Puppy temperament testing is a structured way to observe how a young dog responds to people, touch, sound, and mild stress, giving you a snapshot of its personality before you bring it home. The most widely used method, the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test (PAT), involves 10 short exercises scored on a 1-to-6 scale and is designed to be done when puppies are exactly 49 days (7 weeks) old. While no puppy test perfectly predicts adult behavior, it can reveal meaningful tendencies in confidence, sensitivity, and willingness to engage with people.
What You Need Before You Start
Choose a quiet, unfamiliar space where the puppy has never been before. A spare room, garage, or fenced yard section works fine as long as it’s free of other dogs, toys, food, and distractions. The surface should be easy to walk on, not slippery tile or deep grass that makes movement awkward for a small puppy.
Gather a few simple items: a crumpled ball of paper or small soft toy for the retrieving test, a metal spoon and pan (or keys you can drop) for the sound test, a hand towel or cloth on a string for the sight test, and a pen and scoring sheet. That’s it. You don’t need elaborate equipment for a basic puppy evaluation.
The person running the test should be someone the puppy doesn’t know. Puppies already have associations with their breeder or caretaker, and familiar people skew the results. A neutral stranger gets the most honest reading of the puppy’s natural responses. The breeder can place the puppy in the testing area but should leave before the exercises begin.
The 10 Exercises and How to Run Them
Each exercise tests a different behavioral trait. Run them in order, score each one individually, and don’t average the scores. The point isn’t to rank puppies against each other but to understand each puppy’s personality profile.
Social Attraction
The breeder places the puppy in the testing area about four feet from you and walks away. Kneel down and gently coax the puppy toward you by clapping lightly or making encouraging sounds. You’re watching whether the puppy comes eagerly with its tail up, approaches cautiously with its tail down, or doesn’t come at all. A puppy that bounds over and jumps on you scores a 1 (very bold and assertive). One that comes readily with a wagging, upright tail scores a 2 or 3. A puppy that approaches with a low tail scores a 4, hesitant approach scores a 5, and a puppy that won’t come at all scores a 6.
Following
Stand up and walk slowly away from the puppy, encouraging it to follow. Make sure the puppy sees you leave. A puppy that follows immediately, gets underfoot, and nips at your feet is a 1. Following happily with tail up is a 3. Following with tail down is a 4. A puppy that refuses to follow or walks in the opposite direction scores a 6.
Restraint
Gently roll the puppy onto its back and hold it there with light pressure on its chest for 30 seconds. This reveals how the puppy handles being physically controlled, which matters for grooming, vet visits, and general handling. Fierce struggling and biting is a 1. Struggling that settles into calm with eye contact is a 3. No struggle at all, with the puppy avoiding your gaze, is a 6.
Social Dominance
Crouch beside the puppy and stroke it from head to back repeatedly. You’re looking at how it responds to gentle social pressure. A puppy that jumps up, paws, and mouths you scores a 1 or 2. Cuddling up and licking your face is a 3. Rolling over and licking your hands is a 5. Walking away and staying away is a 6.
Elevation
Cradle the puppy under its chest with both hands and lift it about two feet off the ground. Hold it there for 30 seconds. This puts the puppy in a position of zero control, similar to what happens at the vet or groomer. Fierce struggling with biting or growling scores a 1. No struggle and a relaxed body scores a 3. No struggle but freezing (going stiff and still) scores a 6, which indicates a shutdown response rather than true relaxation.
Retrieving
Crumple a piece of paper into a ball and toss it a few feet in front of the puppy. This tests willingness to work with you. A puppy that chases, grabs the object, and runs away with it (keeping the prize for itself) is a 1. Chasing, picking it up, and bringing it back to you is a 3, the ideal response for trainability. Losing interest halfway is a 5. Ignoring the toss entirely is a 6.
Touch Sensitivity
Take the webbing between the puppy’s toes and press it gently, increasing pressure slowly until the puppy pulls away or reacts. Count the seconds. A puppy that tolerates 8 to 10 seconds before responding has low sensitivity (score of 1), while one that reacts within 1 to 2 seconds is highly sensitive (score of 6). This tells you what kind of training approach the puppy will need. Highly sensitive puppies do well with gentle, reward-based methods, while less sensitive puppies may need more enthusiasm and motivation to stay engaged.
Sound Sensitivity
Have someone out of the puppy’s sight make a sharp noise, like striking a metal pan with a spoon. Watch the reaction. Walking toward the sound with curiosity and a wagging tail is a 3. Locating the sound but staying put is a 4. Cringing, backing away, or hiding is a 5.
Sight Sensitivity
Tie a towel to a string and pull it across the floor a few feet from the puppy. You’re watching the response to unexpected movement. Curious investigation with an upright tail is a 3. Attacking and biting the object is a 1. Ignoring it completely or running from it falls at the higher end of the scale.
Stability
Open an umbrella about five feet from the puppy (or drop a book on the floor). This tests the startle response and, more importantly, recovery time. The key observation isn’t whether the puppy startles, since nearly all will, but how quickly it recovers and investigates the strange object.
How to Read the Scores
Scores are not added up or averaged. Instead, look at the pattern across all 10 tests. Each score falls on a spectrum from very assertive and bold (1) to very passive or disengaged (6).
A puppy scoring mostly 1s is extremely dominant, assertive, and likely to challenge its owner. These puppies need experienced handlers and firm, consistent training. They’re generally not a good fit for families with young children or first-time dog owners.
Mostly 2s indicate a confident, outgoing puppy with strong drive. These dogs often excel in working roles, competitive obedience, or active homes that can channel their energy. They still need clear leadership.
Mostly 3s represent the middle ground and are often considered the best fit for most pet homes. These puppies are adaptable, reasonably confident, eager to engage with people, and responsive to training. They tend to do well with children and adjust to different environments.
A profile of mostly 4s describes a more submissive, easy-going puppy that bonds well with people and responds to gentle encouragement. These puppies can be good for quieter households and generally get along well with everyone, though they may need extra confidence-building in new situations.
Mostly 5s suggest a puppy with significant shyness or sensitivity. These dogs often need patient socialization and a calm home environment. They may struggle with busy, unpredictable households.
Scores of 6 across multiple tests, especially in the social categories, can indicate a puppy that is disengaged from people. This could reflect extreme independence or, more concerning, deep fearfulness. A puppy that didn’t come to you, didn’t follow, didn’t struggle during restraint, and froze when lifted deserves a second evaluation and possibly a consultation with a veterinary behaviorist.
Mixed Score Profiles
Most puppies won’t score uniformly across all tests. A puppy might score a 2 on social attraction and following (bold, people-oriented) but a 5 on sound sensitivity (noise-shy). That’s useful information. It tells you the puppy is naturally social but may need careful, gradual exposure to loud environments like city streets, construction, or fireworks.
Pay special attention to the combination of social attraction, following, and retrieving. Together, these three tests are the strongest indicators of trainability and willingness to work cooperatively with a person. A puppy that came to you eagerly, followed you, and brought the crumpled paper back is showing a natural desire to engage with humans, which is the foundation of a trainable companion.
Similarly, the restraint, social dominance, and elevation tests form a cluster that reveals how the puppy handles being physically managed. Consistent 1s across these three (struggling, biting, growling) indicate a puppy that will resist handling and needs an owner prepared for that challenge.
What Puppy Tests Can and Can’t Tell You
Temperament testing gives you a useful snapshot, but it has real limitations. Research on predictive validity shows that puppy tests become more accurate the older the dog is at testing, and that a single evaluation at 7 weeks captures only part of the picture. Studies on detection dog programs have found that behavioral evaluations can predict working success as early as three months, but that tracking improvement in scores over a puppy’s first year is more reliable than any single test session.
The reason is neurobiology. A puppy’s brain continues to develop well past 7 weeks. Social maturity doesn’t arrive until somewhere between 6 months and 2 to 3 years, depending on breed. During that window, neural connections are actively competing and pruning, meaning the experiences a puppy has after you bring it home, socialization, training, environment, will shape its adult personality alongside its genetic tendencies. A bold 7-week-old puppy that’s never socialized can become a fearful adult. A slightly shy puppy raised in a rich, supportive environment can grow into a confident dog.
The test is best used as one piece of a larger decision. Combine the scores with what the breeder tells you about daily behavior, how the puppy acts within the litter, and your own observations during visits. If possible, repeat an informal version of the test a week or two later to see if the patterns hold.
Tips for Getting Accurate Results
Test each puppy individually, never with littermates present. Other puppies change behavior dramatically. Test when puppies are awake and alert, not right after eating or during a sleepy period. Avoid testing on a day when something disruptive happened, like a vet visit or a move to a new whelping area.
Keep your energy calm and neutral. The goal is to see the puppy’s natural responses, not to coach it toward a particular score. Run through all 10 tests in order without long breaks between them. The whole process takes about 10 to 15 minutes per puppy. Take notes immediately, because after testing several puppies in a row, the details blur together quickly.