MH description with TM
What is MH?
"The dog's behavior in various situations including the dog's behavior to people is described in an intensity scale. The dog will not pass or fail the mental description of course, but some reactions are better than others in terms of breeding, dressage, or else that the dog might be used to.
To make an MH dog must be at least 12 months old. "
(From the website of Södertälje Working Dog Association)
Kennel Bod Khyi and MH
The first time I attended MH with TM, I did it with a long rope. Ozo was tested and the result was due to his long rope not officially registered. At the same occasion two other TM were tested off leash and their results became official and registerd in the database of SKK.
Attending and learning about the test convinced me that MH would be a good tool for me to evaluate my breeding. I was also convinced that the MH could give a good description of the breed's basic behaviors over all. The more TM tested the better. If so many as 30-40 TM are tested one can make a breed profile in the shape of a spider diagram. It would be a very good tool for long-term follow up over the breed's behavioral development.
In the summer of 2010 I organized my first kennel MH and this time as well we performed the test at Södertälje Brukshundsklubb. One reason is that there are incredibly talented MH tesledare and describer at that club, but also because the area is fenced. For those of us with a breed that sometimes choose to stroll away from the test for a picknick in the surroundings it gives a feeling of security.
9 Tibetan Mastiffs out of which 8 were from our own breeding and participated in end of July 2010.
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The dogs of Bod Khyi
Ozo, Polaris, Aquila, Viking, and five of Chivas puppies is now amongst the 12 TM being MH described in Sweden. In Finland during autumn 2010 MH description will be done on several TM. If we are lucky, our results are added together and form the basis for the first breed profile.
More about - the dogs of Bod Khyi.
A mental description can not be good nor bad. It is just as it is, a description of your dogs way of reaction during and after some situations.
My impression of Ozo were very much hand in hand with the test. He is very difficult to provoke, he showed no aggression, he was a bit coward and ran rather than foughts. Things he do not understand, he wants to take a look at on a distance, then he understands. Ozo hates fire crackers and the same goes for gun shots.
Polaris´ and Aquilas reactions were also expected. Aquila, who quickly show escape reaction but also quick to regain control and reacted just that way in the tests. Polaris, which I count as a more stable and easily-manageable TM surprised a little bit since she did only show very small interst in taking contact with strangers. Viking was an overall postive surprise. He did not show any sign of aggression. He showed some amount of insecrurity and that is good for us to know since we can help him by giving him environmental training and positiv experiences.
Do you want youTM to participate in MH?
Please contact me if you want to talk about MH for the Tibetan Mastiff.
You can also contact Sodertalje Brukshundsklubb to learn more about how MH descriptions are done.
My hope is that next summer, or the summer after that, organize a new MH for TM from my breeding and kennel and for other TM owners that are interested.
Conclusions of 3 different tests
When I got the results of the test in 2010 I stated to compare them inbetween. I also started to study the I official MH that I knew has been done by Tibetan Mastiff in the past. All together 12 officially MH has been done. I plotted in the reactions and despite there are too few dogs to do statistics from this it is interesting reading . I think it is possible to imagine one or two breed specific reactions.
You can see more by opening up under the heading of "Conclusions of 12 MH".
What I think I saw
I found no clear pattern in the way the dogs resonded that was gender specific. I found no clear pattern for reactions amongst younger or older dogs. I did not find reaction patterns that could reveal thedogs origin. Instead I think I found what can be the start of a breed pattern, a trend amongst those 12 TM. It was;
They showed little interest in wrestling match.
They showed no desire to follow.
They had relatively low hunting interest.
The exhibit threats and aggressive behavior in a small scale.
They exhibit a low degree of activity in the forced passivity.
When surprised they show a quick response but scans what it is all about and then quickly drop the interest. They understand and draw conclusions very quick. Few or no lingering reaction is left after that.
Summary
It is important to note that it is not a matter of passing or fail when a dog participate in the mental description. Of course, some reactions are better than others in terms of breeding, dressage, or else that the dog may be used for. MH result is different from breed to breed since it shows breed specific reactions. What is typical for a Tibetan Mastiff would be a big difference compared to lets say, a poodle.
Swedish Kennel Club is currently developing a new kind of behavioral description or test that is supposed to fit more breeds than this above mentioned MH. One could expect TM to perform this new test with a result somewhat easier to interpret than the MH description. While waiting for the new test to develo I think TM owners can benefit the original MH test for working dogs.