Fact > Challenging your dogs mind I

Volhard - Canine Personality Profile(aka CPP)

CPP questionnaire

Scoring

The questionnaire for the profile suggests three possible answers to each question with a corresponding point value. The possible answers and their corresponding values are:

Almost always - 10
Sometimes - 5
Hardly ever - 0

For example, if your dog is a Beagle, the answer to the question "when presented with the opportunity, does your dog sniff the ground or air?" is probably "almost always", giving him a score of 10.

You may not have had the chance to observe all of these behaviors, in which case you leave the answer blank.

When presented with the opportunity

1	Does YOUR DOG sniff the ground or air a lot?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
2	Does YOUR DOG get along with other dogs?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
3	Does YOUR DOG stand its ground or investigate strange objects or sounds?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
4	Does YOUR DOG run away from new situations?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
5	Does YOUR DOG get excited my moving objects, such as bikes or squirrels?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
6	Does YOUR DOG get along with people?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
7	Does YOUR DOG like to play tug of war games to win?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
8	Does YOUR DOG hide behind you when unable to cope	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
9	Does YOUR DOG stalk cats, other dogs or things in the grass?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
10	Does YOUR DOG bark when left alone?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
11	Does YOUR DOG bark or growl in a deep tone?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
12	Does YOUR DOG act fearful in unfamiliar situations?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
13	Does YOUR DOG, when excited, bark in a high-pitched voice?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
14	Does YOUR DOG solicit petting or like to snuggle with you?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
15	Does YOUR DOG guard territory?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
16	Does YOUR DOG tremble or whine when unsure?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
17	Does YOUR DOG pounce on toys?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
18	Does YOUR DOG like to be groomed?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
19	Does YOUR DOG guard food or toys?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
20	Does YOUR DOG crawl or turn upside down when reprimanded?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
21	Does YOUR DOG shake and "kill" toys?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
22	Does YOUR DOG seek eye contact with you?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
23	Does YOUR DOG dislike being petted?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
24	Is YOUR DOG reluctant to come close to you when called?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
25	Does YOUR DOG steal food or garbage?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
26	Does YOUR DOG follow you around like a shadow?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
27	Does YOUR DOG dislike being groomed or bathed?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
28	Does YOUR DOG have difficulty standing still when groomed?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
29	Does YOUR DOG like to carry things?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
30	Does YOUR DOG play a lot with other dogs?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
31	Does YOUR DOG guard the owner(s)	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
32	Does YOUR DOG cringe when someone strange bends over him/her?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
33	Does YOUR DOG wolf down food?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
34	Does YOUR DOG jump up to greet people?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
35	Does YOUR DOG like to fight with other dogs?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
36	Does YOUR DOG urinate during greeting behavior?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
37	Does YOUR DOG like to dig and bury things?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
38	Does YOUR DOG show reproductive behaviors, such as courting or mounting other dogs?	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
39	Does YOUR DOG get picked on by other dogs (Either now or when it was young?)	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever
40	Does YOUR DOG tend to bite when cornered? © 1993 Wendy Volhard	10 5 0	Almost always Sometimes Hardly ever

Scoring the Profile

1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28
29	30	31	32
33	34	35	36
37	38	39	40
Total Prey drive	Total Pack Drive	Total Fight Drive	Total Flight Drive

What Do You Want Your Dog To Do?

Before you can use the results of the Profile, you need to look at what you want your dog to do or, and this is often more important, stop doing. For example, when you walk him on leash and want him to pay attention to you, he has to be in pack drive. Your dog, on the other hand, wants to sniff, maybe follow a trail or chase the neighbors cat; he is in prey drive.

For most of what you want your dog to do, he needs to be in pack drive, such as

come
walk on a loose leash
sit
down
stay

For most of what your dog wants to do, he is going to be in prey drive, such as

chase the cat
follow the trail of a rabbit
retrieve a ball or stick
sniffing the grass
digging

You can readily see that those times when you want him to behave you have to convince your dog to forget about being in prey drive. Most often it is prey drive that gets dogs into trouble. The dog with high pack and low prey drive rarely even needs training.

Such a dog doesn’t

chase bicycles, cars, children or joggers
cats or other animals
roam from home
steal food
chew your possessions
doesn’t pull on the leash

In other words, he is a perfect pet.

Theoretically, your does not need defense drive (fight) behaviors for what you want him to learn, but the absence of these behaviors has important ramifications. It is pivotal and determines how your dog has to be trained.

The beauty of the drives theory is that, if used correctly, it gives you a tool to overcome areas where your dog may be weak.

Bringing Out Drives

The basic rules for bringing out drives are as follows:

Prey drive is elicited by the use of motion -- hand signals (except Stay) -- a high-pitched tone of voice, or an object of attraction (stick, ball or food), chasing or being chased, and leaning backward with your body as the dog comes to you.
Pack drive is elicited by touching, praising and smiling at the dog, grooming, and playing and training with your body erect.
Defense drive behavior is elicited by leaning or hovering over the dog, either from the front or the side, checking (a sharp tug on the leash), a harsh tone of voice, and exaggerated use of the Stay hand signal.

Body Language

So you can see that what you do, and how you handle your dog, makes a great difference to his behavior. If you want a dog to run away from you, then you lean forwards towards him when he comes to you! In his language you are pushing him backwards and putting him in defense drive, when he was in pack drive all along.

If you want a well trained dog, you will have to learn how to switch these drives back and forth.