The Campbell Puppy Test Auburn NY

A dog’s personality can be observed at a very young age. Is he dominant? Submissive? A comfortable medium? Knowing where your puppy falls on that range can help greatly when you decide to train him.

One might say that the Campbell Puppy Test will help you to pick the perfect animal. This is wholly inaccurate. The test merely allows you to pick a dog that has a generally agreeable personality (not too dominant, not too submissive) and that is mentally sound. There is no perfect animal, just as there is no perfect human and regardless, dog training is considered affected and driven 70% by the trainers experience and personality and only 30% by the dog’s.

Before the Test

Make sure before you perform the puppy test that the dog is in a space not familiar to the dog and where there are no outside distractions to pull the puppy’s attention from the test.

At the age of 5 to 7 weeks, a puppy’s personality is mostly set, but they are not completely attached to humans. This is the optimal time range to perform the puppy test.

To avoid potentially inaccurate results, the test should be given by someone who has not met the dog before.

The Puppy Test

Below is the guidelines to follow to administer the Campbell Puppy Test. This test is not the only puppy test in existence, but is generally accepted as an accurate test to determine the personality type of your puppy.

There are 5 areas the test focuses on:

• Social Attraction

• Response to Obligation

• Social Domination

• Facility to Follow

• Acceptance to be Lifted

To gauge social attraction, the tester merely sits several feet from the puppy and observes its reactions. Does the dog follow the tester? If it does come, what is its body language, is its tail held high or is it low? Does the dog run away? Does he check out the testing room?

To observe the puppy’s response to obligation, the dog is placed on his back and held down by his chest with the tester’s flat palm. How does the animal react? Does he squirm angrily or try to bite the hand holding him down? Does he protest at first but calm eventually? Does he lay quietly or try to lick the hand holding him down?

To test the puppy’s tendency toward or away from social domination, the tester should simply sit with the puppy and pet him. The puppy may try to run away or may roll onto his back. Does he lick the tester’s hands or bite them? Does he crawl onto the tester?

The dog’s facility to follow should be judged by the tester placing the puppy near him and then walking a few feet away. Does the puppy follow or wander off by himself? Does he eagerly follow and jump on the tester, or maybe even nip at his ankles? Does he follow closely or from a distance?

The last thing tested is the dog’s acceptance to be lifted. To do this, the tester should lift the dog away from him only by his chest, making sure the puppy doesn’t see him. Does the dog stay calm or try to lick the tester’s hands? Does he seem anxious and struggle or try to bite the tester’s hands? Does he squirm at first, but eventually calm down?

The way the puppy reacts to these small tests will give you a general feel for whether the dog has a more dominant personality, a submissive one or if he’s somewhere in the middle. The first time or beginner dog owner should try to avoid choosing a dog that is one extreme or the other. An overly dominant or submissive dog will require specific and advanced training from a someone who is familiar with training animals.

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