To say that the last few weeks of raising puppies is exhausting is an understatement. For all of you who have raised children, it is like raising a newborn through toddlerhood in the fast forward span of only 8 weeks. 9 of them. At once. I guess the saving grace is that it is only 8 weeks and really only the last 4 that get really intense. Once Lucy steps out of the picture, I’m the one getting up to check on who is howling at 2:30 in the morning and wondering who was doing it at 11pm and why on earth someone is now whining at 5:30am! We started potty training this week. Which in some ways helps immensely with the indoor clean up but it does require me to be a bit more vigilant with when puppies woke from naps, how long has it been since they ate and what time do I want to remove the water before bed?? Not to mention the constancy of cleaning up the accidents, picking up “dangerous” items that could be swallowed, or things that I'm not really interested in them chewing (like the wall, for example - I wish I was joking), and putting everyone down for naps (at least they all do that at once!). My house is a mess, I have no idea what’s for dinner, and my kids are definitely educating themselves at this point. But, like raising kids, the reward is great and the hard work and effort totally worthwhile.
And in the midst of all this chaos, puppy testing begins! We use the Volhardt Puppy Testing method. It was developed back in the 1930’s and revamped in the 60’s for the purpose of placing guide dogs and eventually personal homes. These are the testing elements:
1. Social Attraction - degree of social attraction to people, confidence or dependence.
2. Following - willingness to follow a person.
3. Restraint - degree of dominant or submissive tendency, and ease of handling in difficult situations.
4. Social Dominance - degree of acceptance of social dominance by a person.
5. Elevation - degree of accepting dominance while in a position of no control, such as at the veterinarian or groomer.
6. Retrieving - degree of willingness to do something for you. Together with Social Attraction and Following a key indicator for ease or difficulty in training.
7. Touch Sensitivity - degree of sensitivity to touch and a key indicator to the type of training equipment required.
8. Sound Sensitivity - degree of sensitivity to sound, such as loud noises or thunderstorms.
9. Sight Sensitivity - degree of response to a moving object, such as chasing bicycles, children or squirrels.
10. Stability - degree of startle response to a strange object.
A lot of breeders use this method. However, I have alway had a bit of a hard time putting the puppy into a box based on the 7 minutes with a total stranger after a rather terrifying ride in the back of a car to an unknown location (I mean, by 7 weeks they haven’t had too many car rides yet). It feels a little antiquated to me. Not only that but the assessment should be performed on the 49th day of a puppy’s life exactly. Any more or less taints the results. For example, this litter’s test had to be done a few days before the 49th and it is still within the puppy’s “fear period” during their 6 weeks. I believe that is why several of them seemed more fearful than I expected. The chances that I have the opportunity to do the testing on the exact 49th day is slim. So take this with a grain of salt. They do provide some insight, because often I’m a bit surprised by a certain puppy’s behavior during the test so it does tell me some things. But I like to include my own assessment using the same tests to give people a visual of what your puppy will begin to look like once it begins to trust you and sees you as their person. What you see in these tests are the baseline - what you will have to work with once the puppy leaves me and you take over.
My good friend and fellow breeder (of labs) has been my go to for a lot of advice and support and she has been kind enough to help me with the puppy testing in her home. And so we stuffed them all into the back of the suburban in my big crate and once the rather bewildered puppies arrived, we put them into her outdoor run, shivering with nervous anticipation as they wondered what on earth was going on.
Several hours of terrible videography later, we had them all tested and adequately agitated except for the few that appeared to have an iron constitution. Now before me is a mountain of data and notes to compile into some kind of sense for everyone who is purchasing a puppy! But this breeding/conservation effort that I have found myself part of has become both fascinating and fulfilling. Something to fill the days that are coming when they are no longer filled with children and homeschool.
Puppy picking has begun!
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