Does anyone have any comments about this? Has anyone tried it with noticable real-life results? Does anyone have any scientific contradictions?
I was watching a Discovery channel show on feral children yesterday. Seems children like this have proven that there are windows of oppurtunity (critcal learning periods)for humans to learn language and certain behaviors. If these periods are missed, they will never be able to be completely repaired, if any.
I guess you could somewhat compare it to critical periods in socialization in pups. In fact, the brain will actually not physically develop correctly if certain parts are not stimulated in specific periods. They showed a comparision in several brains of a normal 3 yr. old vs. extremely neglected children of the same age. It was amazingly sad how much brain tissue was missing(atrophied?) and caused the brain to be about 1/3 smaller in size.
So.. after all that...Do you think there could be a real benefit to pre-exposing an animal to stress not usually encountered at that time in their life to jump-start their development? I can see that too much would/could cause damage, but when does benefit outweight risk?
Would understimulation of a pup lead to the same permanent damage in development seen in humans? They mentioned a study in chimps raised in isolation that caused permanant social & learning damage.
I have always thought of rehabilitation being able to correct socialization/animal agg. problems in dogs. Is there a limit on how rehabilitated/normal an animal can become after being neglected?
I know it's a long list of food for thought, but any input would be intersting!

I asked this question some time ago because my, now 15 month old GSD was put through this early "hardwiring" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. I know Dienna and some other breeders on this site expose their puppys to it. I can't tell you if it's because of this,great genetics or both, but nothing has visibly stressed my dog to this point.

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com "Developing high achievers"

I too have seen an anology between the critical periods of human development and canine development, specifically language acqusition and socialization. It seems that there is a window of opportunity for these skills to be developed; and if it is not developed during this time, it takes a determined effort to aquire the skill. I think of adults who want to learn a new language. It is much more difficult to learn a new language as an adult, because the brain's foundation has few connections for this. Not to say it can't be done, it is just not as easy as when you were a child.

I don't have any experience with early stimulation in dogs, but I have a dog who was deprived of all of the early socialization needed for a normal dog. Until she was 9 months old, she was kept in a room. Never left it for 7 months. When I got her, it was like living with a coyote. She had no idea what to do when presented with any normal stimuli. She would shut down.

Granted, she was probably an iffy dog to begin with; generally submissive, mildly xenophobic, moderate startle response. But this could have been modified (not erased) with early and proper handling in the first year.

With a lot of work, I have gotten her to the point where she is socialized to the house, the people in it, walks, etc, and the club. But, if I change any of these variables, or if I ask too much of her, she reverts back to type. So, rehab goes a long way, provided it is constant, and continues for a long time (because eradicating foundational and/or genetic behaviours is next to impossible); however, she will never be the dog she could have been had she had early ongoing socialization, and early exposer to stress.

A lot of the foundational work I did with her, to countercondition her responses to stimuli, was based on neurobiological responses; in other words, I tried to change the adrenaline response first, then change the meaning of the stimuli. It worked, but as I said, only within a limited scope. The only thing that she doesn't 'lose' when she gets stressed is her bond with me. She is still a work in progress; I will always have to maintain skills with her, she will never be a 'native', a calm, socialized dog.

With all of that being said, the mind (both canine and human) is fluid, it constantly builds and rebuilds connections based upon demand.

So, anyone with a superpup?

I had a dog from the almost the exact same situation. She had almost no human interaction and was raised with only her 6 canine relatives in the yard until she was 6 mo. old. Same behaviors- shutting down, stressed easily, extremely submissive, startled. Interestingly she never showed any fear biting or aggression, which I though she might be prone to. It's almost like she didn't even know to exhibit those instinctive behaviors when pressed. She would stiffen and shut down completely when exposed to new things. I made it a point to socialize her to anything and everything and she did make progress but only to a certain point, like Melissa said. She was always going to have these problems somewhat.
That dog is another reason I am so interested to study this topic. I'll never forget the look she got in her eyes when she saw other dogs. They were the only thing familiar to her. When they were gone, her eyes changed back to a glazed, dead-inside look almost. She had a hard time understanding and responding to human affection.

I have a SuperPup. She is almost 2 years old now. I did the early neurological stimulation program with her. Maybe she would have been extraordinary anyway, but maybe not. She is extremely smart, has wonderful problem solving skills, not easily stressed, very personable, and just a great dog all around. I definitely plan to do it with future litters!

I bred a litter and Super Dog'd em. I like to think it did have some positive affects on every pup because I had a litter of 10 and I can honestly say that every pup in the litter shows better than average ability to deal with environmental stress. I never expect every pup to be solid and maybe it was lucky genetics, but I like to think the work I did with them paid off somehow.


I'll continue with the method in the future, especially with the breedings I have planned that I'm trying to get sharper dogs out of. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I thought my last litter sucked. Every dog in the litter has killer prey and nerves of steel, but no real edge and very very high defensive thresholds. Not my cup of tea. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

So what's involved with this ? Is there a link or thread that explains it? I ask because I 'm getting a new puppy in June

V.C.
Why does the ability to handle stress help with the sharpness or "edge".Im asking because I also like that "edge" to my dogs.Is it because they will be more confident and forward?

Well, it's my opinion that you generally give up some nerve strength with a sharper dog. The dog has a quicker trigger for aggression, and has lower thresholds. So with dogs like that the socialization process is more critical.

If you have a litter with crazy strong nerve genetics and high high thresholds anyway (which also usually means they are not sharp or edgy), I can't say for sure that the biosensor methods will make a whole lotta difference.

With the litter that might not have as strong genetics for high thresholds, strong nerves, etc the more you can do to innure them to stress the better.

VC
Could you elaborate on the types of stimulation you are exposing the puppies to? Also, at what age do you start this process?
Thanks