every single pup establish what is considered a flash of a puppy point!  Very stylish may I add.  It was just so much fun. (Speaking of birdiness, on the puppy development agenda before they go home is their second introduction to birds.  They have had a wing in the whelping box to explore and outside a pigeon set outside for the litter to find. Today or tomorrow they are going to be introduced to a quail, individually.  Can't wait!)

In addition to a modified version of the Volhart Puppy Aptitude Tests we also utilize components of the PUPPY PUZZLE by Pat Hastings, and the S.M.A.R.T. Puppy by Carmen Battagllia. We also incorporated aspects of the Puppy Culture and also Avidog.