What are the First Steps in a Puppy’s Newborn Development?
The first step a breeder takes in creating a great puppy begins with the specific dogs that are selected to be bred. Selecting dogs with good health and good temperaments genetically improves your chances for puppies with the same traits. When the puppies arrive, ensuring that mom is well cared for when the puppies are neonatal (newborn) is the priority. Mom needs a lot of care, to recover from labor and feel safe to rear her puppies. That is a huge job by itself. But what comes after that? When they are neonatal, and are so reliant on their mom they can’t be socialized or fed a specific nutrition regime. In these early days, one of the best things that can be done for the puppy's physiological development is called Early Neurological Stimulation often referred to as ENS. It was discovered that a dog's cognitive abilities were improved with stimulation as a newborn. A succession of stimulation is performed in the early neonatal days of a puppy's development. These simple non-invasive forms of stimulation have been shown to improve dog’s performance later in life. Not only will they be better able to handle stress and challenging situations, but also have improved physical health.
How It Was Created
ENS is based on the premise that an animal's environment has as much to do with their environment as their genetics. This puts a lot of pressure on dog breeders who decide their puppies' genetics as well as create the environment for their dogs. It also creates an opportunity for research and experimentation to be done to determine the best way to do this. Dog breeders and scientists are seeking to improve dog's endocrine responses through ENS. This is based on studies done on mice who have a similar neonatal developmental state as dogs. Mice when placed under mild stress in their early days of life, were found to respond much better to serious stress later in life than their littermates, who weren’t stimulated. Further emphasizing the importance of environmental factors on development. These mice also had improved immune systems and reached sexual maturity earlier. Though not nearly as many studies have been conducted on dogs or cats, a few have been done and have shown favorable results. Similar early environmental studies have even been done on primates.
The research to quantify the exact method that yielding specific results hasn’t been conclusive. Enough research has been done to suggest that putting mild stress on puppies as neonates generates favorable results. At first appearance, it may sound harsh to put stress on a puppy even if it did improve them in some way in adulthood. It is important to remember that in the puppy's early vulnerable days, it needs stimulation from its mother to even survive, in addition to nutrition and warmth. If this puppy is removed from its mother for a short time and handled with care, this alone places mild “stress” on the puppy. Placing it under too much stress would not only be cruel but would likely have undesired results. The exact way in which the puppy is handled and “stressed” to achieve the desired superior physiological and physiological responses is still in the experimental phase. The most common way that ENS is done on dogs is called the “Bio Sensor” method.
How It Is Done
The “Bio Sensor” method was developed by the US military and made popular by Dr. Carmen Battagilia as a part of his Breeding Better Dogs program. In the US military’s research, they found specific times in the puppy's development to be the most influential in their neurological development. One of those times is between 3-16 days of life. Since puppies are born blind and deaf. They are very helpless in those early days of life since the pathways in their brains are not fully formed. Mom must be responsible for 100% of their well-being. Involved breeders carefully oversee mom’s care, ensuring everyone is eating, growing, and staying warm. Mom encourages this process by stimulating them to eat and defecate by licking them. Some forms of stimulation do not occur naturally. This is where the breeder can get involved and aid some of those neuroreceptors. The Military created 5 steps to stimulate the puppy in ways it is not naturally. Each step lasts between 3-5 seconds. Puppies are handled individually and stimulated before being returned to their mother. By performing simple exercises, a breeder can help connect some of those neuroreceptors. This “Bio Sensor” method is the most tested and documented form of ENS. The steps are as follows:
Step 1
Tactile Stimulation-The puppy is tickled with a Q-Tip between the foot pads.
Step 2
Head Held Erect- The puppy is securely held perpendicular to the floor, with the head held directly above the tail.
Step 3
Head Pointed Down- The puppy is held perpendicular to the floor, with the tail above the head.
Step 4
Supine Position- The puppy is held in your palm lying with its feet toward the ceiling.
Step 5
Thermal Stimulation-The puppy is placed on a cold damp towel and allowed to wiggle at will.
The Benefits of ENS
By connecting these endocrine receptors at an early age, ENS creates dogs who have improved psychology. Studies have shown that puppies who have been stimulated are less afraid of their surroundings and more curious. They have been shown through EEG (Electrical Encephalogram) to handle stress better, are more apt at problem-solving, and less fearful. The other major way that ENS helps puppies is through improved physical health. Stimulated dogs have improved cardiovascular health, stronger adrenal glands, and better immune systems. There is certainly a lot more research that can be done in this area to show the extent of benefit. However, there is enough evidence that ENS improves a dog that breeders should include it in their breeding program.
A Personal Note
We have done the “Bio Sensor” method with all our litters. We are proud of our puppy's depth of maturity. Their great temperaments have proved to us the efficacy of this method. In the scheme of our breeding program, ENS is such a small sliver of what we do to give our dogs the best chance at a purposeful life. Stimulating our puppies is only one of the many ways we socialize and train our puppies. Even as newborns we hold and socialize them beyond the “Bio Sensor” method. We slowly begin to introduce them to other sensations as well, including Early Scent Introduction. We have thoughtfully selected the procedures we have in place to create dogs that live long happy lives in any home.
Further Resources