Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)

ENS is performed once daily for 2 consecutive weeks from 3 days old through 16 days old. Each exercise is done for 3-5 seconds, and the entire process takes about 30 seconds. ENS consists of 5 simple and harmless exercises:

First, tactile stimulation is done by gently touching in between each of the pup’s toes with a Q-tip.
The supine position is achieved by holding the pup in both hands, on its back, with its belly up.
Then, simply hold the pup upright in both hands so that the tail is pointed to the floor and the head is towards the ceiling.
Next, tilt the pup upside down so the head is towards the floor and the tail is towards the ceiling.
Lastly, for the thermal stimulation lay the pup on its belly on a cold wet towel.

The US military developed this method designed to improve the performance of their future military working dogs. This stimulation introduces mild stresses to very young puppies in a controlled way. ENS is a series of 5 exercises believed to impact the neurological system by kicking it into action earlier than would be normally expected, resulting in:

improved cardio vascular performance
stronger heart beat
stronger adrenal glands
more tolerance to stress
greater resistance to disease

In test studies, the ENS stimulated pups were more active and exploratory than their non-stimulated littermates.

Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)

ENS is performed once daily for 2 consecutive weeks from 3 days old through 16 days old. Each exercise is done for 3-5 seconds, and the entire process takes about 30 seconds. ENS consists of 5 simple and harmless exercises: ​

ENS is performed once daily for 2 consecutive weeks from 3 days old through 16 days old. Each exercise is done for 3-5 seconds, and the entire process takes about 30 seconds. ENS consists of 5 simple and harmless exercises: