Akitas de MacLeod Socialization/Behavioral Analysi

"At seven weeks of age, except for a small amount of learned behavior, the puppies are almost clean slates." - John Fisher from

When the pup is 7 weeks of age, it will participate in an analysis to determine the natural level of dominance that the pup was born with and will continue to develop as it ages. The test will be performed by an unbiased third party, that the pup is not familiar with, with an easy to understand ranking scale to help you chose the pup according to its behavior, even from afar.

Stimuli	How	*Score*
Social Attraction	Place pup in center of room. Move away and call pup by any means. Does pup come to you?	1. Coming readily and excitedly - 5. Completely ignoring tester
Following	Stroke pup several times. Walk away.	1. Follows happily - 5. Ignores tester
Restraint	Roll pup on back. Hold for 30 seconds.	1. Struggles fiercly to get up, may bite. - 5. Offers no resistance
Social Dominance	Firmly rub dominance region of pup (around withers, head, and neck.)	1. Reversed dominance - 5. Ignored dominance
Elevation Dominance	Cradle pup's midsection in both hands holding it above ground (couple of inches) for 30 seconds.	1. Kicks and whine, tries to bite - 5. Stays limp

What do these test results mean to you? If you are choosing a pet to be a family member, then they should fit into your family. While some of their behavior is learned from surroundings and personalities, most of it is from predisposition at birth. A pup continuously scoring ones would be a dominant adult and will take a lot more "breaking". A pup scoring 2 will be relatively dominant pup can be corrected with guidance. A pup scoring 3s will be submissive and a happy family member. A pup scoring 4 will be very submissive to you. A pup scoring 5s may be scared easily and may need direction not to snap. While these are not an exact science, they are relatively close. We hope that this comparison will help you chose a pet by behavior that fits your family instead of on looks alone.