A temperament evaluation is typically conducted by observing and analyzing a dog's responses to a variety of stimuli. Certain responses to certain stimuli tell us many things about a dog's "personality." For instance, we can develop a good sense of a dog's trainability by testing its responses to such things as loud noises, rapidly moving objects, being physically handled and restrained, and so on. However, it's usually impossible to test a dog's reaction to every conceivable stimulus it may encounter, or every environment in which a stimulus may be encountered. Although a dog may interact exceptionally well with twenty strange people during a test session, it's not to say that it will interact well with every strange person it may happen to come in contact with. The dog may be uncomfortable around someone who's drunk a little too much alcohol, or a little too much coffee for that matter. The dog may not act appropriately toward people at a bustling train station or airport. And just because a dog shows good manners in the presence of a realistic-looking doll, doesn't mean it won't go attack some small child. A standard temperament evaluation can not account for how a dog will behave in all scenarios.
This dog is named J-Lo.
J-Lo is a female American Pit Bull Terrier, and one of the finest dogs I've ever had the pleasure of working with. She loves adults and children alike, is friendly with virtually every dog she meets, is highly trainable, is a dog which demonstrates what a typical temperament test would likely determine as being an "ideal" disposition.
But J-Lo does have one issue which may not be detected by such a test...
The first time J-Lo was adopted from the shelter, her new owners called a short time after taking her home and complained that they had left her alone in their car for a few minutes, and when they returned she refused to allow them back inside the vehicle. An animal control officer was dispatched to the scene, and J-Lo was returned to the shelter. People -myself included- who'd spent some time around this dog found the story very difficult to believe. We all agreed that the adopters must have misinterpreted J-Lo's behavior, or exaggerated the truth of the matter for whatever reason.
It wasn't long before J-Lo was adopted to a different couple who seemed extremely happy with her...
...for about eight hours. Again, the dog had been left alone inside her adopters' car and apparently was guarding it ferociously, preventing them from re-entering. This time I was summoned to go assess the situation. When I arrived I discovered a dog much different than the sweet, friendly angel I'd grown so fond of. This "Mrs. Hyde" version displayed a viciousness as profound as any I'd ever seen as I approached her vehicular fortress. Some dogs can bluff a person with a performance that might warrant a canine Oscar, but J-Lo wasn't bluffing; she had every intent to do me bodily harm if I had shown the poor judgement to reach in and grab her collar. I opened the car door and tried to coax her out because I was quite confident that she'd revert back to her affable self once she was outside the vehicle. She wasn't going for it. She was determined to stay right there and guard that car with the tenacity of a bengal tiger. Finally an AC officer provided me with a catch pole which I used to remove J-Lo from the vehicle, and, sure enough, she instantly transformed back into the dog we all loved.
Temperament tests aren't designed to detect such abstruse behaviors. More often than not they're implemented for the purpose of confirming a behavior that is already obvious to anyone who knows a thing or two about dogs. In a shelter environment, dogs that display any sort of aggression are usually considered "high-risk," and promptly euthanized. This helps make room for the most benevolent of dogs, the ones who seem the least likely to present an average adopter with agonistic behavioral issues. Temperament testing is a common tool for weeding out all but the best candidates for adoption, but with aggression being such a complex and contingent behavior, the predictive value of such an evaluation cannot be relied upon to the extent that one can provide anything more than a "best guess" as to how a dog will behave once it goes home with an adopter. Furthermore, a dog that's been caged in a shelter with three hundred other animals for four months may miserably fail a temperament evaluation due to the extreme stress of its living conditions, yet may be a dog-owner's dream once it's reintroduced into a stable home environment.
Temperament testing is very useful in that it can give us a basic idea of a dog's general disposition, but beyond that, it's up to us to strive to know and understand our dogs through the same guiding sense that's allowed us to harmoniously coexist with this wonderful species for the past thousands of years.
By the way, J-Lo was taken in by a rescue which is having no trouble managing her car-guarding issues.
Update 10/17/08: I wanted to share this photo of J-Lo at her new home
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