Finnish Character Test
What is Finnish Character Test | Features Involved | Character Test in Action
What is Finnish Character Test
The purpose of the Finnish Character test is to evaluate the inherited temperament traits and features the dogs have. It gives information of the dog’s capabilities, strong and weak points. During the Finnish Character Test the dog's behaviour is examined in situations where its nerv system is heavily stressed. Test results can be used to define dog's character, determine the dog's suitability to training, and it gives information for breeding, too.
The age limits for dog's participating are from 2 to 6 years – dog’s over six years, but under seven years can enter. The test is recommended to be taken when the dog is 2-3 years old. At that age, the dog is mentally adult, but the experiences it has had haven’t yet had too much impact on the inherited temperament features the dog has. The older the dog gets, the more the result is reflecting the experiences and the behaviour dog has learned during it’s life, and less the inherited temperament.
Character test is always judged by two specially trained judges. The test can be taken only once, and the result is final, except in cases when the dog has disqualified the test at the first time. The result of the second test is final.
Though it’s difficult to say, which from all temperament features are inherited and which not, and how strongly they inherit, it is certain, that in some extent many features are inherited, and those can be influenced by selective breeding. Such temperament traits are for example capability to function, temperament, mental hardness and nerves. Some temperament traits can be influenced by training. Such temperament traits are for example: desire for defence action, tendency for aggressive behaviour and desire to fight. In the Finnish Character test those tempperament traits that are inherited and can't be influenced by training are given higher coefficents, and they have greater impact for the final test result than those tempperament traits that can be influenced by training.
The Character test is split into ten sections, that measure eight different features, and sound sensitivity. All the features (except sound sensibility) are evaluated on a 6-degree scale from +3 (optimal) to -3 (worse). All features have individual coefficients based on the feature's trainability and on the other hand inheritability.
The coefficients are different according to how much or little training and environment can alter the test result. For instance defence action is easy to train, and the coefficient is only 1, but the nerves can’t be changed, and the coefficient is 35. Therefore, in the final grade, the importance of the grade given for the nerves is much greater than the grade given for the desire for defence action.
The test results come in the form of points - maximum amount of points (sum of grades x coefficients) is 300. The test result should not be viewed as the sum of the points, as the total sum doesn't give any information of the grades given from the individual parts of the test. Because of the coefficients, two dog's may have the same final points, though their characters are very different. The maximum points, +300, isn't the desired or optimum points for all dog breeds. When looking at the test points, one should always remember the purpose of the dog and the dog breed. The maximum points are desirable for dog's used for military purposes or such, and some of the character traits desirable for military dogs are undesirable for other dog breeds.
A dog is certified when its total points are at least +75 and it has got positive mark (at least +1) from the following features: Tendency to aggressiveness, Nerves and Accessibility.
Features involved |
Grade |
Coefficent |
Explanation |
CAPABILITY TO FUNCTION
|
+3 - Extremely High |
15 |
This is a feature, with which a dog is able to react correctly - without a fear - to real and imagined frightening situations and to do it without interrupting it's action. Dog has to be able to work in logical way though there’s disturbing things happening around it. |
TENDENCY TO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
|
+3 - Moderate without any post-attack aggressiveness |
1 |
Dog's tendency to aggressive reactions when irritated by a judge. |
DESIRE FOR DEFENCE ACTION
|
+3 Moderate, controlled |
1 |
Dog's tendency to defence it's owner and itself. The test is measuring tendency and willingness (not skills or ability) to defence and attack. |
DESIRE TO FIGHT
|
+3 High |
10 |
Dog’s inheritable tendency to enjoy fighting (playing) and the use of it's jaws and muscles in this action. |
NERVES
|
+3 Calm and firm |
35 |
Dog’s inherited calmness or nervousness, restlessness in a highly stressing situation. Includes also dog's reactions to shooting. |
TEMPERAMENT
|
+3 High |
15 |
Temperament is understood as the ability to react fast and organized to changing environmental situations. Also dog's ability to quickly accommodate itself to rapidly changing situations. |
MENTAL HARDNESS
|
+3 Moderate |
8 |
Dog's mental hardness: How strongly the dog allows unpleasant surprises to affect his functions. How well a dog remembers unpleasant situations and how reluctant he is to face the same circumstances later on. |
ACCESSIBILITY
|
+3 Kind, accessible, open |
15 |
Dog's attitude to a strange but friendly person. |
SOUND SENSIBILITY
|
+ Secure to shots |
|
This part includes at least two shots with a 9mm gun, fired from close distance (approximately 10 meters). This feature will be scaled negative or positive – if dog is sensitive to sounds or scared of the shots, it gets negative mark, if it’s not afraid, it will get positive mark. |
1. Interview
The test starts with the judge interviewing owner. The purpose of this interview is to find out how much experience this dog has, what is the possible training level (for instance a dog trained to defence work reacts differently than a pet), how old it is, has it had some negative experiences with people (abusing), has it been living with you since it was a puppy, do you have other dogs and what is the dog’s position in the dog group etc. All these things give the judge a better overview of the dog, and help them to understand it’s reactions when the test begins.
2. Accessibility
The judge gives the dog possibility to take contact. If the dog doesn't make contact independently the judge calls it by it's name. The dog should allow the judge at least to take contact with it, and then there are, of course, numerous alternatives of liking, disliking, or loving it! Accessibility is the first test, because later on in the test the same judges are going to threat the dog and cause him lot of stress, and the dog might not be that accessible anymore.
3. Desire to Fight
The judge tries to get the dog to play with him. This is performed with a stick or some other object, dog’s owner may also bring his own toy. If a dog starts to play with the stick or toy, it will also be “threatened” by the judge to estimate the actual force of this feature and how strongly the dog wants to play and how much mental threat it will overlook from the judge without letting it interrupt his play. If the dog won’t play with the judge, the owner may try to play with him.
4. Capacity to function test 1 (threatened)
This phase is executed by pulling an obscure, human like figure towards the dog, who is standing on a leash with his owner. The dog can't solve the sort of this menace, and will be afraid of it (must be!). The capability of functioning is actually seen when the figure reaches dog's owner and stops moving. How long it does take to make contact with the figure? Does the dog need help from it's owner e.t.c. The feeling of threat is essential to this part, the dog must be scared so that the judge can tell how fast the dog will get over it’s feelings of fear when it realize the figurine isn’t alive or dangerous.
The second stage of this test is done in the end of the test, after the defence, mental hardness and temperament test. These two stages together are evaluated with following scale:
5. Defence test
The dog is walking with it's owner. Suddenly the judge attacks the owner with force. The dog should immediately start to protect the owner and stay between the figurant and the owner. When the dog has reacted clearly (escape or defence action) the judge stops the attack and starts to talk friendly to the dog. The dog should stop defending and meet after a while the judge friendly without any aggression.
6. Mental hardness test
This phase is normally performed with an umbrella which suddenly opens in front of the dog to scare it. The mental hardness is determined when the owner takes the dog back to the scaring place after a while. A soft dog refuses to go again to that place, a hard one doesn't seem to remember the whole thing.
7. Temperament test
This phase is normally performed by letting a noisy clattering barrel roll after and chase the dog. The force of dog's reaction shows it's temperament.
8. Capacity to function test 2 (without threat)
Dog's owner goes into a dark room which has several obstacles for the dog. After a while the dog is let into the room. The dog should search for it's owner without help in the dark. It should ignore other people and all the obstacles on his way to the owner. This test also measures the dogs capacity to function, but the situation isn’t threatening for the dog.
9. Aggressivity test
The dog is tied up to a wall with a short leash and left alone there. The judge tacks slowly towards the dog with a growing force. The more aggressive tendency a dog has, the earlier it starts to resist the attack. The judge has a slim stick or such in his hand, and he hits the trees, bushes, ground around him and speaks or yells in aggressive way, but won’t hit or touch the dog. The dog should be barking, growling and resisting the attack. When the judge stops the threat, the dog should recover and calm down and let the judge access him again without any signs of aggressive behaviour.
10. Shooting test
The dog may still be tied up to the wall, or it may be standing on leash with the owner. There will be at least two shots from a distance. The dog shouldn't be afraid of these shots. Dogs who are disposed or have fear of shots are usually recommended to be left out of breeding program, regardless of the breed of the dog. Sound sensibility often goes hand in hand with other faults in the character (nerves, temperament) and are strongly inherited. If dog is afraid of shots, it’s often also afraid of thunder, rockets and other loud noises, and vice versa. This will effect it’s normal life, because the dog will loose it’s capacity to function when it’s exposed to loud noises.