Life's a PARTY!!!!!

Talisman Farm 2014

So what IS ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation)? What does ENS do long term? It is a set of quick exercises designed to stimulate the senses in infant puppies. It may set the stage for better learning capacity, body awareness and less sensitivity. Most of us raise pups in our home-not sterile or commercial kennel environments-where ENS is even more critical. Large scale breeding operations like those who raise guide dogs, etc use tons of early environmental enrichment, to help build stable pups. ENS is a bit "institutional" in feel...but the reasons for doing it with baby pups, are very warm & fuzzy!!!

I'm not a scientist...just really love dogs and watching dogs and puppies. These tiny new lives on earth seem so "empty" to some because there is no obvious social reaction yet...yet to me, I'm just waiting for the day they hit the ground running and see it all come together, in what I observed from birth. I "see" pups who know my scent from being picked up and kissed on the nose early on. I "see" them respond to that same smooching noise, when their ears actually open. There's way more to life, than pure science-there is LOVE, the effects of love/energy and the mysteries of things we can't explain. The first time a pup crawls across the whelping box and nuzzles my hand, or lifts their head in recognition-still blind and deaf to the world...how is that not the miracle of a little life?

Developmentally, a pup’s brain/Central Nervous System is still growing when they are born. Their strongest senses for the first 10-14 days of life, are touch & smell! After eyes open, visual enrichment is important. After ears open, sound enrichment…Our Talisman pups’ ears on average open at 14-15 days….way ahead of the bell curve average of 18-21 days. Because of generations of pups raised with environmental enrichment and ENS? Who knows…but it also does no harm, when enrichment is done correctly.

In my experience after raising many litters both planned and fosters, while ENS and additional environmental stimulation may not change the genetics and instincts a pup is born with, it may help them to grow, problem solve and be less worried or reactive when presented with new stressors.

ENS never takes the place of regular handling and loving on a pup!!! The biggest FAIL I see in some breeders is not regularly touching, kissing and loving on their pups. Yes, it takes work to give each pup-especially if a big litter, some one on one daily love & handling….but if that is too much for someone to do…they should NOT be breeding.

Holding and touching puppies regularly as they grow-from day one, is extremely important whether a breeder or foster pup parent. Pups learn from us, that touch is good. Touch also stimulates their bodies and minds. Being held and relaxing or not, is also the beginning of assessing “impulse control” or a more sensitive/reactive pup, when they are in pure instinctual infant mode. There is no cause and effect early on for a baby pup-they are heat seeking missiles whose primary innate purpose in life, is to find food and survive. Once eyes and ears are open, they are more sentient and present-startle reflex and recovery is another gauge to look at in resiliency and who a pup may grow up to be! So does ENS help with that? Maybe!

Once a pup is up on their feet and mobile, they need to have a variety of safe things that move and don’t move to climb up onto, into, through and over. ALL OF THIS IMPROVES BODY AWARENESS!!!!!!!! AS they grow and motor skills improve-pups that are allowed to run freely & explore small hills, learn small sets of stairs, or areas outside that have different height surfaces, etc are more likely to be confident and body aware, when exploring and introduced to new places.

Pups need toys of different textures to play with and also during eyes still closed phase, to crawl around and over. Learning how to deal with frustration is a huge thing for an infant pup. Being knocked off of a nipple when nursing, needing to crawl around something in their way, etc. One exercise I do with PUps before eyes open, is to alternate days of placing them in a low bowl, pie plate, on a soft pillow, etc..they learn to maneuver out of it, if they choose too. If they cry and give up, that tells you something. if they sniff around and settle, that also tells you something. The movers and shakers...hmnnn usually first ones to crawl out of the box!

As they hit 3 weeks, the true period of socialization begins! For safety’s sake, I usually like to give pups several days after their ears are open, before changing much in their environment. Just what I’ve found works. But, as soon as they hit this stage another CRUCIALLY important part of raising pups is to invite people of all sizes and types over, to play or meet your pups!!!!! In some homes this happens naturally, as people come and go and friends visit. If not, it needs to be done by inviting people to visit. Pups really need to get used to many people, especially if they may tend to be a breed that is more reserved or territorial in instincts.

I know it is a “trend” to take young pups in a litter to places, whether nursing homes or training centers. I do carefully plan some field trips to get pups a few times in the car, in addition to CERF eye appointments, etc…but depending on the time of year and what’s around-the risk of Parvo & Lepto, etc. as has been seen in the Northeast recently, literally scares the crap out of me. My last litter I took pups to the beach. I might try a few new things with next litter. 

When really infants and still nursing, I think it is stressful to the Mom to take her pups away or out of where she feels they’re safe. Guess it depends on the Dam too. If she produces stress hormones in her milk, then it is counterproductive for pups. Our Mom-dogs are calm and happy. They often let the other dogs in the house begin to visit when the babes are still pretty young. I like to hold baby pups up, so they can smell the adults, nose-to-nose....starts their imprinting on the "pack"....so maybe I should do more of the field trips! Will think about it.

ENS never takes the place of picking up, touching and loving a pup. It augments, not replaces that. Puppies in a large or small litter all need the benefit of one on one handling!!!! As they grow and can walk, run and are ready to really learn-taking each pup off into a room alone for a few minutes and playing with them, encouraging them to follow, begin the basics of a recall, settling when held, teach them how to take small pieces of food rewards from your hands, etc etc all set the stage for bonding with humans and learning how to learn.

I see a big difference in the pups I’ve gotten elsewhere, where they are raised en masse, no encouragement of early learning, no extra one on one, lacked a variety of people coming over to visit from early weeks on…It makes it hard on the pup as they adjust to a new family too! They will lack the foundation that a breeder or foster parent gives a pup with lots of new and ongoing additions and subtractions in their brand new lives on earth. Experience and exposure are part of the earliest level of socialization and cataloging information in their baby brains.

To add to these basic ENS exercises outlined below by Dr Carmen Battaglia, some of what I do…but so much more:

.Scent enrichment-essential oils, sheep wool, cat fur, clothes worn by all ages and types of people, car smells, flowers, incense, bad perfume, piece of bark, chunk of grass, etc. etc

.Different textures in addition to the wet cloth-feet touching metal baking sheet, warm and cold surfaces, marble countertops, plastic, sand, snow, ice, water, glass, tile, wood, etc. etc.

.Visual & Audio enrichment-mobiles, wind chimes, ceiling fans, balloons, mirrors at pup level, seeing sheep, cats, birds, TV, kites, flapping plastic garbage bags, vacuums, blenders, microwave beeps, whistles, flags, moving wheels on wheelbarrows, bikes, skateboards, kids toys that move and make noise, etc.

So..why do I suddenly write here again...because dogs fascinate the hell out of me!!!! I also see a friend who is a Duck-Nut, thinking along the same lines of providing stimulus and "flock behavior" with an orphan duckling!! 

I am currently fostering a dog who not only had no ENS, but was raised and had to survive in one of the harshest, worst ways a human could create. Yet, under that lack of good experiences and applied awfulness which ahs created extreme shyness....is the sweetest heart of a tiny puppy, who was never loved or picked up. So, as I work with her-I am loving her the way I would an infant, and starting from scratch. Each day her eyes are a little less the Fugitive and softening, opening up to new experiences. So many layers to peel away, just so sad. 

Many people can't fathom what it takes to breed or raise a litter properly, nor do they care-they just want a dog who they can live with. But, for those of you who care, I write to share...I have no secret formula or magic wand in raising pups, just do my best. I kind of like the results so far :)

EARLY NEUROLOGICAL STIMULATION

Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia

Beneficial effects can be achieved via early neurological stimulation.

Surprising as it may seem, it isn't capacity that explains the differences that exist between individuals because most seem to have far more capacity than they will ever use. The differences that exist between individuals seems to be related to something else. The ones who achieve and out perform others seem to have within themselves the ability to use hidden resources. In other words, it's what they are able to do with what they have that makes the difference.

In many animal breeding programs the entire process of selection and management is founded on the belief that performance is inherited. It has only been in recent decades that good estimates of habitability of performance have been based on adequate data. Cunningham (1991) in his study of horses found that only by using Timeform data, and measuring groups of half brothers and half sisters could good estimates of performance be determined. His data shows that performance for speed is about 35 o/o heritable. In other words only about 35 o/o of all the variation that is observed in track performance is controlled by heritable factors, the remaining 65 o/o is attributable to other influences, such as training, management and nutrition. Cunningham's work while limited to horses provides a good basis for understanding how much breeders can attribute to the genetics and the pedigrees.

Researchers have studied this phenomena and have looked for new ways to stimulate individuals in order to improve their natural abilities. Some of the methods discovered have produced life long lasting effects. Today, many of the differences between individuals can now be explained by the use of early stimulation methods.

INTRODUCTION

Man has tried many methods to improve performance. Some of the methods have stood the test of time, others have not. We now know that early life is a time when the physical immaturity of an organism is susceptible and responsive to a restricted but important class of stimuli.

Newborn pups are uniquely different than adults in several respects. When born there eyes are closed and their digestive system has limited capacity requiring a periodic stimulation by their dam that routinely licks them in order to promote digestion. At this age they are only able to smell, suck, and crawl. Body temperature is maintained by snuggling close to their mother or by crawling into piles with other littermates.

During these first few weeks of immobility researchers noted that these immature and under-developed canines are sensitive to a restricted class of stimuli, which includes thermal, and tactile stimulation, motion and locomotion. Studies show that removing them from their nest for three minutes each day during the first five to ten days of life causes body temperatures to fall below normal. This mild form of stress is sufficient to stimulate hormonal, adrenal and pituitary systems. When tested later as adults, these same animals were better able to withstand stress than littermates who were not exposed to the same early stress exercises. As adults, they responded to stress in a graded fashion, while their non-stressed litter mates responded in an all or nothing way. When tested for differences in health and disease, the stressed animals were found to be more resistant to certain forms of cancer and infectious diseases.

Other studies involving early stimulation exercises have been successfully performed on both cats and dogs. In these studies it was shown that pups and kittens when given early stimulation exercises mature at faster rates and perform better in certain problem solving tests than non-stimulated littermates. These results show that early stimulation exercises can have positive results but must be used with caution. Too much stress can cause pathological adversities rather than physical or psychological superiority.

METHODS OF STIMULATION

The U.S. Military in their canine program developed a method that still serves as a guide to what works. In an effort to improve the performance of dogs used for military purposes, a program called Bio Sensor was developed. , it became better known to the public as the Super Dog program. Based on years of research, the military learned that early neurological stimulation exercises could have important and lasting effects. Their studies confirmed that there are specific time periods early in life when neurological stimulation has optimum results. The first period involves a window of time that begins at the third day of life and lasts until the sixteenth day. It is believed that because this interval of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and developments, and therefore is of great importance to the individual.

The Bio Sensor program was also concerned with early neurological stimulation in order to give the dogs a superior advantage. Its development utilized six exercises, which were designed to stimulate the neurological system. Each work-out involved handling puppies once each day. The work-outs required handling them one at a time while performing a series of five exercises. Listed in no order of preference the handler starts with one pup and stimulates it using each of the five exercises. The handler completes the series from beginning to end before starting with the next pup. The handling of each pup once per day involves the following exercises:

1. Tactical stimulation (between toes)

2. Head held erect

3. Head pointed down

4. Supine position

5. Thermal stimulation

1. Tactile Stimulation

Holding the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

2. Head Held Erect

Using both hands, the pup is held perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that it's head is directly above it's tail. This is an upwards position. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

3. Head pointed down

Holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing toward the ground. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

4. Supine position

Hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling. The pup while on its back is allowed to sleep, struggle. Time of stimulation is 3-5 seconds.

5. Thermal stimulation

Use a damp towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for at least five minutes. Place the pup on the towel, feet down. Do not restrain it from moving. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

These five exercises will produce neurological stimulations, one of which naturally occur during this early period of life. Experience shows that sometimes pups will resist these exercises, others will appear unconcerned.

In either case a caution is offered to those who plan to use them. DO NOT REPEAT THEM MORE THAN ONCE PER DAY and do not extend the time beyond that recommended for each exercise. Over stimulation of the neurological system can have adverse and detrimental results. These exercises impact the neurological system by kicking it into action earlier than would be normally expected. The result being an increased capacity that later will help to make the difference in its performance.

Those who play with their pups and routinely handle them should continue to do so because the neurological exercises are not substitutions for routine handling, play, socialization or bonding.

BENEFITS OF STIMULATION

Five benefits have observed in canines who were exposed to the Bio Sensor stimulation exercises. The benefits noted were:

1. improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate)

2. stronger heart beats

3. stronger adrenal glands

4. more tolerance to stress

5. greater resistance to disease

In tests of learning, stimulated pups were found to be more active and were more exploratory than their non-stimulated littermates over which they were dominant in competitive situations.

Secondary effects were also noted regarding test performance. In simple problem solving tests using detours in a maze, the non stimulated pups became extremely aroused, wined a great deal, and made many errors. Their stimulated littermates were less disturbed or upset by test conditions and when comparisons were made, the stimulated litter mates were more calm in the test environment, made fewer errors and gave only an occasional distress signal when stressed.