The American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) conducts temperament tests to evaluate temperament in both purebred and mixed breed dogs. Unlike various tests like the Canine Good Citizen test, the ATTS Temperament Test hopes to mitigate the influence of a dog’s training by focusing on a dog’s untrained, natural reactions to various threatening and nonthreatening stimuli.
The ATTS reports that in 2007, the three “pit bull” breeds (the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier) had a combined passing rate of 85.5%. This is a higher passing percentage than the Golden Retriever (84.2%), the Beagle (80.3%), the Cardigan Corgi (75.4%), the Cocker Spaniel (81.7%), and the average of all tested dogs of all breeds (81.6%).
Per the ATTS: “The ATTS test focuses on and measures different aspects of temperament such as stability, shyness, aggressiveness, and friendliness as well as the dog’s instinct for protectiveness towards its handler and/or self-preservation in the face of a threat. The test is designed for the betterment of all breeds of dogs and takes into consideration each breed’s inherent tendencies.”
However, the ATTS also says this about a dog’s reaction to the “threatening stranger” subtest (the subtest in which a threat is presented to the dog): “Aggression here is checked against the breed standard and the dog’s training. A schutzhund trained dog lunging at the stranger is allowed, but if an untrained Siberian husky does the same, it may fail.”Some persons assert that the ATTS test cannot be used as an accurate impression of a dog’s temperament since it does not test a dog’s reaction to another dog. However, the Canine Good Citizenship test (CGC) does test a dog’s reaction to another dog. The CGC is also much more involved than the ATTS. It requires that the owner has trained the dog, and the dog must perform obedience commands during the test. Both the ATTS and the CGC require effort and expense that often goes above and beyond what the average (or below-average) dog owner is willing to undertake. The ATTS and CGC are both titles that responsible dog owners strive for; thus, it is most likely that the dogs who are put through these tests are owned by loving, caring, responsible people. Through these voluntary tests, we can see how a particular dog of a particular breed performs when it is owned by people who care about their responsibilities and take pride in their ownership. As evidenced by these tests, pit bulls and other so-called “dangerous” breeds are not, in fact, any more aggressive or unsafe than any other breed when they are given the opportunity to live with a responsible owner.