Splash 'n dash

ENS is a series of movements each puppy is exposed to every day from days 3-16 for 3-5 seconds at a time. Some of the many benefits research has found with this program include:

More tolerance to stress

Greater resistance to disease

Stronger heart beats 

Stronger Adrenal Glands

In tests of learning, stimulated pups have been found to be more active and exploratory than their non stimulated littermates. In problem solving tests the stimulated puppies have proven to be more calm and quiet in the test environment and make less errors than their non stimulated litter mates. 

For more information on Dr. Battaglia's Biosensor (ENS) program beneifits and studies see this website here. 

Although neonatal puppies cant see the world at this young age, they can scent it! Studies have shown that stimulating the olfactory sense of puppies aged day 3 - 16 can have many benefits. ESI has contributed to many dogs successes in hunt tests, field trials, and nosework. Dogs have been shown to place higher and at much younger ages than dogs who have not had any ESI. This program gives dogs the speed and confidence to perform at their best for everything from SAR or detection work to tracking or service dogs and even sports such as barn hunt! Many agree it even gives a confidence and less behavioral issues for pets! 

Many breeders start the puppies in their homes and then move them to an outdoor kennel when they get more active. However, puppies enter a critical socialization period at this age. We beleive it's important for puppies to stay inside the home throughout their entire stay at the breeders to experience the busy day to day happenings of an active household. Puppies will be desensitized to noises such as doorbells, TV's, vacuum cleaners, and other things that puppies will need to be comfortable around in their new homes. These steps will make the transitions into new homes easier and less stressfull on everyone involved.

We will provide puppies with ample enrichment not only to keep them entertained but to introduce them to various objects, different surfaces, and begin learning problem solving skills! Various toys, mobiles, inflatable toys, ball pits, tunnels, and wobble boards will prepare them for future dog sports such as agility! Puppies will learn not to fear strange objects, moving surfaces, or new textures under their feet. A new object of some kind will be introduced into the pen daily starting at 3 weeks! They will learn to problem solve using puzzle toys and barrier tests as well. 

Most people will agree that their least favorite part about getting a new puppy is the potty training! We will do our best to make this process as quick and easy as possible for puppies and their new owners. We begin early potty training at around 3 weeks old or so by adding a litter box area to the puppies pen. We will begin encouraging the puppies to use this area as their potty area. Most puppies tend to pick up on this pretty quickly. This greatly aids in house training by teaching the puppies not to potty in their sleeping/play areas. Puppies that get used to sleeping/playing in soiled areas lose their natural aversion to that and tend to be much harder to properly house train. 

Puppies will experience some foundational training before they leave for their new homes! This will include an introduction to clickers and a default sit. After working one on one with puppies, we will work on group sits. This will help young puppies develop self control skills by teaching them to sit for soemething they want rather than a mob of jumping puppies. Puppies will also be introduced to crates using games to encourage this as a fun and safe space. To help prepare puppies for their travel to new homes they will also experience car rides before leaving. 

Puppies will be assessed around 7 weeks of age using Avidogs puppy aptitude testing. This will help us determine the puppies temperament, drives, and confidence. This test along with our own observations will help us select what type of home is best suited for each puppy 

Puppies will be started at a young age on Impulse Control training! Susan Garrett's "It's Yer Choice" method is one of the techniques the puppies will be introduced to. This teaches the puppies much needed patience and encourages them to be calm in exciting situations! Ultimately this teaches them to control their natural reactions to stimulating things. This can aid in later training such as not bolting through doors, leaving dropped food or items, waiting for their dinner, and being calm at events.

The Puppy Culture program features an important Puppy Party for an excellent way to socialize puppies. This will be planned during the puppies 6th to 7th week before they go to their new homes. New people will visit and set up stations to work with puppies on different tasks (such as shaping, following a lure, targeting a lid, tugging).