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Did you know that there are vital exercises that can be completed during a dog’s infancy to build that pup up for success as a future therapy dog, service dog, or working dog?
It’s true! A dog- just like a human- undergoes vital brain development in the first days and weeks of life. Taking advantage of this early neurological goldmine is the best way to help a dog succeed throughout his or her life- in all roles and capacities.
How?? I’ll show you!!
Step 1: Health Testing/Temperament of Parents
Complete genetics and health testing on the parents to ensure that the puppy is born healthy. These tests are simple to do and decrease the likelihood of passing along genetic conditions to the puppies.
While you’re at it… carefully select parents based on temperament and the parents’ success in the same job that you hope puppies will do. Puppies often express similar personality characteristics as their parents. If you want puppies who will be awesome cattle dogs, choose parents who are awesome cattle dogs. If you want puppies who can stay calm enough to offer therapy to patients in the hospital, find parents who are successful therapy dogs.
Why are these important to a service dog, therapy dog, or a working dog? A dog with a job need the correct health, structure, and emotional resilience to complete their designated tasks- and these things are genetic!
Step 2: Safe Birth
Have a safe and healthy birth using all the necessary whelping supplies. There’s nothing more devastating than going through the long process of a perfect match up between 2 adult dogs, handling the juggle of breeding successfully, having a healthy pregnancy, and then a complicated birth throws a wrench in everything! Months of work can be wasted, not to mention the trauma of losing life. Be prepared for the birth to keep babies safe and to see your dreams of top-notch puppies come true! Everything you need can be found here!
This is also the time to educate yourself to be ready to support puppies through all areas of development.
Step 3: ENS Exercises
Complete Early Neurological Stimulation Exercises from day 3 to day 16. These exercises yield lifelong benefits to puppies- stronger bodies, greater resilience, and more confidence.
I have observed that puppies who seem fussy at a young age used to stay fussy as they got older- which often looks like timid behaviors. Once I stated to complete ENS exercises for every puppy, I found that those fussy babies increased in their ability to face stress and to respond appropriately to it. Similarly, those amazing puppies who were quiet and calm from the start grow into extremely well adapted babies!
Learn more about ENS exercises here!
Step 4: Early Scent Introduction
Early Scent Introduction, or ESI, is a phenomenal exercise to build a puppy’s skills- preparing them for a life of therapy work, service work, or other work. Specifically, ESI builds a puppy’s ability to smell a new smell, categorize the smell in its brain, and recall that information the next time the pup smells the same scent.
Imagine the possibilities of a hunting dog with this extra benefit! Imagine what it can do for a police dog who smells for substances, or a detection dog at an airport, a search and rescue dog looking for a lost person, a medical assistance dog, and more!
ESI takes only a few minutes each day from day 3 to day 16.
All you have to do is allow each pup to smell a new, strong scent each day. What kind of smells? Just look around the home! You can use essential oils, soaps/perfumes, foods, spices in the cupboard, a bit of animal hair, flowers, even smelly shoes. The only requirement is that the object should have a strong smell.
What are we looking for?
Watch each puppy’s response and record it using our ENS record chart, included in your Whelping Kit!
You are watching to see if a pup turns towards the scent eagerly, turns away from the scent in distaste, or acts neutral towards the scent.
Step 5: Socialize, socialize, socialize and Desensitize!
Keep in mind the kind of work that your pups will need to accomplish and plan out what experiences will make the puppy successful.
Is your dog going to be a Livestock Dog? Most of the socialization will be geared towards the livestock- and may even require the pup to be raised right along with the herd.
Is your dog going to be a therapy dog or service dog? Lots of human interaction will be necessary to help these dogs work in close proximity to people. Keep in mind introducing your pups to a variety of different people- someone wearing glasses, someone in a wheelchair, men and women, children and elderly, someone with a hat on, etc. Being exposed to all kinds of people decreases fear and social anxiety, which could get in the way of the pup’s job later in life.
But socialization isn’t all!
Desensitize the litter to all kinds of sounds, new textures, new items, different areas of the home and outside (stay on your property only to avoid germs that could be harmful to puppies). These exercises increase a dog’s familiarity with everyday experiences (an umbrella, a TV, fireworks, rides in the car, and much more) while also helping a dog learn a Startle Recovery response (exactly what it sounds like- something startling happens, the pup jumps or reacts, but then recovers and chooses to investigate the new sound or item instead of running or hiding).
For example, any dog who will work outdoors should not be afraid of storms. Storm sounds would be a great desensitization experience.
Step 6: Personality Testing
Complete Personality Testing to see which puppies show the greatest emotional resilience and willingness to work with humans.
Not all puppies in a litter are good candidates for working dogs. You’ll want to select the pup who shows the best traits for the intended job.
Volhard’s Puppy Aptitude test is a good start, but there are many tests available to assess which puppies are your all stars!
With these steps, you are raising a quality litter of puppies! You will improve the breed and make a difference in the future of the dogs you love!!
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