It depends on who you're asking. Like many words in the English
language, the word “temperament” has a number of definitions. In the shelter
world for example, it covers a very broad range of factors and refers to the
overall character and behavior of the dog – everything from the dog's personality,
sociability, activity level, tendency toward aggression etc. So a “temperament
test” in the shelter world is an overall picture of who the dog is.
In describing a human, we use the
word “temperament” to refer to one’s basic constitution as it effects their
behavior. So when describing a pleasant, easy going person we might say they
have a “good temperament.”
To obedience trainers, that word
has a very specific definition. When we use it, we mean (broadly
speaking) “the speed with which a dog recovers from a change in the
environment” and more commonly in the training world we use it to describe,
“the speed with which a dog recovers from a correction.”
For example, if I am working with
a 120 pound leash-lunging German Shepherd and I do a hard leash correction and he shakes it off as if to say, “Is that all you got?” – that is a dog with
a hard temperament. A hard temperament is a basic requirement of many types of
working dogs, such as patrol dogs, seeing eye dogs and search and rescue dogs.
It’s an important trait in a therapy dog as well – the dog must be able to
quickly recover from a startle or a strange noise.
So picture a nice,
friendly, calm Labrador retriever who is a good therapy dog – she is sweet,
calm, friendly and mellow – but she has a ROCK HARD temperament if she is good
at her job.
It's easy to see a shy, fearful dog who submissively urinates, runs and hides at the drop of a hat as being "soft." But we can also picture a mean,
nasty, vicious dog with a long bite history – a dog who takes it personally when you correct him - maybe even redirecting at you – as possibly having a very SOFT temperament as well.
As obedience trainers, we must not confuse temperament with personality. It takes a while for new trainers to grasp the concept of hard vs. soft temperament within the context of obedience training and to use those terms accurately. They sometimes incorrectly use the terms as personality descriptions rather than working traits.
(Note: Other terms such as: weak nerves, sharpness, acute anxiety, generalized anxiety, separation distress and hyperactivity are commonly misunderstood or misused as well. These will be discussed in future posts.)
