'Superdog' keeps calm in the most stressful situations
Tom Loy of Tallgrass International sits by the farrowing crate as a litter of three-day-old setter puppies navigate their little world with their eyes closed. One by one, Roy took the puppies out of their boxes and put them through a series of short exercises. When he was done, the puppies returned to the box and crawled towards their mother.
The sessions continued over the next 13 days, and while the exercises had nothing to do with hunting birds—at least not directly—they effectively taught Lowe's setter puppies how to cope with stress. Years later, the result of this early training is a dog that is less timid, more social and better able to handle the stressful situations any working dog will encounter in the wild.
The program Lowy used was sponsored by the U.S. military to improve the performance of military dogs. Research has shown that puppies and other mammals are especially sensitive to stimulation shortly after birth, and that early stimulation can improve overall health. Research shows that exposing puppies to stimuli can boost brain function, which can boost overall confidence, while reducing stress-related behaviors like biting or growling. These trainings were originally called "biosensor training" and are now called "super puppy training".
From 3 to 16 days old, each pup in the program was stimulated 5 times per day. These positions include head-up, head-down, and supine (supine) positions; paw stimulation with cotton swabs; and lying on a cold towel. Each stage is not very painful and lasts only a few seconds, and after training, the dogs return to their mothers.
This program has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, increase adrenal function and brain activity, and increase a puppy's resistance to stress and disease. Similar experiments in mice and primates yielded the same results.
Lowe, a practitioner of the Super Puppy program, has started giving all of his puppies early stimulation.
"I've noticed that in every litter, there are a few shy puppies who want to hide or don't want to be socialized," says Lowe. "With the 'Super Puppy' program, I'm Not seeing as much anymore. Timid dogs are more courageous and social.”
As military dogs mature and begin training, they are exposed to a variety of stressors—from inspection ropes to electronic collars and gunshots. By learning how to deal with stress at an early age, Lowe's Setters can handle field stimuli with ease. They are often ready for more advanced training than untrained puppies, Lowy said.