This article first appeared in the AKC Gazette.
Written by Marianne Sullivan

Ask most Collie people what their dog’s temperament is like; you’ll commonly hear “Oh, he has a wonderful temperament.” Pressed for an explanation, they’ll say he’s “sweet” or “smart” or “loves people.” We use the word temperament as a broad description, but it’s fraught with different interpretations. Child and early development behaviorists have sought to provide clear definitions in order to evaluate and measure temperament, which fortunately, we can also apply to our dogs. By understanding temperament, which are inherent, biological traits, we can then evaluate our dogs and determine what environmental and genetic influences can be used to encourage desired characteristics. Temperament is the reaction to the world, the hard wiring. Since it is inherent, we can never take it for granted or make excuses for poor temperament.

Temperament testing is a yardstick to help us evaluate individuals. Test the puppies at approximately 7 weeks, with an objective, unbiased tester who administers the test to the puppies in a consistent manner. The tester can be encouraging, but should not reactive positively or negatively, or demonstrate a bias towards a certain outcome. Breeders often say they know the temperament of their puppies, but separated from littermates and a new environment might provide surprising results.

The following characteristics can present themselves in varying degrees, and all of them can be observed in a temperament test or in real time situations. Awareness of activity level, reactivity, emotionality and sociability gives us a better picture of temperament. We can also look at older dogs and apply these same measures, however, it will be more difficult to assess if they are “temperament” or the result of environmental factors.

In this column I’ll begin by listing the first four aspects of temperament and in the next column I’ll include the last three.

  1. Activity level–what is the intensity or frequency of motion? Collies, especially in their first three years, can be very active while others tend to be more laid-back. This is important to know for future placement of the dog.
  2. Reactivity-when confronted with a new situation, does the dog approach or withdraw and how long he stays interested? If our dogs are going to be show or performance dogs, how quickly they adjust and either approach or withdraw in a new or different situation can be important.
  3. Emotionality-the degree to which positive or negative emotions are expressed. For example, shyness or fear as a negative emotion. We naturally want to see happy wagging tails, but if tails are tucked to the belly, or puppies are shaking, we know we must get to work on socializing that puppy to overcome his fear.
  4. Sociability-as canines, we measure this in pack drive; does the dog come to people and look for attention or is he more independent minded? Using the test, if a stranger calls the puppy, does he immediately come to the tester, hesitate, or not come at all? While typically people oriented, Collies can also range from very high pack drive to a more independent nature. A puppy with high sociability may not thrive if all family members work or endure kennel life. A more independent natured dog, for example, might do just fine.

The other characteristics are adaptability, distractibility and persistence. These, along with intelligence, will be discussed in the next column.