Puppy aptitude testing

[M. and Mila]

Did you have your puppy temperament tested before adopting him/her ? Fast forward now,how do you think that helped and did your dog grow 'true' to it ?

Would love to hear your stories !

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

We didn't have temperament testing done on either of our doods. However, their breeder was spot on with predicting their temperaments in both cases very early on (by 5 weeks old). Lucy being more 'spirited' (read as, 'stubborn', 'sensitive' and 'playful') and Oscar being very mellow (read as, 'easy to groom', 'easy to train' and 'a big cuddler'). I think an experienced breeder can see what temperaments will be like early on.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This will be an interesting thread to follow.  No temperament testing done on my dogs - as for Ned, we chose the one who charmed the sox off us.

[Kris and Sawyer]

Sawyer had temperament testing. He's 5 months old now and so far exactly what the testing predicted. We picked him based on that testing. We are new dog owners so we wanted a mellow but smart dog. We've been very lucky. I'm curious if the whole litter turned out that way though as we've been told english goldendoodles tend to be mellow anyway. The vet has commented a few times how calm he is and that he has not had that experience with goldendoodle puppies. So who knows?

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

I've heard people saying this so many times: oh, your dogs are so calm; goldendoodles are usually so very wild. Again, I think it all goes back to trying to pick the right puppy and training your puppy. Even if the puppy turns out to be totally different from what the breeder promised, training always goes a long way. Any dog will be wild and unruly without the proper training and attention. 

[Kris and Sawyer]

Agreed. Even our breeder said that no matter the temperament testing, training was more important. Sawyer was very easy to train, but I've also been on top of it from day one! :-)

[Sally S Miles]

I have found a good number of sites touting the calm nature of a Goldendoodle - my own is very calm most of the time and only gets wild when she gets excited.  She is fourteen months old and we have been wowed by how calm she has been - but training keeps her that way.

No testing with her litter,  I chose her based on gut and personal observation.

[Deborah Brown]

Our breeder said he couldn't identify temperament traits because the pups stayed with their mother who kept them all in line.  We were looking a sweet demure little girl and wound up with a hellion.  Of course, in hindsight, I realize I should have been more persistent but you know how it is when you have your heart set on a puppy.

[M. and Mila]

I know some breeders don't perform any tests yet they can predict a puppy's temperament very well due to experience and knowing their dogs but then there are also very experienced breeders that like to go by the book and are very rigorous,which I like a lot(on contacting a very reputable US breeder we were presented with the testing scores right from the beginning,puppies were described to the last detail etc etc..unfortunately shipping and paperwork were a headache and we gave up) 

Testing helps especially if you are going to have the puppy shipped,meaning you cannot visit the premises/see the parents etc...You could either trust your breeder 100% and let her match the puppy without testing or test and have a say in the process..it's hard.

I modified the initial post because I felt kind of dumb to question my own decision to trust VAT's accuracy- of course it is accurate,otherwise it wouldn't be used anymore. I have my doubts and worries but I think it is the best I could have done for the moment..time will tell though.Sigh.

 

 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Just remember that puppies will act totally different when they are 7 weeks old and their mom is around. As opposed to being with their new family and realizing this is their home now. I have two doodles and with both I did wonder whether I picked the right puppy. This buyers remorse happened only during the first few weeks after bringing the puppy home. You are tired and cranky since puppies are just being puppies. That stage, fortunately, goes by pretty fast. So temperament testing or not, it's important that we work with our puppies and teach them how to become the best friends we've ever had.

[Wendy and Myla]

Myla was temperament tested - Our breeder does that at 7 weeks of age so we had no idea which puppy from a litter of 12 that we would get.  We requested a smaller (preferably 50-55 lbs) female that was red. We told the breeder that I was retired and DH semi-retired, we were very active as far as hiking and kayaking and that we had small grandchildren with another on the way, whom we saw regularly. Myla was picked for us at 7 1/2 weeks old.  I was leary of temperament testing but I was very happy with the breeder and trusted her to make the choice for us.  When we went to pick Myla up there was another female puppy who was available as the owners decided to wait for the next litter and she was definitely redder.  I did want a red puppy so our breeder went to check the temperament papers and told us that she would not be as good a match as Myla as her temperament test showed that she would not be as good with very small children. I didn't really understand as we had picked the breeder because of the  temperament of her dogs and she explained that the other pup was just more timid and if the grandchildren accidently dropped her for example she would be more traumatized and need more work to be around them again.  That made sense to me and we brought Myla home.  Now this makes it seem as if Myla was second choice and hurts my heart to even state this but at the time, I wanted a redder doodle.  Now, Myla is perfect!  and the funny thing is that she has gotten redder with her adult coat!  I am so glad that I trusted the breeder to make the choice for us.  Myla has gotten to be 60 pounds and will probably stay around this weight.  She is our heart dog and there is absolutely nothing that we would change.  She is great with the grandkids (still a bit hyper with them) and goes everywhere with us and will do anything to please us!  I do believe that all of the puppies from that litter would be awesome but the temperament testing just gave an edge as to who to place each puppy with and make it just that bit easier for each family to train their particular puppy.  I would add that you have to choose your breeder according to health testing and temperament and once you've chosen your breeder, you have to trust her to make the best decision for you and give her a lot of information about what you expect in advance. 

[Moe]

No official temperament testing but our pup was the runt of the litter so she received extra bottle feeding from the beginning. Then she had to have surgery at 6 weeks to correct an inguinal hernia. The breeder said the people at the vet carried her everywhere because she was so tiny and cute. I was really worried about getting a dog that had been sickly. The breeder said the pup would probably be more people focused because of the constant handling when she was so tiny. At the time I thought she was just trying to reassure me but really Charlie is the most people focused dog I've ever known. She makes eye contact all the time and is always in tuned with what is going on with her humans. She was so easy to train.

<3 my pup!!!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Our breeder does temperament testing after week 7, right before the pick-up day. The first time around we were choosing from 3 boys. I've seen their pictures and going in, I had my heart set on Monty (I know, something that you are not supposed to do). Fortunately, all three boys tested very similar, with Monty being a tad more stubborn. And he really is. This was my first time picking a puppy.

The second time around, we had a pick of the litter from 5 boys. By this time, I knew what questions to ask and what to look for, thanks to DK. Honestly, my only question to the breeder was "which one is the most mellow one?"  And she pointed at two puppies that were sitting politely in the puppy pen investigating us, while the other three puppies were jumping up and down for attention. So we took those two out and spent a little time with them. The red one was little bit stand-offish and investigated the environment before coming closer to us. The blond one took his time to slowly investigate, but warmed up a bit faster to us. I knew I did not want a red one, so we went with the blond puppy. Fast forward even few days and this mellow pup Auggie turned into a little devil after he realized he was home. He was a handful, but I can clearly see how mellow he is. He is VERY playful and loves to investigate, not scared of anything, and a social butterfly when he is around Monty or another dogs. When he is alone or in training, he is VERY patient and calm. It's like having Dr. Jakyll and Mr. Hide in one puppy. But at the same time, when we met Auggie's real brother, I could definitely see how much more mellow Auggie was even during play time. 

I think the temperament testing was spot on for both of our doodles. Yes, puppies grow up and change, but some traits definitely remain.