First to be tested is APPROACHABILITY. The owner takes the dog to a judge. The judge talks to him, tries to groom and pat him and checks his teeth. The dog is being handled in many ways.
Next thing to be tested is FIGHTING SPIRIT. The judge brings toys to the dog and tries to play with him. He takes, for instance, a stick and gives it to the dog to see it he will play with it. The he tries to see if the dog will play pulling game with him and, if he does, how far will the dog go.

What did Jonni do?


Jonni came to the judge and greeted him eagerly. Then he went to the toybox and started looking at the toys. He let the judge touch him everywhere. First he didn't want to play with the judge but after I had played him for a while and the judge took over he continued playing with him. He was holding on his end of the stick and was not giving up! He was very persistent and in the end the judge let him win.

Then is the first test in ABILITY TO ACT. The judge shows the owner a place where he/she will stand. The dog is allowed to be where ever he wants to be but he is still on the leash. A small sleigh that has a dummy that resembles a human on board is slowly pulled out from a distance. The dog's reactions are monitored: how long it takes for him to notice the threath, how the dog reacts to it(does he try to escape or does he attack) and is he willing to go and have a look at the strange thing once it is stopped. At some point the pulling is stopped and the dog is given an opportunity to approach the sleigh. Once the dog has made contact the owner can give him appraisal and encourage him to look at it closer. The test is not finished before the dog is confident near the sleigh.

Jonni noticed the sleigh quite early on. He was barking at it and he stood in front of me. When the sleigh stopped Jonni did not want to go near it. He was very suspicious of it. When he did go near it he tried to bite it. When I was allowed to talk to him we went to take a closer look at it together. He relaxed quite quickly after that. He was not afraid but he got heated up while he was "defending" me and that took a while to cool off.

Next the WILL TO DEFEND is tested.
The owner is standing, once again, and the dog is on the leash. One of the judges makes an attack towards the owner from a hiding place. The dog's reaction towards the situation is assessed, whether he will defend him (secondary target of the attack) and his owner (primary target) or not and if any aggression towards the attacker is left in the dog after the situation is over. The judge makes an attack and after a while he stops and starts to act friendly. Now the owner gives the dog to the judge and he takes the dog with him. The owner starts to walk away. Then the owner stops and calls for the dog. The judge releases him and he should come straigth to the owner.

When Jonni saw the judge attack he started barking like mad! Some people in the crowd watching the test thought he was going to bite the judge! Jonni was furious! He really defended me!
When the judge started to act friendly Jonni accepted it quite quickly. He went with him but nipped his heels when they were going away from me. He was herding the judge away from me!! When I called Jonni he came to me, but stopped to pee on the way! Then, just before he came to me he noticed a ball that was lying on the ground and went to fetch it. THEN he came to me.

Next tested is NERVE STRUCTURE. Owner walks the dog round a course. The dog is on a loose leash. A barrel is dropped behind the dog and the dog's reaction to the sudden sound is observed. Then an overall is pulled from the ground in front of the dog. Once again the reaction is measured. These reactions tell us how the dog reacts to sudden noices and how fast he gets away from the falling object and is he making any evasive moves.
Then you walk round the same course. Both of the obstacles are left where they were. It is important how the dog reacts when he sees them. Is he showing any signs of fear or anxiety, or is he walking past them without any hesitation. This last round tests the TOUGHNESS of the dog.

Jonni got scared of both the barrel and the overall but he barked at both. The next time we walked past them he made no notice of them except tried to pee on the overall!

Next is the dark room. The owner is taken to a room and the lights are turned off. The owner can call the dog only once. One judge is already in the room and the other one follows after he releases the dog. The dog then tries to find his owner in the dark room which can be full of obstacles (chairs etc.). This tests ABILITY TO ACT without threath.

I went to the room with Bengt. Then I called Jonni. Jorma opened the door and he came in with Jonni. I saw something in the very dim light. First Jonni went in front of Bengt as if to see where he was. Then he went and checked where Jorma was and after that he calmly came to me. No panic, no hesitation. "You can't get away from him!" Bengt said to me!

Next is the special test for SHARPNESS.
The dog is taken away from the owner and put on a short leash that is tied to a wall. The owner goes out of sight. Then one of the judges attacks the dog. Dog's reactions are measured, is he defending himself or not and is he showing any signs of fear. The dog is not hit! The meaning of the attack is to get some sort of reaction from the dog.

Every one of the dogs that were tested earlier (that I had seen) had barked when they were testing this. I was waiting on the other side of the building for Jonni to bark. Then Bengt came to me and said: "You can fetch the dog". They had tested him! And I heard nothing! Jonni had not barked at all! He just wagged his tail at the attacker and moved aside only when he was on top of him! So no fear there!

Last is the NOICE TOLERANCE test.
The fact that this is tested AFTER all the other parts shows how well the dog can cope in different situations. This tests nerve structure because the dog has been put through a lot before this part of the test and if his nerves are getting to him this test will show it!
The owner takes the dog about 200 meters away from the judges. Then 2 shots are fired with a small caliber (9 mm) gun. The dog's reactions to the sharp noise is measured.

Jonni made no reaction at all. He just stood by me. "He is even deaf" said Bengt to me.