AKC TEMPERAMENT TEST

The official AKC  Temperament Test (ATT) is a comprehensive framework designed to evaluate how a companion dog naturally navigates and reacts to a diverse variety of environmental stimuli.  The desirable, positive traits assessed during this evaluation include:

  • Emotional stability and inquisitive environmental curiosity
  • A biddable, cooperative connection with the handler
  • Social confidence that is appropriate for the specific breed standard
  • The vital ability to rapidly recover from a sudden or startling situation

Conversely, traits and behaviors that indicate environmental distress include:

  • Pronounced fear or shyness around approachable, friendly strangers
  • A complete lack of cooperation or focus during novel tasks
  • An inability to mentally recover from unfamiliar, unexpected, or alarming noises and sights
  • Obsessive, out-of-context barking or displays of unprovoked aggression

 

In the ATT, dogs are tested in 6 distinct categories of stimuli:

  1. Social: Assessing confidence and composure during standard human greetings.
  2. Auditory: Evaluating the dog’s acoustic resilience around novel or sudden sounds.
  3. Visual: Measuring stability when encountering strange or unexpected objects.
  4. Tactile: Testing comfort and recovery when walking across unusual surface textures.
  5. Proprioceptive (Motion): Examining spatial confidence when surfaces shift or move underfoot.
  6. Unexpected Stimulus: Gauging natural recovery speed when faced with sudden environmental changes.

Temperament represents an animal’s foundational personality, behavioral makeup, and intrinsic disposition. Scientifically, it is defined as the individual differences in behavior that are entirely biologically based. Temperament is separate from a dog’s physical characteristics, and it is distinct from learned obedience behaviors such as a sit, down, or stay.  Earning an official AKC Temperament Test (ATT) title provides an objective, national validation of your companion’s sound genetic resilience and emotional stability.

See Why Take the AKC Temperament Test.  Debi is an AKC-approved Temperament Test Judge, offering coaching and tailored preparation to help you understand your dog’s natural disposition and pass the evaluation with absolute confidence.