What is a Neonatal Puppy?
Neonate describes the first two weeks of a puppy's life. Born with his eyes and ears closed, he enters the world blind, deaf, and neurologically underdeveloped. At this early stage, there is almost no difference in brain activity between the time he is sleeping and the time when he’s awake. Studies have shown that handling and other interaction experienced during the neonatal period can lead to a quicker maturation of the nervous system and an enhanced development of motor and problem-solving skills.

Daily Care for Neonatal Puppies
During the first 2 weeks of our puppy's life's, we are in the welping box with them multiple times a day (Every 1-2 hours if not more). By being with them we can make sure all the pups are nursing and staying warm. **Neonate puppies cannot regulate body temp, so they need to stay close with mom, siblings, and a heating pad if needed**
• Daily Weight Checks - Weight checks are a must for all neonate puppies, by checking weights we can determine healthy pups and pups that need a little extra help. 
If a puppy gains weight, that is a very good sign that they are getting plenty to eat and are a healthy growing pup
If a puppy loses weight, we know right then we need to take action. As in making sure they are latching on to mom and supplement feeding with a bottle to ensure they have plenty of nutarians.
• Head to Toe Checks - Doing a head to toe check on both puppies and mom at least once a day is very important to make sure everyone is healthy and there are no signs of complications (Infection, etc)

Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)
  ENS is a process we do that introduces mild stresses to young puppies in a controlled way. These stresses help stimulate the neurological system which improves the growth and development of the pup’s immune system, cardiovascular system, and stress tolerance.

ENS is done every day for 2 weeks (3-16 Days Old).

ENS has 5 simple and harmless exercises including Positional, Tactile, Thermal Stimulations. Each exercise is done for 3-5 seconds the entire process takes about 30 seconds.

We will continue to do Early Neurological Stimulation on our pups because we see the benefits and know it helps them grown into lovable canine citizens.
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   • Positional Stimulation  
1. Hold Up – Using both hands, hold the pup perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that its head is directly above its tail for 3-5 seconds
2. Supine Position – Hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling for 3-5 seconds. The pup while on its back is allowed to sleep 
3. Head Down – Holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing towards the ground for 3-5 seconds   

   • Tactile Stimulation
Hold the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip for 3-5 seconds. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle.  


   • Thermal Stimulation
Using an ice pack for the freezer. Place the pup on the pack, feet down for 3-5 seconds. Do not restrain it from moving.

    These five exercises will produce neurological stimulations, none of which naturally occur during this early period of life. Experience shows that sometimes pups will resist these exercises, others will appear unconcerned. In either case a caution is offered to those who plan to use them. Do not repeat them more than once per day and do not extend the time beyond that recommended for each exercise. Over stimulation of the neurological system can have adverse and detrimental results. These exercises impact the neurological system by kicking it into action earlier than would be normally expected, the result being an increased capacity that later will help to make the difference in its performance. Those who play with their pups and routinely handle them should continue to do so because the neurological exercises are not substitutions for routine handling, play socialization or bonding.

Benefits of Stimulation
  Five benefits have been observed in canines that were exposed to Early Neurological Stimulation. 
  1. Improved Cardiovascular Performance (heart rate)
  2. Stronger Heart Beats,
  3. Stronger Adrenal Glands,
  4. Higher Tolerance to Stress
  5. Greater Resistance to Disease.

    While learning this exercise we noticed, stimulated pups were found to be more active and were more exploratory than their non- stimulated littermates over which they were dominant in competitive situations. Secondary effects were also noted regarding test performance. In simple problem-solving tests using detours in a maze, the non-stimulated pups became extremely aroused, whined a great deal, and made many errors. Their stimulated littermates were less disturbed or upset by test conditions and when comparisons were made, the stimulated littermates were calmer in the test environment, made fewer errors and gave only an occasional distress sound when stressed.



Early Scent Introduction (ESI)
ESI is a training program for puppies designed to enhance their ability to identify, and react to, specific scents.

Each day, we introduce a scent to the puppy for brief minute and records the puppy’s reaction.
• Positive when the puppy shows interest in the scent, moving toward it.
• Negative reaction when the puppy tries to get away from the scent.
• Neutral reaction when a puppy is neither interested nor disinterested

Dr. Gayle Watkins is a breeder of sporting Golden Retrievers, and over seven years ago, she began testing dogs to determine the effectiveness of ESI. This involved selecting certain puppies from her litters to receive ESI training, and others that would not receive ESI. The results were nothing short of remarkable. The dogs that participated in ESI had more scenting titles than those that did not participate, and they were achieving titles at ages of up to five years younger than the pups that had not participated.
What It Means for practical purposes, these results mean the potential for even better companion, service, and therapy dogs. Scent abilities are often very important. Just as an example, when a dog is a companion to a child with autism, his main function is likely to be a guardian of sorts, since children with autism can have a tendency to wander or run off. If the dog is able to easily follow the child’s scent and locate him or her, that could actually be a life-saving asset. Another situation in which scent abilities can matter a great deal might be alerting an elderly person to a gas leak, or to something burning on the stove – again, there is the potential for saving a life. Service dogs can also use scent to identify the early stages of diabetic reaction, or the onset of a seizure. All these skills enhanced by ESI. Of course, not all dogs are going to be service or therapy animals.

We perform the Early Scent Introduction on our doodle puppies because we understand how important a dog’s sense of smell is to him and his brain function. Our dogs’ noses are 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive to smells than our human noses, depending on the dog and dog breed.

The Procedure for Early Scent Introduction To expose your puppies to ESI, begin when they are three days old and stop at 16 days.
Every day, we introduce a new scent. To do this, we pick up the puppy or sit on the floor with the puppy in our lap. We hold on to the puppy with one hand so that he does not squirm away before the scent is introduced. Then, with your other hand, we hold the scent-bearing object about half an inch away from his nose. If he wants to move toward the scent, we let him. By the same token, if he wants to move away from it, that is fine too. Then we note whether the reaction is positive, negative, or neutral. Then we repeat the procedure with the other puppies in the litter.