Introduction
There is a lot of information online & in books about puppy socialisation. But research indicates that for puppy development, extremely early socialisation is essential. Breeders are capable of boosting the abilities and steady personality of puppies even before they are born! Additional to Early Scent Introduction (ESI), we introduce our very young puppies to Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) exercises.
What is Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)?
ENS is a process of exercises that happens from the ages of 3 to 16 days old (exactly the same time period working with the puppies using ESI). During the days when puppies are so very young (neonates) is when they are developing and their brains are undergoing fast neurological changes and progression. Due to these reasons, although the puppies cannot see nor hear, and are totally reliant on Mum dogs for nourishment and need help to eliminate, they are susceptible to both ENS and ESI in a positive way for helping development, their ability to cope and resilience later on in their lives.
These ENS exercises happen once a day, at a different time than ESI so that each puppy has maximum benefit from the exercises performed, and it doesn’t overly stress any of the little darlings. Detrimental and adverse effects can be had from overstimulating their neurological systems at such a young age. The exercises were developed, according to Dr Carmen Battaglia, (AKC judge, breeder, board member, writer and seminar presenter), by the US Military. ENS formed a portion (aimed for just the neonates) of an overall larger canine breeding program to enhance the performance and provide dogs for the Viet Nam war. The program was called the ‘Bio Sensor’ program (1968 – 1976), which later took on the name known more commonly with the public as the ‘Super Dog’ program.1
ENS consists of five exercises, which introduce the puppies to mild stressors, tactile stimulation and thermal stimulation. The exercises each last for just 3 – 5 seconds, which is enough time to enable a puppy’s stress response to develop, advance and see overall improvement later on.
The 5 exercises are:
1. Tactile stimulation – we hold the puppy in one hand, and using a cotton wool bud, tickle between the toes of just one foot.
2. Head held erect – we use both hands for this one & hold the puppy directly straight up from the ground (perpendicular), with the head above the tail. The puppy is pointing upwards during this exercise.
3. Head pointing down – for this exercise, a puppy is pointing downwards, towards the ground. Both hands and a firm grip are needed for this exercise.
4. Supine position – the palms of both hands cup the puppy who gently lays on his or her back during this exercise. (Whenever I think of the name of this exercise, I always remember learning the word ‘supine’ during instructor training for teaching aquatics).
5. Thermal stimulation – for this exercise a damp towel that’s been in the fridge for 5 minutes is used (for 3-5 seconds, like all the other exercises). The puppy is placed on the towel, with feet on it, but they are allowed to move around if they would like.
The puppy is then cuddled and placed back with their littermates again. These ENS exercises are performed once daily, but they do not replace gentle handling, cuddles and other forms of early socialisation. We do all these ‘activities’ (if you can call telling a puppy you love them whilst cuddling them an activity!) with our puppies (and more) as well as ENS exercises.
How does Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) Benefit a Puppy?
Five benefits have been observed:
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 learning tests, the puppies exposed to ENS were more active and exploratory than puppies who were not stimulated when young through ENS.2 In performance tests involving a maze, the puppies exposed to ENS were calmer, more accurate, and showed less upset and stress than those non-stimulated puppies.3 As adult dogs these puppies are able to handle stress better than those not exposed to ENS. In studies, they responded in ‘a graded’ way, whereas those adult dogs not exposed to ENS responded in an ‘all or nothing’ fashion.1 In another study, ENS was compared against just hand-held puppies in order to assess for self-confidence, motivation to determine whether ENS had an impact on selection for advanced training. It showed that the ENS puppies were more likely and selected at a higher rate than the puppies that were hand-held.4
Does Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) replace Socialisation? And should it be used with every litter?
The simple answers are ‘No’ and ‘No’!
Socialising a puppy to different people and animals and introducing puppy at a young age (& continuing this) is critical to have a well-balanced and rounded dog later on down the line. So absolutely, ENS should be used alongside gentle handling, habituation methods, and introduction to a whole array of sensory and tactile interactions, but it is no substitute. Raising a puppy through the earliest stages of development requires patience, hard work, time and love.
Under certain circumstances, other protocols are better used to enhance the neurological and endocrine systems of the neonates. For example, if the Mum dog can’t or doesn’t want to look after her puppies, or if she isn’t that great at licking them and taking care of them in general. Studies have shown that licking alters the development of certain endocrine and neurological systems,5 in particular those that are responsible for regulating resilience, stress reactions, and regulate emotional stability (in neonate rats).6 So, if Mum dog isn’t licking her puppies much (or at all) then these pups are under stress already. ENS in these circumstances would then put already stressed tiny puppies under more stress, so we wouldn’t do it. Another time when it wouldn’t be advisable is if an individual puppy isn’t putting on enough weight; again, this puppy would be already stressed.
We do work on ENS when the time is right and the puppies are naturally whelped and they’re developing nicely with Mum dog offering attention, love and milk to all. I personally think in the above situations, it would be borderline cruel to force a neonate onto a damp towel for a performed exercise. So instead, we would offer more gentle handling, cuddles and help to eliminate (if Mum dog wasn’t doing this) plus Simulated Maternal Stimulation, simulating maternal licking, which involves gentle brushing with a soft horse hair paint brush.
Wrap-Up
As with any form of teaching, looking after young puppies & realising that it’s your responsibility to do your very best for them, requires being extremely adaptable. Being able to reason out what is best for each puppy is something that we do often, and we decide based on the circumstances at that time. A puppy that we offer alternative techniques to for a number of days, may then receive ENS a few days later, and so on. It literally just depends on what’s happening at that particular time. ENS is a beneficial and proven group of exercises for neonate puppies that we like to use for the development of our puppies. However, we are totally aware and mindful of its application and only when the time and circumstances mean it would actually benefit the puppies.
References
1. Battaglia, C. L. (2009) ‘Periods of Early Development and the Effects of Stimulation and Social Experiences in the Canine’, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 4(5), pp. 203-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2009.03.003
2. Leigh, P. from American Kennel Club (2021) Puppy Socialization Starts with Early Neurological Stimulation. Available at: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeding/breeder-puppy-socialization-early-neurological-stimulation/
3. Breeding Better Dogs (no date) Early Neurological Stimulation. Available at: https://breedingbetterdogs.com/article/early-neurological-stimulation
4. Gazit, I., Terkel, J. and Goldblatt, A. (2022) ‘Are there long-term effects of early neurological stimulation (ENS) on working dogs?’, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 249, p.105588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105588
5. Jankord, R. and Herman, J. P. (2008) ‘Limbic Regulation of Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical function during acute and chronic stress’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1148, pp. 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1410.012
6. Puppy Culture Stories (2019) Re-Thinking Early Neurological Stimulation. Available at: https://www.puppyculturestories.com/read/re-thinking-early-neurological-stimulation
