In an earlier unit we looked at temperament testing in animal shelters and in this unit you will see how those have developed.

One of the best known series of tests in the USA was developed by Sue Sternberg and is called the Assess-a-pet programme which is trademarked.

Following hot on the heels of Sue Sternberg came Emily Weiss with her own trademarked series of tests known as the Safer tests (Safety Assessments for Evaluating Rehoming).

According to the information on these tests “The SAFER test is claimed to be a good predictor of future behaviour and focuses on a dog’s body postures and behaviours in response to specific interactions”. 

There are many other tests which claim to be able to predict future outcomes.

In European shelters the SAB test (Socially Acceptable Behaviour) is common. This lists 16 tests which are used on shelter dogs an as soon as you view the tests it becomes apparent that the testers must get bitten a great deal because they use artificial hands for testing. Also, the idea of pulling a doll on a sled towards the dog has taken us full circle back to the dark age of behaviour testing for shelters.

Whilst there is obviously a need for behavioural testing it is impossible to create a test which is 100% accurate. There are too many variables. How could you duplicate a settled home environment with “average” pet owners within a shelter with professionally trained staff? Testing a dog for aggression could be done by giving a dog a bone and asking someone who is afraid of dogs to take it… The outcome could be very different with a professional who is confident with dogs. Accurately testing for aggression against children is incredibly difficult as most parents would not volunteer their children for testing (you would hope!).

Over a period of many years a large number of behavioural tests have been, and still are being, developed for puppies and for adult dogs. Their areas of application are numerous and varied: selection for breeding purposes (Wilsson and Sundgren, 1997), behavioural development (Stanley, 1970; Fox, 1971), effects of genetics (Scott and Fuller, 1965; Murphree and Dykman, (1965) and environmental factors (Fox and Stelzner, 1967) on behaviour, learning abilities (Wyrwicka, 1959; Pongracz et al., 2005), prediction of working aptitude (Slabbert and Odendaal, 1999), likelihood of being adopted from a shelter (Ledger and Baxter, 1997), identification of behavioural problems (Netto and Planta, 1997).

The behaviour of dogs can be observed either in their usual environment (i.e. at home, in kennels or while working) or, in contrast, when they are in the standardised conditions of a research laboratory. Animal behavioural tests are defined as standardised experimental situations where stimuli serve to elicit behaviour that is statistically compared with that of other individuals placed in the same situations, to classify the subject tested.