What is ENS?

ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) training involves specific, gentle stressors for puppies from days 3-16 to enhance their stress response, health, and problem-solving skills, incorporating brief handling, head positioning, cool thermal stimulation, and sometimes scent/paw touch, aiming for better adult resilience and performance, though some debate exists regarding maternal separation impacts.

Benefits of ENS 

• Stronger Adrenal Glands & Heart: Better cardiovascular performance and stress response.
• Improved Stress Tolerance: Greater ability to handle stress as adults.
• Disease Resistance: Enhanced resistance to disease.
• Enhanced Learning: Faster maturation and improved performance in learning tasks.

Early Scent Introduction (ESI) is a puppy development technique, usually done alongside Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) from days 3-16, involving exposing young puppies to novel, natural scents daily to build nose awareness, confidence, and scent discrimination skills, setting them up for better performance in scent work and overall resilience.

What it is

• A developmental protocol: Aims to enhance a puppy's olfactory (smell) system and cognitive development during a critical brain growth phase.
• Simple & quick: Involves holding a new, safe scent near the puppy's nose for a few seconds each day (days 3-16).
• Benefits: Boosts confidence, improves scent identification, aids in future scent work (like tracking or detection), and promotes mental fortitude.

Why it's important

• Neuroplasticity: Leverages the puppy's rapidly developing brain to build strong scent pathways.
• Foundation: Creates a foundation for dogs to excel in roles requiring scent work, from competitive sports to service dog tasks