Foster owner factors influence temperament test results of military dogs and their suitability for service
Military dogs in Sweden spend their first 18 months after weaning with a foster owner that has volunteered to care for its upbringing. The foster owner is advised by a consultant and offered three opportunities to train the dog together with other foster owners. There is a positive correlation between the number of attended training opportunities with the consultant, or other professional dog trainers, and the results of the dog in the temperament test at the end of the 18 months. The test results are in turn positively correlated with the likelihood of the dog to enter service. This thesis aims to investigate why the number of training opportunities is important for the dog?s chance to enter service by identifying foster owner factors that influence the success of the dog and which temperament test items the factors have the strongest impact on. There were records of 797 German shepherd military dogs with temperament test results and a known number of training opportunities, of which 263 had questionnaires filled in by the foster owners. Questions included e.g. demographics and previous experience. Analysis revealed that dogs that went into service more often came from foster owners with previous experience of dogs and dog training, living in an apartment rather than a house. Foster homes with horses, farm animals, small pets and many children decreased the likelihood of the dog to enter service. Temperament test items that were related to play e.g. prey drive, retrieving and tug of war, and items related to confidence had the strongest correlation with the number of training opportunities and the foster owner factors. In conclusion, the most important factor appeared to be time spent on activities such as playing or training with the dog. Therefore, foster owners should be encouraged to engage in training and play-like activities with their dogs, to produce trainable and confident dogs.