Temperament  
Temperament is described as the dog's overall outlook on life. The sociability, playfulness, desire to be active and to explore the immediate environment and a number of other such behaviors provide us with some insight into a dog's temperament.The ideal dog will have an even temperament, that is to say it will not become overly emotional when exposed to a wide variety of NORMAL daily sights, sounds and activities. It will have a strong desire to play and be active but will also have the capacity to be reserved and cautious in a quiet environment. A dog with the proper temperament will be sociable. When walked toward a group of people the dog may appear alert and cautious or may appear aloof, in any case it should be a good citizen and must not display unwarranted aggression. A dog with proper temperament will investigate intriguing sounds and strange looking objects; it will appear to be inquisitive and not at all hesitant about venturing out away from the handler to investigate something that catches its attention. The dog should constantly look for something to do if only to be active and feel the thrill of life. Courage is defined as the lack of fear in a threatening environment. The ideal dog will stand tall in the face of threat and when pushed will hold his ground with aggression. This is not to say a dog should go off the deep end when a threat occurs but neither should it stand totally passive and in any case it MUST NOT RETREAT. At the conclusion of threat the dog should return to its normal state but may remain vigilant and alert for some time. A good courage test will involve some sort of confrontation with a man to produce a level of threat. This test is to determine the dog’s nerves and temperament, not to test its courage of heart. It is important to be realistic when testing a dog for courage, do not for example expect to see a green dog act as courageous as a fully trained two year old dog. You must always consider the dogs age, mental maturity, previous training and a number of such factors when conducting a courage test. Remember almost any untrained dog can be intimidated with overwhelming threat, the goal of a courage test is not to force a dog into submission but to determine the point at which courage begins to appear and the point at which it begins to diminish.