NATURAL INSTINCT TEST - Page 7

I still haven't figured out if that is even POSSIBLE. My dogs have "too many" heat cycles, but they have no problem whelping. Their uteruses wear out early. There are too many other good things about them to just STOP without trying to resolve the issue. So...I will agree with your question after this litter. I will reassess to decide whether I get enough good stuff out of them to make it justifiable.

Serviceable lifespan was well documented by " z Ps" breeder Jiri Novotny. I have seen the statistics during the seminar here at AlpineK9 few weeks ago.
Dog was serviceable as police border dog at about 18 mo and worked under harsh conditions until 9 years.  If they could not be serviceable close to 18 mo they would be discarded from the breeding program (they would stay in the service though) or if the parents produced slow maturing dogs they would be also discarded from the breeding program.
Today police dogs usually are not mentally mature enough to be affective as LE K9s any sooner then at 24 mo and often it is at 30 months and they retire usually at 8 years.
Prager Hans

And the west german lines are retired how soon?  7-8 years maybe?  I don't know.

I've had some questions about the extensive evauation as replies for testing puppies, but that wasn't quite its intended use, as much as for young adults or "green dogs", and perhaps with a job in mind.

This was the report card for my "N" litter, about 2 years ago.  They were 5 weeks old in this first "snapshot" evaluation, and includes everything but the gunfire test as a group I conducted the following day.  For that, I used a 22 pistol with blanks, beginning about 30 feet distant, taking fire every few steps closer, until I was about 4 feet away.



30yd run & follow: prey drive, object focus
Step Climbing: at the end of 30yd run "in drive", climbing, surfaces, elevation, enthusiasm, courage
Social Attraction: (reception of praise) eye contact, enthusiasm, willingness, sociability
Sound Attraction: pleasant sound (squeeky toy), object focus, enthusiasm, willingness
Biting Urge: prey drive, object focus, grips
Gripping & Tugging: aggression, gripping, fight
Carrying Prize: gripping, possessiveness
Pan Drop Shock: sharpness, sound sensitivity, courage (recovery), aggression/confidence
Towel Popping: sound sensitivity, tactile sensitivity (hardness)
Towel Draping: confinement, problem solve
Pindown Resistance: confinement, fight tenacity

As you can see, each excercise can potentially measure multiple components of behavior, and some of them interrelated.  Even the big list designed for green dogs has a lot of cross related items.  In the "retrieve", for example, you are seeing a degree of "prey drive" as well as "willingness" and lack of "possessiveness" to bring to the handler.  Note, there are contexts where willingness and possessiveness can coincide in the same example of dog, but IMO possessiveness is a self-rewarding behavior that should only be allowed when earned (i.e., after a tug fight or sleeve slip).

Thanks for that....very informative. 

Tests that are aimed for testing the "natural instincts" in workingdogs have been used for long time in sweden where the army first introduced such tests for their breedingprogram and selection of servicedogs about 60 years ago, also for civilian dogs there are similar tests, where you measure the dogs reaction in different scenarions. It´s important to know thou that such a test doesn´t tell you everything about a dogs quality, I guess only working the dog hard can really see if the dog has the qualities you want or not. And as mentioned earlier a dogs mentality isn´t static, it can vary with age and experience, so it´s important to not only look at the testresults without knowing anything else about the dog, best is of course to see the test with your own eyes and see if you like the dog or not.

Yes, but did they have handy, easy-to-fill-out color charts?  

Not so colorfull;), but sure, a template with the different reactions in each situation was/is used.

Cool! Do you know a link to that one, too? 


By the way, Jenni, is it one that is NOT a daily or nearly daily test? I don't want one of those puppy-rearing deals, because that trains. I want one that is occasional and tests innate reactions more than teaches or molds behavior. 

double post