24.05.2014

Repe made Finnish mental test ;-)

The test result was accepted and Repe was himself with happy tail up all the test long. But when test ladies (Puputti & Herranen) nore I could not get him to play it made his points lower in many test parts. They put his willingness of fighting to -3 that means no willingness at all and -30 points from total score. Repe is my fourth hovi who has made this test and no-one of them has played in test...  But with these judges it had the biggest meaning in their judging. The sledge was suspicious according to Repe and he was really commanding it and touched it only after I asked him to. That made his courage points -1 even though he showed good courage in dark room. Well we do have dark barns in the country but no one have ever threatened me or my dogs so that was really something new. Repe was a lot like his mother Sissi in this sledge test and other my dogs I cannot remember it is so long time ago. My dogs guard freely in our horse farm where also strange people come and go everyday and they really trust people and that is very important to me. They must be sure, friendly and have a good self control in every situation even though they are active in guradian duties otherwise they could not be farm guardians. Repe loves people and does not bother shooting and he is always in good spirit. These were the things that can be well seen in test otherwise I cannot find this testing and the judgement of judges valid. Part points were courage -1, sharpness +1, willingness to protect +1, fighting spirit -3 (with that result a dog cannot get a result in FH....), nervous system +1 (about 90% of dogs get this in 6-point score that means clearly that judges cannot evaluate this at all) moderately active +2, little soft +1, friendly +3, +++ sure in shooting, so totaly 75 points. All important parts were on + side and total points 75 that means that the result is accepted. Repe´s spirit was the same as in dog shows and he was not stressed at all afterwards.

This testing insured again my thought about Finnish menta test that I have already had for the last 10 years. These tests prefer soft/touchy dogs who react easily and  aggressively like an aggressive herding dogs. They do not prefer stabile and sure guradian dogs with good self control. Touchy and hyperactive herding dogs are the most popular breeds in working dog sports, agility etc. in Finland in every dg sport except FH. If I think my own 4 hovis that has made this test the correlation is negative according the test points and working dog capacity, the more powerfull and sure working dog the lesser points they have gained in this test. And I really have to say that the ideal dog of this test do not match my idea of ideal hovawart. And after this day I see it even more important to use working test result in breeding than this kind of mental test result.

People who know Repe were also suprised of his test points and they asked questions like how mental test judges are selected and trained and who supervise their work? These are good questions for everyone who belongs to a dog club can get her clu´s recommendation to the course of a judge. They do not have to be a professional dog trainers or have any kind of behavior related scholarship. And this course takes some weekends. And unfortunately no one has been interested enough to surch properly this test process and judging. Eight years ago my sister and me made a study of about the results of 800 hovis tested in this test. We are both masters in Psychology and have done personnel selection and testing fo living in our own company almost 20 years now. Our article of the results was published in Finnish hovawart magazine and it can be found in my breeder representation but only in Finnish. The Finnish mental test is in many ways very problematic but it is the only official test we have here.

As I mentioned I have taken all my dogs to this test when they have been 4 years of age. And Repe has had some foreign breeding interest also and in IHF regulation dogs need to have also tested with a mental test before international breeding permition. So now it is done :-) I loted Repe´s test videos in his working-dog.eu site so all interested can look them there. Now it is very warm +27 C here in Finland so it is time to concentrate in something else.
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