Have you ever been searching for a new puppy and while scouring through the multiple breeder websites you come across the phrase - ENS TRAINING and think to yourself "what in the heck does that mean?". That is exactly what I thought when I was looking for my first puppy before becoming a breeder.
Early Neurological Stimulation sounds kind of intimidating when you first hear
about it. It sounds like maybe something Frankenstein had to endure in depths of
his hidden castle. In reality, ENS, short for Early Neurological Stimulation, is a very
harmless and basic training technique that is used to help puppies overcome fear
and grow into more independent and courageous dogs.
ENS was developed by the US Military as a way to improve the performance of their
future canines. This training consists of five handling exercises that occur at one
time from day three of the puppies’ life until day sixteen. It is crucial that it done
during this time period of the puppies life. These exercises are completed all at once with one puppy before moving forward to the next puppy. These five exercises are as follows:
1. Tactical: Holding the puppy on their back and stimulating in between their
paw pads with either a Q-Tip or just your fingers for 3-5 seconds.
2. Head Erect: Holding the puppy straight up with both hands for 3-5 seconds.
3. Supine (on back): Hold the puppy in the palm of your hands on it’s back with
their nose facing the ceiling for 3-5 seconds.
4. Head Pointing Down: Hold the puppy firmly and carefully tilt their head
downward so it is pointing toward the ground for 3-5 seconds.
5. Thermal: Use a cold compress to touch to the puppies’ paws for 3-5 seconds.
So, now you might ask, “Why is this important for my puppy?”
ENS, when performed correctly, stimulates your puppies neurological system and pushes it into action earlier than the average dog. This helps make a huge difference in the performance and socialization of your dog.
According to AKC.org, five benefits that have been observed from ENS include
improved heart rate, stronger heartbeats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance
to stress, and greater resistance to disease. It is also shown that dogs that received
ENS were more active and explored more than their non-stimulated littermates.
In our program, we make sure to keep track of these sessions on paper and record how the puppy reacts to these exercises. This helps us dive deeper into the puppies personality and helps us place each puppy with their perfect family. We send this paper home with the puppy on go home day.
Overall, as a breeder who incorporates ENS into their breeding program, I can stand
by the studies and say ENS is truly a great training technique that should be
included into every breeders program. We have seen great outcomes from ENS
training and highly suggest searching for a breeder who includes this into their program and we will continue to incorporate it into our curriculum.
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