Another day, another training session for the Fire & Blood puppies! Today we’re setting them up for the future by tackling resource guarding. 🦴
🤔 What are we doing?
These mini sessions make a major impact on each dog’s future. By exchanging their bones with yummy raw chicken, we’re introducing a Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) to having their resources handled by humans.
💡What are we looking for?
The lightbulb moment! This is when each puppy sees our hand approaching and happily leaves their bone because they know something better is coming. We’re also looking for wiggly bodies, soft expressions and the realisation that they don’t need to guard their resources from people.
🛑 We NEVER recommend using these protocols for dogs 12 weeks and older - we are using a protocol designed by Puppy Culture specifically for infant dogs.
🎧 Tune into the end for some extremely upset boys who desperately want more chicken. 😂
#puppies #englishsetter #preservationbreeder
Loading the clicker - 5 weeks!
Tonight we introduced the clicker to our pack of perfect puppies and they thought it was great fun. 🩷 Watch till the end and you’ll spot some particularly sleepy ones. 😅 This really simple exercise serves two functions: establishing taking treats by hand, and classically conditioning the clicker. As the litter develops we’ll build on this by introducing shaping, deepening their understanding of the clicker and encouraging them to think creatively with their little brains! 🧠
Puppies: 1. Booty shaking llama: 0
Sound habituation for the day - fireworks! 🎆
The puppies are 2 weeks old and have quite a lot to say! 📢📢📢
Early Neurological Stimulation with the Italy litter 🇮🇹
The Italy litter is 6 days old and are now on day 3 of their Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) protocols!
❓What’s ENS?❓
In the first 2 weeks of a puppy’s life their neurological system is shaping – and with a little intervention, we can have a big influence on the way it forms.
Research shows that challenging or stressing the neurological system of neonates *very slightly* produces beneficial effects on them for the rest of their lives.
The benefits of short-term, gentle stress (within the ages 3-16 days) will carry on with that puppy forever, and include:
- Greater tolerance of stress
- Greater resistance to disease
- A faster adrenal system
- A stronger heart rate and heartbeat
❓What’s the protocol look like? ❓
We challenge our puppies’ neurological system with 5 stimulating exercises. The key is to introduce just a very small amount of stress – 3 to 5 seconds per exercise – once a day until the puppies reach 16 days.
These exercises are:
- Tactile stimulation
- The ‘head up’ position
- The ‘head down’ position
- The supine position
- Thermal stimulation
ENS can sound a little confronting, but the puppies are handling it like champions and we know it will benefit them for the rest of their lives. ❤️
