Friday, September 23 was spent deep in the Swedish woods together with judges and other ridgeback breeders for the annual MT (mentality test) arranged by Svenske Jägareforbundet. We had Chaco, Allie, Nala and Storm with us and they all did a very good test, taken into account their young age at 17 months and the quite stressful test this is. Both test protocols and video from the test can be found on each dogs own page.
The star of the day was without any doubt Allie, who did an absolutely wonderful test, showing her great nerves, with curiosity and playfullness, great concentration, no fears what so ever and great self esteem. Even if Allie is a family dog, and not trained and competed in dog sports, this test shows us that she has all the right qualities to be a successful working dog. And not to forget, that a dog with great nerves also is the best family dog, which is also just as important! For me it’s great to see that next generation of working line Airedales in Norway is secured!
Nala showed her self just like we thought, and showed that she’s playful and very lively, very good nerves with good concentration and no remaining fears. She still needs to mature in her head, and when she does she will end up just as good as her mother Kiwi.
The boys Chaco and Storm both did similar test, even though they are of two different breeds. They both showed that they are playful and happy, with few and no remaining fears. But the concentration wasn’t the best at the moment, and it was not difficult to see that there are quite some flies in the boys head at the time being 😉 When their puberty has landed, bot boys will for sure end up as solid male dogs with solid nerves. We are looking forward to their nest MT in a couple of years!
