Hello,
Over the past weekend we entered Romy in a temperament test. The
chief tester said he passed with "flying colors" and so he will receive a TT
title. I wanted to share this with the group and also tell you more
about how he responded during the test.
For those of you who are not familiar with the test, there are 10
stations. The handler is there just to hold on to the leash and is not
allowed to interact with the dog in any way. The second station was
interesting...it was the friendly stranger. Well, Romy loves everyone
and everything. He really got into it. In about 10 seconds he was
encouraging play with the station worker doing "play bows" to invite
play.
The last three stations were also interesting. They were a wierd
stranger that then progressed into an aggressive stranger and finally a
threatening stranger (it all stops at about 10 feet away). Romy saw the
person come out from his blind and immediately stepped between me and the
stranger. He wagged his tail a bit...then when the stranger turned
aggressive he took a few more steps forward and got a very serious look upon
him...head held high, chest puffed up. Then when it escalated to a
threat, he again took another step forward to the end of his leash and more or
less said "bring it on!!!"...absolutely unafraid yet not aggressive to the
stranger. I am so proud of him!
Doesn't this sound just like what our beloved Pyrs are supposed to
do?
Later!
Keith, Soo, Dusty, and Romy (TT)