The first 12 weeks of a puppy's life are a period of rapid neurological development that will affect their entire life. We strive to socialize our puppies for the first 9 weeks so that you will have a confident, easy-going, resilient, happy, healthy dog for many years to come. We utilize Puppy Culture, Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), and Rule of 7s.
What is Puppy Culture?
Puppy Culture is an incredible training and socialization protocol to help raise puppies to be calm, confident adults. It is an all encompassing, intensive program that works miracles with puppies.
"Research has shown (and this is explained in depth in the Puppy Culture video) that young puppies’ brains are like sponges. They can absorb and process information much faster than an older dog at this young age. The best part is, the information given to them now will stay with them for a long time after.
Puppies also have very little fear during their first weeks, so new experiences are approached with curiosity. To capitalize on this, Puppy Culture instructs you to introduce various objects, locations, and experiences that they might encounter during their lifetime; always in positive ways. This teaches puppies to approach novelty with calm, curiosity rather than fear. But more on that later.
The first 12 weeks are a crucial time for shaping a puppy into the type of dog we all want. While training done later in life may work, it takes much more time and effort and some things are almost impossible to train out of an adult dog."
The areas we have specifically focused on (problem areas for some Vizslas) include: mouthiness ("Take-A-Treat") and jumping up on people (Communication Trinity, Manding, Down).
Excerpt from the following link, read more here: https://joleyaire.com/blog/puppy-culture
Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)
As a history of the practice, the U.S. military in their studies on raising puppies, found that doing specific exercises with puppies during the time of rapid neurological growth, between the puppies third and sixteenth day of life, increases the pups performance later in life. This lead to the development of the Bio Sensor program, which consists of 5 exercises done one time per day with each pup. The puppies were able to cope better with stressful situations, problem solve better than other puppies, and also that they were physically healthier (meaured via cardiovascular performance, immune system, adrenal glands and heart beats). The purpose is to add mild stress, and should only be repeated once a day; too much stress can have the reverse effect on the puppies. This practice does not replace ample natural handling of the pups.
I highly recommend checking out the following resource about ENS: https://breedingbetterdogs.com/article/early-neurological-stimulation .
From the above-resource, we utilize the following exercise once daily, from day 3-16:
Tactical stimulation (between toes): holding the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds.
Head held erect: using both hands, the pup is held perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that its head is directly above its tail. This is an upwards position. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds.
Head pointed down: holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing towards the ground. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds.
Supine position: hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling. The pup while on its back is allowed to sleep. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.
Thermal stimulation: use a damp towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for at least five minutes. Place the pup on the towel, feet down. Do not restrain it from moving. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.
Rules of 7 Puppy Socialization
We believe all puppies should go through the puppy socialization called the “Rule of 7.” Dr. Carmen Battaglia created the Rule of 7’s as a guide to increase a puppy’s exposure. The rule of 7 is a technique we utilize to introduce our Vizsla puppies to new environments, and to get them used to different stimuli they may encounter throughout their lives. Our boy Theo came to us at 10 months afraid of many things--puddles, jumping over logs, changes in pavement, etc. As a result, we take socialization seriously. Our goal is to produce confident, resilient, easy-going puppies. Much like ENS (early Neurological Stimulation) the Rule of Seven introduces the pups to small stressors that will help boost confidence, social behavior, and their train-ability for the rest of their lives.
Make sure your puppy is current on all vaccinations before taking her into an unknown area. By the time a puppy is 12 weeks, make sure she has:
Been on (at least) 7 different types of surfaces: carpet, tile, rugs, concrete, wood, grass of different lengths (short, tall, weeds), dirt, mud, gravel, and wood chips.
Played with (at least) 7 different types of objects: rope toys, plush toys, big balls, small balls, soft fabric toys, squeaky toys, paper or cardboard items, metal items, and sticks, bells, water/pools, cats.
Been in 7 different locations: front & back yard, basement, kitchen, car, garage, laundry room, bathroom, office, living room, hallway, Vet’s office.
Met and played with 7 new people: include children, crying babies, and older adults; someone walking with a cane or in a wheelchair or walker, someone tall, someone in a hat, someone in a mask, someone with a beard.
Been exposed to 7 challenges: climb on a box, go through a tunnel, climb steps, go down steps, climb over obstacles, play hide and seek, go in and out of a doorway with a step up or down, run around a fence.
Eaten from 7 different containers: metal, plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, human hands, pie plate, tin pan, frying pan, Frisbee, elevated bowl.
Eaten in 7 different locations: crate, yard, exercise pen, basement, laundry room, living room, bathroom, back yard.
I also like to include many different sound desensitizations once their ear canals open, including: vacuum, hair dryer, airplanes, cars, horns, bells, squeakers, chickens & other farm animals, toilet flushing, washer/dryer running, refrigerator, dish washer, sink/tub running, shower, construction noises, lawn mower, loud TV (fight scenes, action/adventure), doors slamming, pots and pans banging, gentle classical music.
Each new, positive experience will help the puppy flourish into your confident companion. Allow the puppy to learn passively by letting them to explore on their own, but make sure he is 100% supervised and that it is a controlled environment. Do not use any harsh training methods with a puppy, and even with an adult Vizsla, because you will break the bond of trust and can crush their gentle spirit. Training should be fair and fun. Quality is important, more so than quantity. Try to make each encounter a positive one.
We start by introducing pups starting at 4 weeks of age to 7 new things they haven't had contact with before. Every 4 days, we change these to 7 new items. By the time you pick up your Hobble Creek Vizsla puppy they will have been introduced to 49 different or new things/changes. When your puppy goes home they can be a confident pup ready to trek across all types of terrain, play with balls, birds, squeaky toys, small children, chase sticks, and begin to work on obedience.
Please reference: https://www.goldenmeadowsretrievers.com/rule-of-7/