Puppy Test

Why a puppytest.
For a hunting dog, who has to work closely with his new owner, it is very important that the character of the owner and dog are compatible. By using a puppy test the breeder can gain more insight into the individual characters of the pup's. This in turn allows the breeder to help and advise the new owner in their choice of a puppy. It means that people who are on our waitinglist do not have the opportunity to choose a puppy. After the puppy test we recommend people to take a pick out of the puppy's we think are suitable for them. If it is so that people are not satisfied with our choice we recommend them to say this to us, this is the most smart thing to do because when you take a puppy you hopefully have him/her until they are at least 10-12 years old. If you tell us we can arrange a puppy from a next litter or recommend you to find a puppy elsewhere.

The best age to test a puppy:
The best time to test the puppies is at seven weeks old, because this is the age that their brains start to take in stimulus from their surroundings and they can responds to it. To make this test as objective as possible it is necessary that the pup's have had no previous contact with the person who will carry out the test and it must be organised in a location that is strange or new to the puppy. You can do this test indoors, but with working dogs we prefer to do this test outdoors.

The Test :
The American, William Campbell developed this behaviour test to pick out pup's from a litter and published his findings in his book 'Behaviour Problems In Dogs' (1975). His test only allows us an insight into the dominant and social point of view of the pup, but says nothing about the pup's qualities as a working dog. This is why we use a separate hunting and intelligence test.

Testresults:
Depending on which test method you use, it is possible to show the following quality's:

- A dominant or submissive character
- Human orientated
- Talent for retrieving
- Will to please
- Resistant to loud noises-
- Problem solving quality's
- Stability or instability.

With this information the breeder can inform the new owner about the character of the puppy and advise the new owner on the best way to train the pup.

Our experience and advice:
We have found that the tests give a good early indication of the personality traits of each pup. Traits that we see coming out when the pup's are living with us. By recording the results of the tests, we are able to see which pup suits which owner and hopefully with our advice, all the pup's will go to the right homes. Because of this the owners will know what puppy will be theirs after the puppy test is done so that is not before they are 7 weeks old!

The pictures are taken at Kennel Bianco Rosso in Denmark. With much pleasure Tina Steffens tested the puppies of the litter of 2006 at Bianco Rosso's kennel. From 1995 we test puppies of all breeds, we use the Cambell test and/of Hunting-Intelligence test.