Character test for dogs (Germany)

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A dog temperament test is a test used to assess behavioral traits (the “essence” and “character”) of a dog. Such tests have long played a role in dog breeding, as well as in the selection of potential service dogs . They were also the subject of reports for dogs that had become suspicious. After there was increased media coverage and great public interest in some attacks by dogs on people who were injured and in some cases even killed in the process, character tests were introduced by law in Germany. In most federal states , dog ordinances and dog laws have been passed that impose a test of the dog's behavioral characteristics on the owner of a dog from certain breeds. The administrative court of Giessen coined the terms list dog and aggression dog in a judgment . Such dogs are - depending on the relevant state law - usually required to undergo character tests.

Goal of the test

The aim of these tests is to explore the specifics in the behavior of the individual animals in order to identify currently dangerous dogs. A long-term prognosis of the future behavior of an animal is fraught with great uncertainties, since the behavior depends above all on the circumstances of the keeping. Every dog ​​can be trained to be an aggressive dog, but no successful character test helps either. In the case of listed dogs, however, the alleged genetic increase in aggression can be checked, since this is generally either present or not. In the federal state of Hesse , this test must be repeated after four years.

Execution and consequences of the test

The term 'character test' is neither protected nor standardized. From the large variety of so-called character tests and behavior tests, the character test according to the Lower Saxony Dog Law (formerly Lower Saxony Dangerous Animal Ordinance, GefTVO) stands out. This test, which was developed by NETTO and PLANTA in 1997, long before the so-called "fighting dog discussion" in 2000, was further developed by specialist scientists based on knowledge of behavioral and veterinary medicine.

The Lower Saxon character test has the following features:

  • Implementation by a veterinarian with a prescribed minimum duration of training in dog behavior
  • Pre-test the dog for sedatives and illnesses that could affect behavior
  • complete documentation of the entire test process on video
  • all test items are run through at least twice
  • the examining veterinarian directs his undivided attention to a dog to be examined at all times
  • Written documentation of each test station that can be used in court with detailed information on the expressive behavior of the animal
  • standardized test procedure without the possibility of arbitrarily adding or leaving out test situations
  • Points system for the scientific evaluation of the results

Certain veterinarians are authorized by the Lower Saxony state government to carry out the Lower Saxony character test. The approval can be revoked if the inspection reveals objections during the implementation. For control purposes, the video recordings and the associated behavioral reports can be checked by a control authority.

Most of the character tests in Lower Saxony were carried out by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover . The implementation takes one day and costs € 400 including the preparation of the report, which typically comprises 7 to 8 pages.

In other federal states , the test is often carried out as a standardized short test and a visual inspection of the dog by a representative of the local regulatory office who is well versed in behavioral biology . Regulations, tests and the consequences for the owner and animal if the dog fails the test vary from state to state. The sanctions can ultimately lead to the confiscation of the dog.

In various dog breeding associations, events are held for the association's affiliated breeders , at which breeding dogs are examined by commissioned members. This process is also called the character test . In contrast to the Lower Saxon character test, essential elements are missing here, such as the veterinarian quality of the examiner, the threatening situations and the video recording. Instead, some breed-specific or usage-typical dispositions are assessed, such as B. instinct or shot resistance. The report often only comprises one page and has no function outside the association.

Content of the character test

The Lower Saxon character test consists of the main components

  1. Dog-human contact
  2. Dog-environment-contact
  3. Dog-dog contact and
  4. obedience

Important individual tasks include a. to the first section:

  • Presumptuous gestures (laying hands on back and head, grasping the muzzle)
  • Staring ( threatening fixation )
  • Confrontation with several people using a white cane and walking stick
  • Confrontation with joggers and people who act like drunks and smell of alcohol
  • Some people come up to the dog (not aimed) and stay next to him with body contact (elevator situation)
  • A person lies on the floor (or crouches down) and stands up abruptly when the owner and dog do the test walk (distance 2 m).
  • A person angrily yells at the dog.

The second section includes these tasks:

  • An umbrella is opened up immediately in front of the dog
  • Biking bicycles and honking cars must be passed
  • A stroller with baby noises is pushed past
  • A test person walks up to the dog, yells at him
  • A person threatens the dog with a stick
  • A person walks towards the dog with a lit lighter

The third section includes these tasks:

  • Two dogs pass the examinee
  • Confrontation with a same-sex dog behind a fence.
  • The dog to be tested is isolated by the owner (privacy screen) and tied around 2 m in front of the fence and confronted with a same-sex dog.

The fourth section of the test tasks contains various everyday tasks as test situations, such as calling the dog from the free range, executing the commands “sit” and “down” and giving out a toy (ball) on command.

This list of tasks is only an excerpt from the Lower Saxony character test lasting several hours.

Evaluation of dog behavior in the character test

In particular, it is about testing the dog's reaction to stimuli that are known to trigger aggressive behavior in dogs. Aggressive behavior is a normal part of social behavior in dogs too. Dogs that growl or bark in adequately threatening or frightening situations are not generally classified as dangerous.

Dog owners must be able to regulate the aggressive behavior of their dogs, so that no annoyance or even endangerment of people and / or other dogs occurs. Dogs must be able to encounter appropriate stimuli without the situation escalating.

The aim of the Lower Saxon character test is to find out dogs with disrupted social behavior, in particular an unacceptable (inadequate) aggressive behavior (lack of escalation levels), because they are an increased risk potential for their environment due to the disorder of their social behavior shown.

In the sometimes extreme provocations, such as shouting at the dog or threatening with a stick, adequate aggressive behavior (such as growling, threatening barking) is to be rated as normal. It is important that the behavior is shown in stages. The Lower Saxon character test is still passed, for example, if a dog barks during the task of being threatened by a stranger or, when threatening with a stick, shows threats, growls with a submissive display and pulls on the leash.

A corresponding report on a test dated March 5, 2002 shows:

“In situation 5 (staring) the bitch jumps in the direction of the test person and barks once. She immediately turns away, shows sniffing and digging on the ground and then makes contact with the test person.
In situation 29 (threat with stick) the bitch reacts with optical and acoustic threat signals (threatening fixation, growling) with a submissive display (ears put back) and pulling on the leash in the direction of the test person. When the situation is tested again with the muzzle, the bitch evades the test person and does not show any aggressive signals.
The dog's threatening behavior can still be classified as appropriate to the situation with regard to the stimulus offered and thus in a range that is normal for a dog.
No aggressive signals can be observed in the other dog-human and dog-environment contacts.
In the test situation on March 5th, 2002, no indications of disturbed or inadequately aggressive behavior in the sense of the GefTVO of July 5th, 2000 could be observed in the bitch. "

(The GefTVO is the Lower Saxony ordinance on keeping dangerous animals - Dangerous Animal Ordinance - of July 5, 2000, which was later replaced by laws, see Dog Laws .)

Points system for the Lower Saxony character test

Negative points are awarded depending on the difficulty of the exercise and the dog behavior shown. Simple exercises are considered with higher multipliers, difficult exercises with a simple multiplier. Slightly aggressive behavior by the dog, e.g. B. growling, is rated with 2 negative points, snapping at a distance with 3, biting attempts with 5 and calming the animal only after 10 minutes with 7 negative points. The point system enables an easier statistical evaluation of the test results.

Development from 2000 to 2005

The character test for dogs was introduced by law in Germany after increased media coverage and great public interest in some attacks by dogs on people who were injured and in some cases even killed. The media coverage mostly concentrated on so-called attack dogs, so that the public opinion arose that deaths from dog bites were largely caused by dogs of the so-called fighting dog breeds. The media coverage, on the other hand, left z. B. Excludes two deaths from Rottweiler and one death from a Labrador Retriever in the same year.

In July 2000 all federal states - with the exception of Thuringia - created or expanded so-called rattle lists with dog breeds that were assumed to be genetically based on aggressiveness. Since then, the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony have abolished these rascal lists again. In contrast, in the same period in Bavaria, for example, the breed list was significantly expanded and now includes a. also the German breed Rottweiler.

While in 2000 in the 15 federal states almost exclusively so-called list dogs were tested with breed lists, today in three of 16 federal states only dogs that are actually conspicuous have to be tested for character. These suspicious dogs show a significantly higher failure rate in the character test than those dogs that had to be tested because of their breed.

The Lower Saxony state parliament justified the abolition of the breed list with findings from the scientific evaluation by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. The dissertations published in this context show that the failure rate in listed dogs is not significantly higher than in a comparison group of dogs of the Golden Retriever breed. Tina Johann wrote in her dissertation in 2004: “In this study, when comparing the breeds American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier, Doberman, Rottweiler, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and pit bull type dogs with the control group of Golden Retrievers, no difference was found in the occurrence of inappropriately aggressive behavior detected. It is therefore not ethologically justifiable that certain breeds of dogs are discriminated against by the legislator and society. ”“ The results show that it is not legitimate to discriminate against certain breeds and to subject them to the prohibitions and restrictions of so-called rattle lists. Rather, a competent, professionally educated and responsible dog owner should be promoted in our society, because this is an effective measure to prevent behavior problems in domestic dogs. ”Another work came to the conclusion that the dog breed Bull Terrier, previously considered one of the four dangerous Dog breeds was established, showed a below-average tendency to aggression in comparison with other dog breeds.

The dogs that were required to take part in the Lower Saxony character test between 2000 and 2005 due to actual abnormalities were mainly sheepdogs and mixed breeds.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ VG Giessen, judgment of July 26, 2004 - 10 E 1882/04
  2. ↑ Hazard Defense Ordinance on keeping and leading dogs (Dog Ordinance)
  3. ↑ Lower Saxony Regulations Information System (NI-VORIS): Ordinance on Keeping Dangerous Animals (Dangerous Animals Ordinance - GefTVO) of July 5, 2000
  4. ↑ Tina Johann: Investigation of the behavior of Golden Retrievers in comparison to the dogs classified as dangerous in the character test according to the Lower Saxony Hazardous Animal Ordinance of 05.07.2000. Hanover, University of Veterinary Medicine, dissertation, 2004, p. 75 ( full text online )
  5. ↑ Tina Johann: Investigation of Behavior ... Hannover, Diss. 2004, p. 78
  6. ↑ Jennifer Hirschfeld: Investigation of a Bull Terrier breed line for hypertrophy of aggressive behavior. Hanover, University of Veterinary Medicine, dissertation, 2005 ( full text online )

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