Puppy failed temperament test for food aggression

I will preface this by saying I have no formal training in temperament testing.

What I have is some reading, two experiences as a tester, and some common  sense. It is my opinion that the kind of testing involving a fake hand prodding  a puppy should have no validity or predictability as the sole indicator for a life or death sentence. Using that kind of test in puppies might lead to a lot of them being declared food aggressive (or even people aggressive) while they are just acting the way puppies do; reacting to stimulus, getting aroused in play mode and  investigating the stimulus with their mouths. When you say that the people conducting this kind of testing might or might not have had training, I am getting worried.

A few articles that you might find interesting on the subject :

http://smartdogs.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/assess-a-hands-and-toddler-dolls/  - some of the comments are worth reading

http://www.maddiesfund.org/Documents/Resource%20Library/Temperament%20Testing%20Presentation%20Notes.pdf - comparison among several kinds of assesments

http://www.nokillbc.com/testing.php - more opiniated but still interesting IMO

We have way more experienced people than I am on the board and I hope they will chime in.

Yes. You are correct - the behaviors CAN be worked with, even with an adult dog. What you have to remember, working for a humane society - you are responsible for the dogs your shelter releases. While the behavior can be worked with, finding the proper home TO do the work is hard. Not everyone is willing to adopt a dog with issues. Should that dog be adopted an the family not work on the issues - you're going to have a much bigger problem on your hands. There's a fine line to determining which dogs should be worked with, and which resources should be spent helping dogs with minimal issues. I have a dog who has food issues, and it has taken 4 years to make him trust worthy. Would I willingly adopt another dog with food aggression? Not likely. Do I have the training to work on it? You bet.

My department at the shelter where I work is responsible for the temp testing. We generally don't test pups under 4 months old unless we see a serious issue. We don't get a lot of puppies surrendered to us and they get adopted rather quickly. There is less of a risk to adopt out a puppy who is food aggressive then an older dog who could severely damage a person.

Temperament is different than behavior. Behavior can be modified, temperament can only be managed. The person doing the temperament test should have a strong background in reading dog body language. Is the puppy exhibiting a behavior or is this something the dog will always have, what influences the dog to act this way? Does your shelter do a risk assessment when considering the severity of the food aggression by looking at age and breed type? Each shelter is going to have their own rules and what works at one shelter may not work at another. Maybe your shelter does have to be more selective. I know it can be frustrating seeing a cute puppy not be given a chance for something like this but there is some liability to consider. I know all to well that feeling.

Remember, it is not the fault of the dog, it was the breeder who didn't take into account that temperament is bred into a dog, that food aggression is something passed down. This puppy only exists because of some irresponsible person failing to do the right thing. Each and every dog the shelter adopts out has to be a suburb example of what the shelter has to offer. Each dog that goes out into the public represents the shelter and if the dog they adopt out has issues then that makes the shelter look bad, loose funding or create unwanted attention.

MissE

I work at a humane society where temperament testing is performed to determine whether or not a dog can be placed up for adoption. I know of puppies as young as 5 weeks old failing for food aggression! The most recent puppy is a 3 month old small breed dog. The people who did the temperament test video taped her biting and growling at the fake hand. I feel as though some puppies, especially with large litters, have to fight with siblings to get milk from the mother. Is this behavior the cause for so called food aggression in these young pups? Can a 5 week old puppy really be food aggressive? I understand with training this behavior can be corrected but dogs, including puppies, are not given the chance for training. I wish someone with dog behavioral training could shed some light on this subject, for I do not know how much training the individuals performing these tests have...

 

Yes I do think it is possible for young dogs to "fail" this test.  I have seen some lines of working German shepherds that are bred for very serious *work* that demonstrate high levels of social aggression as young dogs but this is exactly what the breeder is looking for, a high level of tenacity, food drive, and social aggression.  Neither of mine are this way and this is not a trait I look for since I always keep multiple dogs and don't separate them so I don't want food fights (though none of my dogs will allow another dog to come over and start eating, they can all eat side by side and I can absolutely reach in and do anything I want).  In general I don't tolerate any aggression toward the handler.

I agree with Xebby that temperament is genetic.  Whether or not you can "fix" food aggression depends on what you're really looking at.  Hard to say without knowing more about the breed, the genetics, etc. Like Thalie said, "reading" a baby puppy is not the same as an adult.

I think the question that humane societies ask themselves is a bit different than the one we might ask of ourselves if we are experienced dog enthusiasts or trainers - they don't just ask can we fix it, they ask will the dog and the humans all be OK wherever we decide to place this pup.  Shelters have a huge liability issue that makes placing questionable puppies or dogs a very relevant point for discussion, which is why temperament tests, for better or worse, were invented.  If we accept the premise that, just as there are human sociopaths, there are just as likely to be dangerous puppies born, and that hey are NOT the norm by any means, we have to accept that we need to try to standardize some way to pluck them out of the stream of pups headed in to unsuspecting average pet homes.  That said, I would not fail a puppy that bites a fake hand with its incisors.  The puppy that envelops and bites the fake hand by clamping down with its molars and shaking the hand vigorously, without any inclination to let go, might be a whole other ball game.  I think it was Sue Sternberg (love her or hate her, some of her observations are very intelligent) who had videotape of such a pup on her DVD "Dangerous Puppies, Dangerous Dogs" and you really see the difference in intent between innocent puppy stuff and a pup that might have screw loose.  We always feel more sorrow when puppies are unsound than we do about dogs because we just can't bring ourselves to think that we can't manipulate the outcome.  But, again, who is going to do the training or behavior modification on this pup, and is the average pet home even able to do it if it can, indeed, even be done.  Not everything is fixable.  A puppy is always roughly 30% influenced by genetics, and temperament is a huge issue because it cannot be modified.  Behavior can, but there is always a threshold somewhere for the aggression to be triggered.  A knowledgeable dog person might be able to work under the dog's threshold and keep an aggressive dog, through behavior mod and management, from ever biting anyone.  Think the average pet home can control the circumstances as well?  You're dreaming;-))   The real issue is that we must try as hard as we can to get the *diagnosis* right, and not mistakenly think that the incisor-biting pup who is merely trying to get his fair share of the food is the same as the pup who might be at the shelter in the first place because the breeder *knew* the pup was nuts and turned it in because they didn't want to accept the responsibility of paying to euthanize.  Hard reality in the shelter/rescue world is that adopters are mostly average nice people with families who have neither the ability, nor the desire, to deal with a problem puppy.  My suggestion is that if there is any question at all over what the temperament testers are seeing, that you ask the shelter director to insist that all evaluations be taped.  That way, you can slow the tape down to see how the dog is biting the hand, not just IF the dog is biting the hand.  The answer to your question is that young puppies CAN be food aggressive, but the ones whose bites are incisor bites can generally be effectively rehabilitated using a protocol like Jean Donaldson's.  The others are a different ballgame, IMO, because it isn't learned behavior that is the issue, it's temperament, and that isn't as malleable.  Perhaps your shelter could benefit from seeing the Sternberg video.  Or, perhaps from exposure to Open Paw or other shelter education programs based in the latest science.. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/open-paw-shelter-manual/310645

 At the place I volunteered, we had to watch that video for our training.  Since it is not a no-kill shelter, but only euth's more extreme aggression (the shelter does not automatically put down dogs with DA) or when quality of life is so low (the shelter has adopted dogs with missing legs, eyes, etc, old dogs, HW+ dogs) they had us watch those vids to see the difference.  We also had to watch a euthanasia video because they didn't want any volunteers who were 100% no-kill people.

 I think that's a great idea.  It's always good to view all perspectives - you never know what you will learn.  I call it "sleeping with the enemy" sometimes, but I still do it.  It's one reason why, even though I disagree with a lot of what he does, I have actually read CM's books (borrowed, not purchased lol).  You can't speak intelligently about something otherwise IMO.  Our local shelter is somewhat like that.  They are a no kill in theory, but they will euth for extreme or unpredictable aggression.  They haven't the resources for long drawn out behavior mod, but are building a new shelter and will soon have a training room:-))  I'm glad, because even if it takes away some biz from me, at least the local residents, who mostly love and support the shelter, will train there instead of at the new Petco;-)) 

 

I work in the same shelter as Xebby as an adoption counselor.  We do some temp testing, usually when we are very full and they are falling behind.  While we do screen some breeds a lot stricter, food aggression is something we will often work with.  We get a lot of pit bulls who are not supposed to be food aggressive, so if they are, they don't get put up for adoption.  Most of our dogs are pits so we do have to be very selective.  If it is a cute small dog or a lab or some other breed we don't see often, we spend some time working with the dog and we will typically not adopt these dogs out to homes with children.

We are not a "no kill" shelter, but an open door shelter.  We will accept any animal, but if it fails the temp test or shows aggression in the kennel, then it is euthanized.  We are very full right now and that usually means we are even more strict with the dogs who make it out onto the floor, especially the pitties.  Generally our pits stay an average of 36 days before they are adopted, so we need to make sure they have the temperament to withstand being in a noisy, commotion-filled kennel for that amount of time.

As Xebby said, we don't usually test the puppies under four months.  We do have the luxury of having a great staff, many of whom will spend their free time with new dogs on the floor or dogs who have been there for an extended period, so many of the dogs' issues can be noticed and worked with and then we can pass that information on to adopters.

 I even have nothing to add