Our other girl, Red is a fiesty little girl when playing with her siblings. When the puppies erupt in a tussle we almost always know that Red is somewhere in the middle, instigating the excitement. Interestingly, the strange environment of the testing really bothered Red, so she showed a lot more shy than her prior behaviour would have indicated.
Social Attraction: Red was totally unsure of the new locale, and had no confidence at all. She did finally go to the tester, but really preferred to try to find her known humans.
Following: Still quite disturbed by everything, Red wasn't at all interested in following the tester. She did eventually give it a try, but was so hesitant and unsure of herself it was barely enough to call following.
Restraint: Red didn't struggle when restrained on her back, but she was clearly unhappy, avoiding eye contact and completely passive about it.
Social Dominance: After all the stress of restraint Red wasn't terribly interested in going to the handler, however she lay quietly and clearly was enjoying being patted.
Elevation: Like all the others, Red could care less about being picked up.
Retrieving: Now that she was a bit more relaxed (after all the patting in the Social Dominance test) Red was relaxed enough to be quite interested in the paper ball. She did chase after it, bumping it, then standing over it, not sure where it had gone to.
Touch Sensitivity: Red is moderately sensitive.
Sound Sensitivity: The noise startled Red, but she wasn't particularly upset by it. On the other hand she also had no real interest in going to find the source either.
Sight Sensitivity: For the first time Red started to show her usual playful nature. The dragged toy was quite exciting and she eagerly chased and pounced on it.
Stability: By this point Red was feeling confident, and though the umbrella startled her, she was eager to check it out, even trying to bite it and move it around.
Cat in a Box: The cat was clearly interesting, but Red wasn't too terribly excited. She investigated for a fair while, then lost interest and went her own way.
What does this mean?
The new environment was clearly a big concern for Red, she did eventually settle, but it took a while for her to regain her confidence. Red isn't overly attached to her person despite her lack of confidence (unlike Brown), which means that it may be more difficult to calm her when under stress. On the other hand if she is very well socialized she will learn to have confidence on her own and not necessarily need to rely on her owner to give her that confidence. With good, positive training Red has some potential to enjoy dog sports such as lure coursing. She really perked up when given the chance to play, and had a reasonable play/prey drive. If socialized around cats and small animals Red will likely be fine with them, however her higher prey drive could make her more likely to chase should an animal run. With intelligent and patient handling, Red should develop into a confident and happy girl, but she would not do well with someone who was rough or abusive. Without good socialization Red would likely have difficulties in new or unusual situations.
