WANTED FOR THE FUTURE:
Dogs with a balanced mentality

The SBK/ Swedish Working Dog Association is charged with the responsibility to supervise the Working Breeds and the breeding strategies of their respective Breed Clubs.
 The opening paragraph of the statutes of the SBK says:

" SBK shall promote an interest in, and forward the breeding of, healthy dogs of the Working Breeds with good mental and conformational qualities; and guard and develop the working abilities of these Breeds.”

The mentality of a dog is of utmost importance. The dog should be able to function in the manner it was meant to do when its breed was established. Therefore, it is important that the mental make-up of both  dog and  bitch to be used in breeding should be ascertained, in order to ensure that our dogs in future years will retain the set of mind which is desired.

Our modern dogs are exposed to very demanding surroundings, e g the large cities with their traffic, high levels of noise,  throng of great numbers of people, etc. That is not a natural or an easy environment for a dog. In the modern world, a dog can react with fear in many situations. A frightened dog might easily use its teeth to defend itself. That is something which cannot be permitted. No people, and no other dogs, should be subjected to it.

For many years now the SBK has developed and used tests to improve our knowledge of canine mentality. The Mentality Assessment is the test now most often used to get a picture of the mental make-up of our dogs. This test has met with considerable interest outside the country.

 
The SBK today has a rule that any dog older than eighteen months must have passed a Mentality Assessment to be permitted for Work Trials, or be accepted for Police or Army Dog training.
All dogs and bitches of the Working Breeds to be used in breeding must have a Mentality Assessment  for their progeny to be registered.  The Mentality Assessment is the only test accepted for this purpose.

The aim of this is to create better conditions for dogs and their owners in modern society.

All breeds are accepted for the Assessment. However, an Assessment Event involves a number of people trained to carry out their various tasks – acting as ghosts, firing a gun, creating the loud noise of the rattling chain, etc– in a standardized manner, so that the Assessment and the interpretation of the behaviour of the dogs shall vary as little as possible from one time and place to another. For this reason, there is a limit to the number of Events we can offer. We have to prioritize. Dogs from the Working Breed Clubs – the GSD, the Collie, the Boxer, the Rottweiler, the Belgian Shepherd breeds and others– go first. Entire litters from one specific mating are given high priority, as this is an excellent way of judging the breeding potential of the parent dogs. The same goes for individual dogs waiting to start in the Working Trials.