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Re-Thinking Early Neurological Stimulation

4/22/2019

10 Comments

 
Puppy Culture is an open source architecture - it grows and clarifies based on the input and feedback of the users. Pursuant to that, based on the discussions in our Facebook Discussion Group, I think a major re-thinking of Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) is in order.
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Don’t panic, I’m not “turning against” ENS! It’s still an awesome protocol under the right circumstances. But the piece that I think we need to embrace is that ENS really is a subset of a larger category, which is shaping the neurological development of neonates. And there is (or at least should be) more than one protocol in that category, depending on the circumstances.
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For those of you who are not familiar with Puppy Culture, one of our core tenants is that we look for behavioral markers to know when a particular protocol is appropriate, rather than looking at the temporal age of the puppies.  So we always want to know the developmental period, rather than how many days the puppy has been alive in order to do the right thing at the right time.  And litters vary a lot - developmental periods have been documented to vary by as much as 16 days between breeds, and, in our experience, this is a pretty conservative estimate.

What I've recently come to realize is that, in the same way that we look for behavioral markers to know when to do what protocol in Puppy Culture, we need to focus on the circumstances of the litter to know WHAT KIND of stimulation is required:
  • Where all the stars align with a low stress birth and excellent maternal care, ENS is perfect, and should confer all of the benefits Dr. Battaglia talks about in Puppy Culture.

  • But, where the stars don’t align so well and there is a stressful birth or poor maternal care, ENS is unnecessary as the puppies already are stressed. Both Dr. Battaglia and I talk about this in Puppy Culture. In this situation you can focus on tactile stimulation that would simulate maternal care (licking). So long firm strokes of the body and anogenital regions, with your hands or possibly with a soft brush, rather than stressful ENS-type manipulations.
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That's the Reader's Digest version of this blog...my reasoning for this is outlined at some length, below, (and I am only skimming the topic, at that). But I know it’s somewhat dense material and not everyone will wade through it, so I wanted to get it out up front that, in cases where the litter is stressed, I believe there is already enough stress to produce the results of ENS, and furthermore there is an alternative to ENS that the research indicates will be appropriate and beneficial under those circumstances.
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Why Touch Shapes Personality
The neurological and endocrine systems of neonates are extremely flexible (approximately the first two weeks of life). In a safe environment with lots of resources, certain neurological and endocrine (hormonal) responses will aid survival, and in a dangerous environment with low resources a completely different set of responses will aid survival. This is why these systems are so plastic at birth - they develop differently to optimize based on the environment into which the animal is born.
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Suffice it to say that the kinds of emotions and behaviors we want our dogs to have are by and large facilitated by convincing the puppies’ systems that they are going to be living in a safe and resource abundant environment. But we also, when possible, want to challenge the puppies’ endocrine and neurological systems ever so slightly to get additional gains in those systems. This is the tightrope we are walking when we get into protocols that shape early neurological development.

Why Circumstances Matter
Now back to ENS. ENS assumes that the environment truly is low stress, low danger, and high resource. In this case, we can pick up bonus development by introducing low amounts of stress. But what does that mean in terms of a litter in the breeder’s house? It means the dam is not stressed, has good mothering skills, plenty of milk, and is in good health. It means the puppies have not been stressed in any way, their birth was uneventful and natural, that they are eating and gaining normally, and are not sick in any way. This describes perfectly the average German Shepherd litter that is free whelped - the mother cares well for the puppies and the breeder hardly touches them for the first two weeks. ENS in this situation is almost certainly very beneficial.
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But what if any of those dimensions are missing? If you’ve been to my Puppy Culture seminar, you know we talk a lot about neonatal neurological and endocrine development and how touch, stimulation, and maternal stress can effect that development, positively or negatively. I’m going to pick out one small part of my presentation to talk about, which is the role of tactile stimulation. Many of you are familiar with the “licked rats” studies (if you’re not familiar with it, you can get an overview, HERE). The reader’s digest version is that maternal care, specifically licking completely changes the development of the neurological and endocrine systems of neonate rats, specifically the systems that regulate emotional stability, resilience, and stress reactions - the HPA axis .
It’s been demonstrated conclusively that rat pups whose mother licked them have much better emotional regulation and behavior than non-licked pups. And this is independent of DNA - they have cross fostered rat pups and the result is clearly dependent on maternal care, not the genetics of the pup. Read more HERE and HERE

Best Practices for Breeders
The studies show That this "licking effect" can be reproduced by human caregivers.  In the absence of maternal licking, tactile stimulation of the rat pup’s anogenital region with a soft paintbrush or a Swiffer brush applied gently over their whole body could produce results similar to maternal licking. Beneficial results were found with as little as a few seconds three times per day, but it appears that the maximum experimental result so far has been with 15 minutes of stimulation per day.
So, practically, what does this mean to you as a breeder? Say, for instance, your bitch has had a c-section and is slow to come around to caring for the puppies. You’re already picking up and manipulating the puppies to feed them, to clean them, to move them in and out of the whelping box. They’re either getting a feeding tube down their throat several times a day, or being held in position while sponge or bottle fed, or their dam is being pinned down while the puppies are slid on to her teats to nurse. The last thing those puppies need is extra stress.
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But what they are lacking is maternal licking, which is extremely important to favorable development of the genes surrounding the HPA axis. So (and I’m just taking a stab at this, based on the rat research) long soft but firm strokes along their bodies, and also anogenital regions (unless you are already having to void the puppies yourself). You might consider using a large paintbrush with soft bristles which might more accurately reproduce the action of a tongue. I have not used a brush myself but it would be consistent with the way the rat experiments were designed.
We have recent personal experience with this. Naboo had her two boys by C-section and it took her five days to fully come around to caring for the puppies. In the interim, we were holding Naboo in place so the puppies could nurse, and then cleaning the puppies ourselves. One of the puppies seemed to have extreme reactions to being held and cleaned, so we began stroking him for a few minutes each time we took him out to feed him. At first, he wailed and resisted but after only two days he immediately settled when stroked. I know it’s a sample size of one, but we have seen similar results in other litters, and it makes sense, based on the research.
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So, the bottom line is, if you have an outstanding earth mother who free whelped and is caring for a thriving litter of puppies, do ENS, it’s really helpful. But if you have any other scenario, consider simulated maternal stimulation (SMS), instead. And, of course, the scenario can change - you might have a litter with a rough start that settles in, in which case you can switch from SMS to ENS. Once again I will disclaim that this is all just my personal experience and how I read the research - but it has definitely been proven that too much ENS is bad for puppies, so I think this is an excellent stab at better practices.

A New Place To Put Your Energy
We get an awful lot of breeders who are super concerned when told that they need to skip ENS because the puppies already have enough stress.   These breeders never seem happy with the answer that they should leave out ENS protocols.  They feel like their puppies will be short changed.  And it seems like many breeders push doing ENS when perhaps it might be better not to do it.

Mulling it over, I think these breeders have the correct instinct, in that we can positively influence the neurological and endocrine development of puppies quite easily in the neonatal period, and they want to take action. But, up until now, they have felt that ENS was their only option. So breeders push hard to “get ENS done” even when it might have been better not to.

And that’s what I believe we need to re-examine - ENS is a fantastic protocol under the right circumstances, but it’s not your only option for influencing the neurological and endocrine development of your puppies. You should always consider whether SMS (Simulated Maternal Stimulation) might be the better protocol, based on the circumstances of the litter.

​Hope this helps you make the best choices for your litters. I will be thinking and researching this more in the coming months and perhaps even doing an update to the Workbook down the road.
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10 Comments
lita long
4/22/2019 10:47:36 am

interesting observation. i have the unique situation two fold. one the bitch has 7 working nipples and 9 puppies. the other was while the delivery was good. i had 6 normal puppies and 3 puppies that were light weights. in order to manage the nipple deficent and the lightweights needing feedings and more mommy time. i wondered about several points.
1. the lightweights appeared to have more insight into human touch. I had 3 bigger ones who i felt I did not do enough for they were not as into human touch, rather bonded to each other early.
later at about 7 wks their demand for human attention came forward and caught up with the little ones. As with any group it is easy to let the ones who are doing well to just be. Having been an early breeder in "super dog are made not just born" we did a lot of the early part of ENS, we did a lot more than just count of 5, I remember our first litter back in the 70's and have always recommended puppies being handled from day 1. What i like the most is the receptive manner when training time comes that the dogs are eager to see what the game of the day is and the ease they are to work with. I have a breed that do not like repeative training methods. they will re-invent the wheel. So we have to be creative in training. I have sent many of my owners to PC as a requirement to be prepared to getting the puppy, Many have reported how well the puppies have grown into their new homes with ease. Well enough for one chat. thanks again.. Lita Long Blue Panda OES.

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JANE LINDQUIST
4/23/2019 04:13:02 am

Lita, interesting experience! Amazing how the change and develop and how touch influences that!

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Marzé link
4/22/2019 11:41:12 am

This is very interesting and via my own instincts and intuition recently adapted some of what you are speaking about. My litter was born easily and peacefully and everyone was ready to suck the moment they arrived. Then I made a mistake by feeding her too much calcium. On the day they had tails and dew claws done I discovered they were constipated. I was beside myself trying to come up with a solution. Several times a day they were getting puppy enemas and also some probiotics by mouth and another supplement to help turn this around. I had never done this before and was very nervous. I did not do ENS during this time but did do a lot of stroking and comforting of the puppies. This post came out just as this situation has resolved. Thinking I will start ENS now— they are 10 days old today.
Thanks for the information.

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JANE LINDQUIST
4/23/2019 04:13:55 am

Ha, yes! Sometimes you have to go with your instincts!

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Margo link
4/22/2019 01:34:14 pm

Your work is incredible!
I had 3 very different litters from 3 different breeds But the one that amazed me was a Havanese litter of 4 . One had a hard time at birth and required some work and support. This puppy was the smallest and my girl, the Dam, was not into this whole birthing and mothering experience, at all.
I remember her being reluctant to stimulate anyone, least of all the little one but eventually, after a few chases around the pen( after she went out to pee) and me sitting in the whelping pen with her, she began to be interested. The puppies did well despite her reluctance but I felt like I had to show her what to do and demonstrate and encourage her the whole first week. She was healthy in all other ways. I know her breeder but I never heard anything specific from her own infancy being an issue. But I do know that her puppies were all very playful and inquisitive and appeared well adjusted when they left but I did tell the person who I was working with who handled the business end, that the parents had to be willing to spend time with their puppies because they
had had a lot of human interaction and I was concerned about separation anxiety. Then again it could have been my own, lol

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JANE LINDQUIST
4/23/2019 04:16:11 am

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, people expect that dog moms should just take to the whole mothering thing like a duck to water but it's not always so. The good news is they can actually learn and become stellar brood bitches.

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Josine link
4/23/2019 09:34:30 am

We had a litter (giant breed) of 9 who lost their mom after the C-section. It wasn't our first litter so we knew how to help the puppies to poo and pee. They found out that their littermates also have 'nipples'. So they got very sticky from each others pee. We decided to just use a washcloth and warm water to clean them and that worked also very well to let them poo and pee. And we had clean puppies :) My thoughts are also that because you help them to relieve, what feels like positive, the touching (from the washcloth) is also positive then.
In combination with some empty bottles in their pen which they used to play with, but also used to sleep close to. The bottles made enough noise when they were playing with it or just walked by. This whole litter is so focused on people, they love al the attention, they love to cuddle, they are such a happy dogs al of them. 3 of them also are doing very well in the showring, being youthchampion and waiting to finish their championship.

The last litter was normal whelping, but mom didn't clean them at all, we had to do all of this. So we used again the warm water and the washcloth and the bottles in their pen. Again all of them are so outgoing, love to cuddle, etc.

We haven't used the PC protocol yet, but already did parts from it

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Lynn Whinery link
4/23/2019 05:51:02 pm

I spent a year working in a lab doing research on potential treatments for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. We worked with rats, and therefore did a LOT of reading on research studies that used rats. One thing that was regularly pointed out was that the rats had to be stroked with SHORT strokes. Petting with long strokes didn't create the same results. Rat mothers lick with short strokes, they don't go the length of the entire body. I don't know if similar research has been done with dogs, but I think it would make sense to watch our moms, and try to emulate the length of stroke they do.

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JANE LINDQUIST
5/13/2019 12:58:16 pm

This is great! Very interesting input and we will investigate lick styles!

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Christi hosking link
4/24/2019 01:05:04 am

Hello Jane,
This is our second PC litter and this time we had 2 smaller pups that had a traumatic start. Mom kind of freaks out at first so they need warming because we weren't home for the first.
We decided to do ENS on the remaining 7 as they were hardy and with no issues. Since thr 2 little ones required some supplementing, they got plenty of touch, stroking etc.
Here now st 3 weeks, they all have caught up. Thank you for all that you teach us and the work you do! We love PC

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    Jane Messineo Lindquist (Killion) is the director of "Puppy Culture: The Powerful First Twelve Weeks That Can Shape Your Puppies' Future" as well as the author of "When Pigs Fly: Training Success With Impossible Dogs." 

     Jane has had Bull Terriers since 1982 and she and her husband, Mark Lindquist, breed Bull Terriers under the Madcap kennel name.

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