The UDC Temperament Test is not designed to give a complete picture of the dog, but it’s intended to demonstrate whether or not a dog behaves like a Doberman.
The test has several forms, depending on the age and training of the dog. Shakespeare took the Adult test, which runs as follows:
- Dog and handler weave through milling crowd of pushy people, dog on loose leash and not under any cue. The dog should be calm, stable, social.
- While the dog is in the group, the evaluator drops clipboard beside dog, greets him, etc. The dog should be calm, stable, social.
- Dog and handler go for a walk. A man comes out from behind a van and moves suspiciously. The dog should notice the man and watch him, but it is faulty if the dog aggresses before there is a real threat.
- The stranger turns and directly threatens the dog and handler. He fires a gun twice before raising a stick in a front attack. The dog should go forward intensely to meet the threat, without being deterred by the gunshots.
- The stranger retreats. The dog and handler move a short distance away and stand for a few seconds, and then the evaluator approaches to greet and pet the dog. The dog should recognize that the evaluator is not the same bad guy of a moment before and should be stable and social.
The possible scores are Pronounced, Sufficient and Insufficient. There is also a Puppy test (no threat at all), a Youth test (gunshots occur as stranger is retreating, so there is less direct stress and confrontation), and a Sport Dog test for titled working dogs (which includes actual bitework and outs).
A more complete picture of the dog’s character can be gained in the Fit For Breeding tests or the Scandanavian Character Test, or other testing. But this at least ensures that the dogs which gain championship points are the dogs who are acting like Dobermans.
Just a quick note to let you know that I’m really enjoying this blog (and your posts to CS) and check it often. Laev is a lovely bitch!
I’d be interested to hear what you think of the “Scandinavian” temp tests? I’m assuming you’re talking about the Swedish “Korning” (title KORAD) test, which is the most extensive?
Aase Lange
& Kaisa, German Pinscher
Oslo, Norway
The temperament tests we learned about here were quite interesting! I *think* we did the MUH test, rather than the more advanced KORAD test, because it was for younger dogs — but since I haven’t seen anything original on either, but merely other people’s translations, I don’t want to be too dogmatic.
I liked how the tests were non-judgmental — the “scores” indicated what your dog did, but not whether or not that made it a good or a bad dog. This is good because different breeds should have different inherent qualities, and because what might make a wonderful Search dog (intense searching for the toy) might make a lousy pet dog (who destroys the couch after his ball rolls beneath it).
I’d heard some before, but the UDC workshop was the first time I’d seen it spelled out more clearly. I’d love to see more on this, eventually. 🙂