My friend Linda assisted me in assessing the temperaments/ personalities of Marli’s puppies and they are closer in most respects than I thought. All three have socialized nicely. It helps to have them exposed to lots of dogs at various ages as well as lots of different people and children.
Dillon went first. Over the past several weeks she has gone from being the “leader of the pack” to one that kind of held back and now to a wonderfully adjusted, yet lower keyed, than the other two.
She scored three 2’s, three 3’s and a 4 on the sound sensitivity. In other words, she is a confident and outgoing puppy that will respond well to human companionship but might require a more consistent hand in training.
Delilah was next. She scored four 3’s and three 4’s, making her slightly more social but not enough to make much of a difference. She also has displayed a more outgoing character than Dillon, but again, not anything close to what I would call wild.
Daffodil was kind of all over the map, scoring two 3’s, two 4’s, a 2 for Following, a 6 for Dominance, and a 1 for Sight Sensitivity. Of the three she is definitely the most energetic and outgoing. So, while she will make a fine pet she might not be the snuggle bug some are looking for.
So, none of the pups display overly excited behaviors. They play well and seem to take turns being “boss.”
If you’d like to read more about the Volhard Test, go to the February 19, 2014 posts.