Sky x Roy puppies, 2 weeks.

Eyes are open! I always waiting for this moment, and my heart skips a beat when I see a glance through their not completely open yet eyelids and know it will be shortly now when we can look at each other. 

We do take some pictures of puppies to capture this awesome step-stone time.

This is our light boy:

and his darker brother

and our 3 fantastic little ladies

Today was last day of ENS and ECI programs for these little ones. Everybody's favorite scent in ECI was Clove -  it was active and long interaction and following the scent from every puppy and it was exciting to see ,as Clove  is used as one of scents in AKC Scent work trials. Surprisingly , another one is Cypress, and -  all pups  but dark boy  loved to smell a little branch of it.

Desensitization for vibration of nail grinder also was in program last week. Nail care is a big deal in dogs life, and starting it in right time and correctly is important.

What is the world is ENS and ESI and why my puppies need it.

So , as promised, here is a little bit more information about ESI and ENS programs, what we use concurrently for neonatal puppies.

Early Scent Introduction program was developed by Gayle Watkins for the working Retrievers and then widely adopted by breeders of dogs involved in Scent , Field trials and Search work. There are a special protocol of introduction of different groups of scents to puppies from 3 to 16 days of their life.The idea behind it is stimulation  of areas of brain responsible for scent processing.

Puppies are born with their eyes and ears closed . They interacting with this world by smell and touch predominantly in first 2 weeks  period  .Therefor , we have unique possibility to help their brain build more neural connection for scent memories and develop better .

Once a day we introduce  new scent to puppies  and keep record of their reaction to each . Scents items can be natural - like grass in these pictures , cloth , metal , birds feathers ,  etc. Selection of scents for this program is  different then in our Socialization to Scents program what we will  run a bit later with these babies.

Another neonatal program is Early Neurological Stimulation  (ENS) - also known as "Super dog  program" and "Bio-sensor program". Based on  scientific research for military dogs , it was then  popularized by 

Dr. Battaglia . Method applies the series of specially formulated  holding positions or light tactile or thermal interaction , which provide right amount of eustress to stimulate  nervous system . Short, few seconds stimulation shapes neonatal development to give puppies more tolerance to stress , greater immune response and resistance to diseases and more .

It need to be done carefully and with individual approach to each litter and each puppy to avoid an over-stimulation. In case of this Zoe's litter - they were  great candidates for ENS to give them extra bonus in their development : this babies were born naturally , quick and easy, Mommy Zoe has plenty of milk and she is fantastic mother , cleaning and licking her pups , nursing with no problem , pups are gaining weight  right on schedule . There is no stress in their little life, therefor ENS is very beneficial  for them. Here is a couple of short videos for you , if you are interested how it is done.